An article by Y. Maschiach, ( April 25, 1997, Haaretz weekend
supplement , in Hebrew) , describes an unusual document about the fate of Romanian
Jews deported to Moghilev, Transnistria. The article, includes part of aphotocopy
of the cemetery diagram used for the burial of Romanian Jews of the Transnistria
deportation period. The schematic, consists of small quadrangles with names
and towns of origin of the buried and the graphic layout appears to follow the
topography of the cemetery field . No mention of age or gender of the buried
is given. From the description in the article, and from a recent photo of the
graveyard also included in the article, it appears that only few of the buried
had tombstones. It is also stated that many of the dead found on streets were
buried in unmarked common graves, and therefore the list is only partial.
According to Maschiach, the document was made by one Yacob Druker, during the holocaust . Mr. Druker, a 25 year old accountant, was one of 27 gravediggers employed by the Jewish Community in Moghilev. They were collecting corpses of the dead from houses, shelters and streets and buried them in graves dug by them. The identification of bodies was based on information from relatives and on documents found on the bodies.
While it is very likely that cemeteries today maintain detailed schematic plans of graves, such graphic documentation was probably not common in Eastern Europe Jewish cemeteries prior to the Second World War.
Diaries and memoirs from the Holocaust period describing personal and communal ordeals are well known and many were published and some were much publicized. However, it appears that Mr. Druker’s graphic documentation of the Moghilev Cemetery, is quite unique in being a list of people and their burial sites. Circumstances in Moghilev, allowed Jews to set up a Community Council with some support institutions, like soup kitchens, orphanages and a Jewish Community cemetery. The killing methods in Transnistria were not of the swift , efficient , German type. No mass executions were carried out in Moghilev, nor gas chambers were set up, but death was slow and agonizing by freezing cold, starvation and typhus. This slower paced extermination enabled individual burials and even erection of tombstones for some few who could afford it. It is unclear, whether the documentation carried out by Druker, was imposed on him by the Community as part of his job, or whether it was Druker’s own initiative. Clearly, the handwriting is of one person only, and the diagrams were in Mr. Druker’s possession.The photocopy of the diagram, as published in Haaretz, does not appear to be a Jewish Burial Society (Chevre Kadishe) document, since it is not written with Hebrew letters but with Roman characters in Romanian, German, and Yiddish forms of pronunciation and transliteration. Nor are the names recorded as customary in Jewish rituals as, Mr X , son Mr Y followed by the family name, as it is and was common on grave inscriptions. Instead, and in spite the space limitations of the graphics, the town of origin of the deported was included next to or below the name.
Druker, the lay accountant who became a gravedigger in order to survive, developed a nurturing and possesive relation to his diagrams. In addition to the schematics, he also prepared an alphabetical ledger of the deceased listed in the diagrams.
According to the widow, the diagrams and lists became Druker’s obsession for the rest of his life. For years and until his death, after long hours working in the kiosk of the old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, Druker kept studying his diagrams and lists, documenting the burial of many of his fellows.
In the seventies, Mr. Druker offered the diagrams to Yad Vashem In Jerusalem. After waiting for two years and not hearing anything, Druker became disappointed by the lack of interest shown for his work, and asked to get back his diagrams.
Fifty years after the events in Transnistria, survivors in search of parents graves in Moghilev, proved the accuracy of Mr. Druker’s diagrams. Eli and Zisel Likwornick, Transnistria survivors, went recently to Moghilev, and following Mr. Druker’s diagrams, located and identified their relatives graves. The initial greatest difficulty was the location of the graveyard. The graves of the Transnistria Jews were not in the cemetery used by Moghilev Jews before the war, and Known as The Jewish Cemetery. After much search they found that a remote ravine known as the "Mad Dogs Cemetery", was allocated by the Romanian Occupation authorities for the Jews of Transnistria. This field got its name since it was used by peasants for buriyng carcasses of mad dogs after extracting the fat for soap making . The graveyard, in a field still marked with Jewish tombstones of the holocaust period, conforms with the Druker diagrams.
In the nearby town of Luchinetz, the local "horse cemetery", was the burial place for Jews in the Transnistria period. There, in the horse cemetery of Luchinetz, are my brother, father, grandfather and grandmother, buried in unmarked and uncharted graves, not even having had the luck of a chronicler like Mr. Druker.
Druker’s List is but a partial yet concrete document of the decimation in Transnistria, of us, the Jewish people of Bukovina and Northern Romania.
This posting is intended to bring the document to the attention of list members and ask for help in finding out whether similar documents of the period are known. Such information may throw light on the Druker documents.
Information regarding the current location of the original diagrams and of Druker’s alphabetical lists will be appreciated. Members opinions in understanding Druker’s motivation for creating the document, will also be appreciated.
What could have motivated a young accountant ,employed for his living as a gravedigger, to put in such remarkable effort and perseverance in creating the diagrams. Was it a most unusual historical sense of the significance of events he witnessed, or was it posssibly greed, expectation of some material reward after the war. Notwithstanding Druker’s motivation, the man will be remembered as a chronicler of a lost tribe.
While it would have been preferable to post a scanned copy of the original document, emailing format was used for technical reasons.The following list was reproduced from an 11x5 inch photograph of a portion of Mr. Druker’s diagram (from the April 24 Haaretz supplement by Yigal Maschiach). Note that the spelling of names and towns varies with the persons origin. Jews from Bukovina used German spelling forms and those from Northern Romania used the more phonetic, Romanian form. Towns of origin are also spelled and pronounced according to Yiddish/Bukovinian or Romanian forms, and Druker’s origin being from Bucharest also influenced the spelling, see for example Budapesta for Budapest. Town names abbreviations are easily recognizable : C-ti is Cernauti , Cernowtzy today, R-uti is Radauti, V. Dorna is Vatra Dornei, C. Lung is Campul Lung, and G. Humora is Gura Humorului. It appears that abbreviations were used to fit the names and towns into the little spaces in the diagram. Illegible parts of names are shown as ..........
One little quadrangle bears two names : Aron si (and, in Romanian) Sloime Corbunar, Dorohoi; were these two little brothers ? Another inscription reads :"Nu incape groapa", in Rumanian, a grave does not fit in the lot. Following is part of the list as shown in Haaretz.
Druker’s List :
Simche Schakler (No town name)
Kurzberg Josef, Cernauti
David Birenbaum, Stavilesti
Herman Heller, Selatin
Idl Beer Grinberg, Suceava
Moise Veisman, Dorohoi
Dora Isser, Cernauti
Harri Rausser, Burdujeni
Hers Trister, Burdujeni
N......Seb?actar, C. Lung
Betty Rapaport, Burdujeni
David Cusmaru, Dorohoi
Osias Goldenberg, Cernauti
Baren Leib, Cernauti
Simon Eisenstein, Cernauti
Landau Iuda, Strojinetz
Tonni Laufman, G. Humora
Sa.... Nagler, Cernauti
Isidor Klipper, V. Dorna
Anghel Veinberg, Dorohoi
Samuel Gottlieb, Cernauti
Fabian Brender, Cernauti
Gusta Steiner, Cernauti
Netti Schechter, Cernauti
Klara Kastner, Radauti
Hers Elenbogen, Radauti
Ana Eisenthal, Radauti
Rosa Pre..rainger, G. Humor
R. Goldenberg, C. Lung
Irma Ginsberg, Herta
..........Alterovici, Dorohoi
Moritz Singer, Radauti
Dr Karl Gabe(o?)r, Suceava
Rifka Haim
Chaie Fisher, V. Dorna
Rosa Klekner, G. Humora
Heda Gabor, Cernauti
Frieda Gabor, Cernauti
Villi Rosner, Radauti
"Nu incape groapa", The Lot is not big enough?
Joseph ....aner
Isak Pessal, Cernauti
Jurgrau Ida, G. Humora
Ef... Elenbogen. .......
Aizic Zecler, Radauti
Ester Minder, Sc.....ckberg
Moses Fliecker, Radauti
Berthe Bernstein, Noua Sulita
Iacob Volf Ventun, Radauti
Haim Greffer, Seletin
Moritz Gluckman, Cernauti
Iacob Leibovici, Dorohoi
Albert Veintraub, Cernauti
Miha.. Isak. Cernauti
Solomon Kunstflier, Cernauti
Neer (Meier?) Segal, Dorohoi
Alter Gruber, Radauti
Elias Kern, Radauti
Avrum David, St..lpicani
Josef Cohn, Dorohoi
Hertza
Rebeca Ag.........nu, Cernauti
B.B.I.
Rosa Schwartz, Cernauti
Stein Ida, Cernauti
Klara Haas, Cernauti
Adolf Krumbein, Cernauti
Sure Meirovici, Dorohoi
Taube, I......, C-ti
Regina Schulman, C-ti
Ethel Scherzer, G. Humora
Cerna Ivanier, Lucace..
Rosenberg Edel, N. Sulita
Tony Ratner, (No town name)
Roza Altman, R-ti
Blima Veiner, Su........
Sali Gotlieb, R-ti
Paula Bacher, (No town name)
Frohlich Sara, C-ti
Loti Spiter, Cernauti
Sara Zeller, Cernauti
Elsa Gevurtz, Budapesta
Sali Laufer, R(ociurul?) Mare
Riva (Regina) Schucher, C-ti
Eckhaus, Cernauti
Marie Rosenberg
Chava Ruhze Edelman, C-ti
F.J. Kolomenko, ...........
Kurz Malka, Vijnitza
Pepi Falik, G. Humora
Liba Linker, R-ti
Gitel Sclafer, G. Humora
Ella Laufer, Storojinet
Sigmung Friedman, Cernauti
Rosa Gluckstern, Cernauti
Pola Schwartzenthal, Seletin
Motel Somer, V. Dorna
Fani Stahlnbrecher, Plosca
Leib David, Radauti
Zucker Leo, Davidesti
Leon Low, Radauti
Samuel Schein, Mihova
Abraham Uscher, Radauti
Simon Schwartz, Dorohoi
Isidor Mintz, Radauti
Leo Ungar, Cernauti
Lilman Kati, Cernauti
Schmiel Lederhandler, Dorohoi
Max Faus (..?), Radauti
Hans Schulmann, C-ti
Moritz Venger, Radauti
Mendel Hersman, Siret
David Beer Veisman, Radauti
Jacob Katz, Storojinet
Moses David Lehr, Cernauti
Moise Katz, Berhamet
J. Jablonover, Seletin
Mechel Schulman, Cernauti
Adolf Gabor, Cernauti
Mordeha Schulim Tenebaum,.......
Salo Hochstadt, Cernauti
Isak Pess... , Cernauti
Meer Schnapp, Cernauti
Dr. Max Gabor, Radauti
Weisbrodt Jacob (No town name)
Aizic Zecler, Radauti
Iosel Lebzeller, Berhomet
S. Stier
Hirsch Reicha......, Storojinet
Samuel Veinstein, Cernauti
Kliurstein B. , N. Sulita
Motic Katz, Vijnita
Leib Schleifer, C. Lung
Sloime Ivanier, G. Humora
M.......Ithakc Schachter, G. Humora
Nagel Avram, Visnita
Moritz Davidson, Dorohoi
Traine Menczel, C-ti
Avra... Gruparu, Dorohoi
Toni ..........., Radauti
Dr Bertha Stern, ......uti
Dora Vogel, Sadagura
Marien Elenbogen, G. Humora
Regina Schulman, C-ti
Gusta Gantz, C-ti
Rosenberg Edel, N. Sulita
Shara Leder, Putila
Tani Stier, R-ti
Blima Verner, Suceava
Rissel Volf, R-ti
Schuffler, Rifca, Dorohoi
Paula Bacher
Riva (Regina) Schucher, C-ti
Hana Eidinger, Suceava
Sure Moscovici, Dorohoi
Ethel Scherzer, G. Humora
Nora Badler, C-ti
Sali Gotlieb, Radauti
Sara Rosenberg, C-ti
Frohlich Sara, C-ti
Rifka Karliner, R-ti
Rosi Landkroner, C. Lung
Lea Horer, R-ti
Iuda Haim Vender, C-ti
Dora Buchbinder, G. Humora
Adolf Katz, Cernauti
Dr. Moritz Kurtzveil, R-ti
Michael Renert, R-ti
Isidor Bl..., Cernauti
Benjamin Kostiner, R-ti
Karl Glaibach, Radauti
Dr. Schaie Lecker, Radauti
Dr. Karl Schonbaum, Cernauti
Sami Kreisel, Lucaveti
Dr. David Coppelman, C. Lung
Klieg Bernhard, Cernauti
Lucian Kreimer, Radauti
Piatra (Headstone ?)
Preiss Herman, G. Humora
I. Balner, V. Dorna