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Saturday, June 30, 2012

Wer Wenn Nicht Wir?

(http://openlibrary.org/works/OL6397022W/Die_Reise)
no copyright infringement intended

West Germany in the early 1960s. Bernward Vesper takes up his studies in Tübingen where he is attending Walter Jens’ seminar on rhetoric. Bernward wants to be a writer and spends his nights bashing the keys of a typewriter. At the same time he is keen to defend his father, the poet Will Vesper who was celebrated by the Nazis as a proponent of their Blut und Boden ideology. One day Bernward meets Gudrun Ensslin, marking the beginning of an extreme relationship that is unquestioning and excessive, a love story that goes beyond pain, family and politics.

In West Germany during the roaring ’60s, a group of young people interested in the destiny of their country are trying to make their voices heard and to generate the change in entire society. Some of them remain committed to the power of the written word, while others conclude that the time for words has passed and they must speak out in acts, even if this could turn their fellow citizens – and even members of their families – into unintended victims. Both the former ones and the latter ones are striving not to repeat the mistakes of their parents, who had allowed Hitler’s rise to power and had even conspired with the Third Reich. Wer Wenn Nicht Wir? (If Not Us, Who?) talks about passion and rebellion, temptation and violence, political activism and family responsibility, but, above all, about an explosive era. Moreover, the film makes us witnesses to the birth of terrorist group Baader-Meinhof (also known as the Red Army Faction), which described itself as a communist and anti-imperialist urban guerrilla, fighting with an alleged fascist state.

Bernward Vesper (* 1. August 1938 in Frankfurt; † 15. May 1971 in Hamburg) was a German writer, a political activist and a publisher. Vesper was the son of the National Socialist poet Will Vesper. Substantial parts of Bernward Vesper's novel Die Reise (The Journey) report of childhood, school time and youth in the only apparently idyllic landscape of the 1950's, as well as of suffering in an authoritarian parents' house. After graduating the high school Bernward Vesper started to work in Braunschweig as a publisher and bookseller. Subsequently he enrolled for German studies and sociology in Tübingen. It was during this time that he met Gudrun Ensslin (who later would be a leader of the Red Army Faction). Both created in 1963 the Studio for New Literature. The stormy relationship between Bernward and Gudrun went on with dramatic ups and downs, and their son, Felix, came to the world in 1967. Eventually they broke, as Gudrun started a new relationship with Andreas Baader in 1968 and decided to dedicated all her life exclusively to the militant activities. Starting from autumn 1969 Vesper traveled across Europe. He began to write his novel-essay, that he could not complete, as he had a severe nervous breakdown and took his life in 1971. The novel would be published in 1977. Today Die Reise is considered as an influential representation of the 68's generation.





Wer Wenn Nicht Wir? (2011) - Trailer
(video by vipmagazin)

The first thing that comes to mind is to compare this movie with the well-known Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex. While that one chronicles the radical militant group to get the understanding of some typologies (the professional revolutionary, the fanatic, the camarade de route), here in Wer Wenn Nicht Wir we have the view on the universe that eventually generated the Red Army Faction. But it is more than that: this movie tries (and in my opinion succeeds) to get the breath of Die Reise, the novel-essay written by Bernward Vesper. It is a world not limited to RAF. The book is the life of its author, his life is the book, while his life (thus the book) offers the paradigm of the first German generation raised after WWII - a frenetic journey hitting all extremes, permanently loosing balance, trying in vain to find a sense, while choosing only impossible solutions.


(Andres Veiel)

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Friday, June 29, 2012

A Swabian in Berlin: Andres Veiel



Born in Stuttgart in 1957,  Andres Veiel left Swabia for Berlin. Did he keep to his Swabian universe (dialect and stuff, plus the industrious type, and so on), or did he pass to the  Berliner ways of big heart and bigger mouth? Let's consider his artistic output, to see the thing. Parallel to his studies in psychology in the 1980s, he completed an extracurricular program in film and theater direction at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien under the tutelage of Polish director Krzysztof Kiewlowski. His cinema debut Winternachtstraum (1992) was followed in 1994 by the prize-winning documentary Balagan, in which he features the Judeo-Palestinian theater group Akko. In his very personal film Die Überlebenden (The Survivors, 1996), he explores the stories of three classmates who committed suicide. In Black Box BRD (2001), he compares the CV's of the RAF militant Wolfgang Grams and victim of RAF, banker Alfred Herrhausen. In 2004 Veiel completed Die Spielwütigen (Addicted to Acting), his long-term documentary observation of for actors from the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art in Berlin. His theater piece Der Kick about a brutal torture-murder in the Brandenburg village of Potzlow, performed in the Maxim Gorki Theater of Berlin and Theater Basel. In 2006 Der Kick was also turned into a film. And in 2011 Andres Veiel made his first long feature, Wie Wenn Nicht Wir? (If Not Us, Who?)  - which I watched two weeks ago (by the way).



Andres Veiel on Deutsche Welle
(video by deutschewelleenglish)


Andres Veiel on documentary
(video by cinefilsmagazine)






(German and Nordic Cinema)

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Un Nou Legământ


După ce s-a stors de ploaie
Şi a bubuit din greu,
Cerul, liber de şiroaie,
A trăsnit c-un curcubeu.

După fiecare furtună Dumnezeu ne iartă şi ne propune să o luăm dela capăt. Vechile păcate şi datorii sunt iertate, iar viaţa începe din nou.


(Casian Balabasciuc)

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Jurilovca: Muzica Lipoveneasca






(Amintiri din Garla Mare)

The Bessarabian Germans and Their Villages

(click here for the Romanian version)

They say Paris is unique. I would be more nuanced. There is also a Paris in Southern Bessarabia, some others too. Just a couple of days ago I learned about another Paris, some place in the Olt County (so in the South of Romania). It's a tiny village that can be reached only if you pass  somehow a small creek, as there is no bridge nearby. Most of the time it's easy, as the creek is really very small, while on periods of heavy rain you have a problem.

As for the Paris from Southern Bessarabia, that's a longer story. First time I heard of it in my childhood. My father had lived for some years in a city not far from that place, and he told me once that he and his friends, all very young then, used to announce each other jokingly about plans to go for a stroll to Paris, un de ces quatre matins.

Years have passed, but I had never the chance to see the Bessarabian Paris.

About two weeks ago a friend posted on Facebook the image of a village: some households lined along a large country road. Well, the village was Paris, Southern Bessarabia, and the image was from 1940.

Paris, Besarabia, 1940
image published on Facebook by Alexandru Ursu-Bukowina
(source: bettcherfamily.blogspot.com)
no copyright infringement intended

It was the first image of that Paris coming to my eyes, and I got very excited to find more about the place. The next step was to find a map of the region. Not that easy! Meanwhile Paris had changed its name to Veselyi Kut (Веселый Кут). Stuff happens, you know. Finally I succeeded, here is the map:


map of the region
(http://www.picturesofcities.info/map-city/Vesely-Kut/2748017/)
no copyright infringement intended



map of the region - close up
(http://www.picturesofcities.info/map-city/Vesely-Kut/2748017/)
no copyright infringement intended


I went on looking for other images. What I found first was an old Lutheran church!


Lutheran Church from Paris - as it was in the old times
(https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1yEH4L07P2nuLhrQysCNpVJYTAPfxYuXoLcFxL43mX5c)
no copyright infringement intended

To find a Lutheran church in a Bessarabian village, even a village with such a name as Paris, that was kind of amazing. Other surprises followed. Beside Paris, the  region was full of villages named Leipzig, Wittenberg, Klöstitz, or Katzbach, among other sounding as German as it could be.


Lutheran Church from Paris - as it is now
photo: Reiseluscht
(http://www.panoramio.com/photo/41281637)
no copyright infringement intended

Well, it's an interesting chapter of history there, beginning by 1814 and ending in 1940: the presence of German colonists in Bessarabia.

It all started after the wars with Napoleon were over. German colonists were attracted to move to Bessarabia, occupied by Russia a couple of years earlier, in 1812.

The Bessarabian Paris was founded in 1816. Initially the colonists named it Alecksuesswerth, but soon it was changed to Paris, by decision of the Interior Ministry. It was not to celebrate the capital of France, as we could have guessed.  The reason was different: to commemorate the Battle of Leipzig, that had led to the entrance of the Russian Army in Paris.


Other today's image of the Lutheran Church from Paris
photo: Herb Poppke
(https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1yEH4L07P2nuLhrQysCNpVJYTAPfxYuXoLcFxL43mX5c)
no copyright infringement intended

Where had these Parisians come from? Like many other Bessarabian Germans they were known as Warsaw Colonists. This does not mean they were Polish, rather Germans who had migrated by 1800 in a region near Warsaw. So their move to Bessarabia was a second migration in less than twenty years.

And if we go further back in time, there is a hypothesis about the French initial origin of those Parisians from Bessarabia. According to this hypothesis their ancestors had been Huguenots that left France to escape religious persecutions. I must say that's a weak hypothesis, supported by one single observation: the existence in the Bessarabian Paris of many surnames sounding very French (of course Germanized): Allmer, Fano, Fercho, Jans, Kison, Kroisandt, Reppnack, Salo. I found this observation in a book (Suckut, Arthur: Paris in Bessarabien. Herausgegeben zum 170. Jahrestag der Gründung des Dorfes Paris, im Eigenverlag, 1986), quoted in http://www.armin-zimmermann.eu/Bessarabien/Herkunft/Bessarabien_englisch.html#Paris.


Threshing machine with locomotive in Paris, Bessarabia, circa 1915
(http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/order/general/newbook.html)
no copyright infringement intended

The colonists remained in Bessarabia for about hundred and thirty years, keeping their German identity (even their dialects, different from one village to another), while the province was going on with its history. The South of Bessarabia came to Romania for about twenty five years in the second half of the 19th century, then being occupied again by Russia. In 1918 the whole Bessarabia joined Romania.

German colonists would leave Bessarabia in October 1940, after the Soviet occupation. Colonist departure was following a German-Soviet agreement that was based on the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. Ukrainian population came to live in the emptied villages. Today the villages there carry Ukrainian names:  Halle became Alisivka, Strassburg became Alkalyia, and so on.



October 1940 - German colonists leave Bessarabia
image published on Facebook by Alexandru Ursu-Bukowina
no copyright infringement intended


I found on the web three documentaries, made by today's descendants  of those Bessarabian Germans. They visited their ancestors' villages, today inhabited by Ukrainians. I enjoyed mostly the third movie (Der Weg ist das Ziel - zu Fuß in Bessarabie): it renders in a moving way a pilgrimage made by foot, from village to village. Near them a cart full with their baggage, drawn by a horse with an extraordinary name (for those knowing Romanian): Bunik!

Those colonists from long time ago succeeded to keep their German identity so far away from their country. Their descendants, who live in Germany, succeed to keep the identity of the grandparents and great-grandparents from Bessarabia.

Heimat ist kein Ort
Heimat ist ein Gefühl

Wer nicht weiß, woher er kommt, der weiß auch nicht, wohin er geht!


1. Back to the Roots

Back To The Roots, March 2009
Anika Teubner
Impressionen in Fotoform
(video by melocotonchen)


2. Eine Bessarabische Reise



Eine Bessarabische Reise, September 2009
Anika Teubner and Werner Schabert
Part 1/4
(video by melocotonchen/)


Eine Bessarabische Reise, September 2009
Anika Teubner and Werner Schabert
Part 2/4
(video by melocotonchen/)


Eine Bessarabische Reise, September 2009
Anika Teubner and Werner Schabert  
Part 3/4
(video by melocotonchen/)


Eine Bessarabische Reise, September 2009
Anika Teubner and Werner Schabert  
Part 4/4
(video by melocotonchen/)


3. Der Weg ist das Ziel - zu Fuß in Bessarabie



Der Weg ist das Ziel - zu Fuß in Bessarabie, 2011
Anika Teubner
die Dokumentation einer 5-tägigen Wanderung 
durch verschiedene, ehemals deutsche Ortschaften Bessarabiens.
Stationen: Tarutino, Alt-Posttal, Katzbach, Alt-Elft, Paris, Krasna.
Strecke: ca. 80 Km
(video by melocotonchen)



(German and Nordic Cinema)

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Margot Dias

Mozambican Mbira (Lamellophones)
(published on Facebook by Museu da Música)
no copyright infringement intended


The Mozambican name of this instrument is Mbira. The sound of this instrument is produced by vibrations of one or two rows of metal blades, linked on a support of bamboo or palm rachis. The blades are plucked with the thumbs, while the whole instrument stays inside a gourde.

This image was chosen to celebrate the work of ethnomusicologist Margot Dias (1908-2001). Born in Nuremberg, she was trained as a pianist at the Munich Academy for Music and Theatre. She moved to Portugal in 1948 and started to work in the fields of ethnology and ethnomusicology. .Margot Dias made numerous filed research trips in Mozambique, to study ion depth the musical instruments there. She is worldwide recognized for her in-depth knowledge of Makonde culture.



Mbira players in Tafara, near Harare, Zimbabwe
(video by Hirage)


(Musica Nova)

Deportarile in Baragan


Socrul meu a murit acolo. Nu l-am cunoscut niciodata. El murise in 1964, iar eu aveam sa o cunosc pe cea care a fost prima mea sotie mai tarziu.

Am fost odata insa la mormantul sau, in Baragan. Satul fusese desfiintat, cimitirul mai era acolo. Dupa atati ani plantele crescusera peste tot, nu mai exista nici o alee, asa incat am ajuns cu greu la crucea lui.

Prima mea sotie a murit si ea, inca tanara. Necazurile din copilarie si-au platit si ele tributul lor.

Eu cred ca nu e bine sa traim numai in amintirea trecutului. Ne facem si noua rau, si le facem rau si celor ce nu mai sunt printe noi, care trebuie lasati sa se odihneasca. Am invatat greu lucrul asta, dar am reusit sa il invat. Trebuie sa privim cu incredere in viitor si sa nu fim fixati in trecut. Se spune ca acei care uita trecutul il vor repeta. Eu cred ca din contra, cel care nu lasa trecutul sa fie trecut, il va repeta.

Si nici nu e bine sa facem o competitie intre mortii nostri si mortii altora, care au fost mai multi si care au suferit mai mult. Au suferit toti, foarte mult. Daca ii punem in competitie, ne batem de fapt joc de suferinta lor.

Insa cateodata e bine sa ne amintim de trecut, de cei care au suferit, si sa varsam o lacrima pentru ei.



(Amintiri din Garla Mare)

Monday, June 25, 2012

Elfreth’s Alley, the Oldest Street in America


This is the oldest (and still inhabited) street in US. Elfreth’s Alley  dates to before the United States were even imagined. It was created in 1702 after two local blacksmiths pooled pieces of their land to form the alleyway. Ben Franklin lived there, while Betsy Ross - credited with making the first American flag - paid a visit. The oldest house dates to 1725. By the early 20th century Elfreth’s Alley was run-down and faced potential demolition. But it escaped the wrecking ball and is a National Historic Landmark District. Residents open their houses and gardens every June to the public.




Butchers, bakers, candlestick-makers... During the 18th century, most businesses were home-based. Over the years, grocers, shoemakers, cabinetmakers, tailors and others worked out of the first floor of their Elfreth’s Alley houses. That changed during the 19th century Industrial Revolution, when people worked in neighborhood factories. the Alley preserves three centuries of evolution through its old-fashioned flower boxes, shutters, Flemish bond brickwork and other architectural details. Two adjacent houses, built in 1755, are now a museum and are open to the public. Tiny by modern standards, the two homes were considered average size in their day. During the 19th century, eight families (27 people) shared the two homes, a situation not uncommon for the era.
Named for blacksmith and property-owner Jeremiah Elfreth, Elfreth’s Alley was home to the 18th century artisans and trades-people who were the backbone of colonial Philadelphia. Three hundred years later, the houses on this itty-bitty, cobblestone street are still hot properties.




I walked once through Elfreth's Alley, without knowing its history. It was on a Sunday afternoon, I had come to Philly for a day, just to feel the taste of it, to let me charmed.


(Philadelphia)

O fotografie dela anul una mie opt sute optzeci şi opt

Mihai Eminescu, Veronica Micle, I.L. Caragiale, Alexandru Vlahuta, Bucuresti, 1888
publicata pe Facebook de Nicolae Uszkai
no copyright infringement intended

Aceasta fotografie, descoperita recent, pare sa fie facuta langa Dambovita in fata unui parapet metalic. In fundal se vede Hanul lui Manuc (pe vremea aceea Hotel Dacia), in dreapta biserica Sf. Ioan. Hotelul Dacia gazduia in acel timp o sala de spectacole. Fotografia a apartinut lui Nicolae Soreanu, un tanar actor, care i-a daruit-o lui Nicolae Teodorescu, ucenicul tipogaf care facea afise pentru teatru. Fiul sau, Teodorescu N. Pantelimon a transmis-o nepotului sau. Mihai Eminescu este in dreapta sus, purtand pe cap o palarie si avand mustati proeminente. In anul 1888 poetul se afla in Bucuresti, la rugamintile Veronicai, care-l furase de la Henrieta din Botosani. In dreapta poetului se afla Veronica Micle care purta o palarie vieneza cu panglica, iar in stanga poetului era Vlahuta. Inca din 1887 Veronica se mutase la Bucuresti, tragand totusi nadejde la o mezalianta cu poetul.
In primul plan se afla I.L. Caragiale cu capul descoperit, duelandu-se cu bastonul lui Stefan Iulian, actor la Teatrul National. Intre ei este studentul Iancu Brezeanu, viitorul actor care a jucat rolul memorabil al cetateanului turmentat si pe Ion din Napasta. In fotografie mai apare si Aristizza Romanescu, artista atat de iubita de Veronica Micle, careia i-a inchinat si o poezie.


(Vreau sa ii multumesc domnului Alexandru Ursu-Bukowina, care a repostat aceasta fotografie pe Facebook)

(Bucuresti)

(Eminescu)

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Fel de Fel de Întâmplări cu Tot Soiul de Parizieni

la Paris in cizme de cauciuc
imagine luata din ziarul Indiscret
(http://www.indiscret.ro/129/reportaj/4527/la-paris-in-cizme-de-cauciuc.html)
no copyright infringement intended

(click here for the English version)

Se inseala cine crede ca Parisul este numai unul. Ca sa va dau doar un exemplu, mai exista un Paris si in sudul Basarabiei. Si mai sunt si altele. Chiar acum cateva zile am aflat de un Paris prin judetul Olt, un cătun facand parte din satul Optași-Magura, destul de aproape de Scornicești. Suna ciudat, nu-i asa? Un cătun numit Paris, la care ajungi numai trecand printr-un vad, pentru ca pod nu exista. Daca apa e mica, treci vadul usor, pe jos sau cu masina. Insa primavara se umfla apele, si atunci doar caruta trece peste puhoi, altfel nu mai ajungi la Paris. Un cătun de cateva zeci de case, cu un magazin mititel si saracacios, botezat butic, in care poti sa dai pe gat o tărie ieftină, un drum cam nepietruit, si parizieni care fac haz de necaz tot timpul. Am fost de multe ori la Slatina si am cunoscut o gramada de oameni de prin satele din jur. Ei, uite ca printre ei se aflau si cativa parizieni.

Dar de unde o veni numele catunului din judetul Olt? Nimeni nu stie precis, exista cateva ipoteze, toate cam deocheate. Iata una dintre ele:

Am auzit ca, inainte de razboi, obisnuia sa vina pe linia asta, care se numea atunci drumul de manevra, un perceptor,  sa-si ia dreptul. Cand il vedeau ca vine, oamenii se ascundeau si dezlegau cainii sa-l alunge. Vazand atatia caini pe ulita, perceptorul ar fi zis ca numai in Paris, capitala, mai sunt asa de multi si asfel a ramas si numele catunului.

Cu Parisul din sudul Basarabiei este o istorie mai lunga. Nu l-am vazut niciodata, dar stiu de el din copilarie. Tatal meu traise multi ani la Galati. Era intre cele doua razboaie mondiale, iar Basarabia se unise cu patria ei mama. Pana la Paris nu era deci prea departe, iar tatal meu si prietenii lui, toti foarte tineri pe vremea aceea, glumeau intre ei, ma duc si eu la Paris pentru vreo doua zile.

Vorba asta mi-a ramas in minte, de parca ar fi fost si pentru mine simplu sa dau o fuga pana la Paris. Insa alte informatii nu aveam,  decat gluma de care tatal meu imi pomenise de fapt doar o singura data. Iar de ajuns acolo, era mai greu chiar decat sa te duci pana in Parisul frantuzesc. Bugeacul (cum mai este cunoscut sudul Basarabiei), cu Parisul lui cu tot, face parte acum din Ucraina, formand cu tinutul de dincolo de Limanul Nistrului o singura zona administrativa, regiunea Odesa.

Anii au trecut, am reusit odata sa ajung si in Parisul de pe malul Senei, dar la cel din Bugeac tot n-a fost sa fie.

Acum vreo doua saptamani, un prieten a postat pe Facebook o imagine a unui sat: cateva cladiri lunguiete ordonate perpendicular pe un drum larg de tara. Titlul mi-a atras atentia: Romania. Moldova. Cetatea Alba. Tarutino. Paris. 1940.


Romania. Moldova. Cetatea Alba. Tarutino. Paris. 1940
imagine publicata pe Facebook de catre Alexandru Ursu-Bukowina
(sursa: bettcherfamily.blogspot.com)
no copyright infringement intended

Era prima imagine din Parisul basarabean pe care o vedeam, si prima indicatie pentru a localiza asezarea: Paris, Tarutino, Cetatea Alba, inseamna ca localitatea Paris facuse parte pana in 1940 din plasa Tarutino, la randul ei parte din judetul Cetatea Alba.

Am inceput sa caut pe web, pentru a da de o surpriza: intre cele doua razboaie mondiale Parisul a facut parte de fapt din plasa Tatar-Bunar (asezarea fiind insa foarte apropiata si de Tarutino).

Oricum, aflasem ca Parisul se afla intre Tarutino si Tatar-Bunar.  Pasul urmator era gasirea unei harti a zonei. Aici alta dracie: intre timp numele localitatii s-a schimbat! Se cheama acum Veselyi Kut (Веселый Кут), ceea ce pe romaneste inseamna Unghiul Vesel, sau Coltzul Vesel. Peste asta, Veselyi Kut nu este nici el unul singur, asa ca daca nu esti atent, dai de o harta a unei zone cu un alt Coltz Vesel, mai aproape insa de Kiev.

Pana la urma am dat de harta cu Parisul devenit Veselyi Kut si asezat intre Tarutino si Tatar-Bunar:


harta regiunii
(http://www.picturesofcities.info/map-city/Vesely-Kut/2748017/)
no copyright infringement intended



harta regiunii - close up
(http://www.picturesofcities.info/map-city/Vesely-Kut/2748017/)
no copyright infringement intended


Odata toate lucrurile astea stabilite, am inceput sa caut pe Internet imagini ale Parisului basarabean. Aici o noua surpriza: ce-am gasit mai intai era o imagine de epoca a unei biserici luterane!


Biserica Luterana din Paris - asa cum era odata
(https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1yEH4L07P2nuLhrQysCNpVJYTAPfxYuXoLcFxL43mX5c)
no copyright infringement intended

O biserica luterana aratand fara nici un cusur si aflata intr-un sat asezat intre Tarutino si Tatar-Bunar, fie el chiar purtand un nume atat de sonor cum este Parisul, asta imi parea de mirare, insa curand aveam sa dau de tot mai multe surprize.

Pe langa Paris, in zona existau localitati precum Leipzig, Wittenberg, Klöstitz, Katzbach, printre multe altele cu nume sunand la fel de nemteste. Alaturi de ele si nume romanesti, unele avand un farmec cu totul aparte, ca de pilda Frumușica sau Grădina. Cat despre numele rusesti de localitati, astea erau de fapt nume de batalii din timpul razboiului cu Napoleon  (Tarutino, Berezina, sau Borodino).

Azi insa numele de localitati de acolo sunt mai toate ucrainiene, Halle a devenit Alisivka, Strassburg (ca exista acolo si un Strassburg) a devenit Alkalyia, pana si Cetatea Alba se numeste acum Bilhorod Dnyiestrivskyi. Cat despre biserica luterana din Paris (azi numit Veselyi Kut), arata acum la fel cum arata orice cladire abandonata.


Biserica Luterana din Paris - cum a ajuns intre timp
fotografie de Reiseluscht
(http://www.panoramio.com/photo/41281637)
no copyright infringement intended

Iar cand am pus totul cap la cap am reusit sa inteleg un capitol de istorie, care a inceput pe la 1814 si s-a terminat fix in octombrie 1940: prezenta colonistilor germani in Basarabia.

Aducerea de colonisti germani in tinuturile dintre Prut si Nistru (smulse in 1812 de catre Rusia din trupul Moldovei) a inceput dupa incheierea razboaielor cu Napoleon. Colonistii erau improprietariti si primeau unelte agricole, intreaga comunitate bucurandu-se de un regim fiscal avantajos si de un grad ridicat de autonomie, religioasa, culturala si administrativa.

Primii colonisti veniti au ramas cunoscuti sub numele de colonisti  varsovieni, ceea ce nu inseamna ca erau polonezi - erau tot germani, care pe la 1800 se mutasera din regiunile lor de origine intr-o zona apartinand in acel moment regatului Prusiei, trecuta apoi sub autoritatea Marelui Ducat al Varsoviei, apoi sub administrare tarista - pentru acesti germani era asadar o a doua migrare in mai putin de douazeci de ani.

In general colonistii germani au venit din regiuni foarte diferite, asa incat in fiecare sat intemeiat de ei in Basarabia se vorbea un alt dialect. Unii erau din provinciile germane din nord, li se zicea aici, poate impropriu, kashubi. Celor sositi din sud li se zicea svabi, originari din Suabia adica (ceea ce ii diferentiaza de svabii din Banat - cu ei e alta poveste, pe care voi incerca sa v-o spun altadata).

Alta imagine de azi a Bisericii Luterane din Paris
fotografie de Herb Poppke
(https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1yEH4L07P2nuLhrQysCNpVJYTAPfxYuXoLcFxL43mX5c)
no copyright infringement intended

Sa ne intoarcem insa la Paris, ca am cam uitat de el. Satul a fost intemeiat in 1816, cu colonisti varsovieni. care l-au botezat la inceput Alecksuesswerth, probabil in amintirea localitatii din Netzedistrikt (una din regiunile acelea cand prusace, cand poloneze) pe care o parasisera pentru a veni aici. A fost insa repede redenumit Paris prin decizie venita dela Petersburg, dela Ministerul de Interne al Rusiei. Motivul nu era celebrarea capitalei franceze, cum am fi putut banui, ci cu totul altul, un motiv care azi pare bizar, dar in momentul acela isi avea rostul lui: in urma marii Batalii a Natiunilor dela Leipzig, armata tarului ajunsese pana la Paris!

Bun, deci parizienii din Bugeac erau varsovieni de pe Valea Netzerului, ca sa zic asa, dar acum ma veti intreba de unde plecasera prima oara, cand se mutasera in Netzedistrikt? Se pare ca din zona Mecklenburgului, adica de undeva de pe langa Rostock, Schwerin sau Neubrandenburg, asadar din nordul Germaniei.

Si daca mergem si mai indarat in timp, pot sa va zic ca am dat de o alta surpriza: parizienii ar fi pana la urma chiar parizieni! Ma rog, nu chiar parizieni, dar oricum francezi: hughenoti care ar fi venit in tinuturile germane din cauza persecutiilor religioase. Deci Franta (nu chiar Paris) - Germania (Meklenburg) - Polonia (Netzedistrikt) - sudul Basarabiei (Paris). Este o ipoteza frumoasa, nimic de zis, insa nu se sprijina decat pe o singura observatie: existenta in Parisul basarabean a multor nume de familie care suna frantuzeste (chiar daca au fost in timp germanizate): Allmer, Fano, Fercho, Jans, Kison, Kroisandt, Reppnack, Salo. Am gasit observatia asta intr-un singur loc: o carte (Suckut, Arthur: Paris in Bessarabien. Herausgegeben zum 170. Jahrestag der Gründung des Dorfes Paris, im Eigenverlag, 1986), citata in http://www.armin-zimmermann.eu/Bessarabien/Herkunft/Bessarabien_englisch.html#Paris.


Masina de treierat cu locomotiva, Paris, 1915
(http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/order/general/newbook.html)
no copyright infringement intended

Venirea colonistilor si intemeierea de sate germane a continuat pana la 1840. Si au ramas acolo pentru multe decenii, reprezentand vreo 3% din totalul populatiei basarabene, pastrandu-si identitatea lor de germani (ba chiar si dialectele, diferite dela sat la sat), in timp ce tinuturile dintre Prut si Nistru si-au trait istoria lor, sudul Basarabiei fiind in componenta Romaniei pentru vreo douazeci si ceva de ani la in a doua parte a secolului XIX, fiind ocupat apoi iar de Rusia, intreaga Basarabie unindu-se  cu Romania la 1918.

Colonistii germani aveau sa paraseasca Basarabia in octombrie 1940, dupa ocuparea provinciei de catre Uniunea Sovietica. Plecarea colonisitilor era urmarea unei intelegeri germano-sovietice, in baza Pactului Ribbentrop-Molotov. In satele ramase goale au fost adusi rusi si ucrainieni.

Octombrie 1940 - Etnicii germani parasesc Basarabia
imagine publicata pe Facebook de catre Alexandru Ursu-Bukowina
no copyright infringement intended

Am gasit pe Facebook mai multe imagini legate de plecarea colonistilor germani in octombrie 1940. Imi permit sa fac o remarca: nu este vorba de refugiati, pentru ca, asa cum am zis, colonistii au plecat din Basarabia pe baza unei intelegeri germano-sovietice in cadrul Pactului Ribbentrop-Molotov: la acea data relatiile dintre Hitler si Stalin erau excelente.

imagine publicata pe Facebook de catre Alexandru Ursu-Bukowina
no copyright infringement intended

imagine publicata pe Facebook de catre Alexandru Ursu-Bukowina
no copyright infringement intended


imagine publicata pe Facebook de catre Alexandru Ursu-Bukowina
no copyright infringement intended



Si o ultima surpriza: am gasit pe web trei filme documentare, create de urmasii de astazi ai acelor colonisti germani din Basarabia, urmasi care au reusit sa viziteze satele stramosilor lor, azi locute de ucrainieni: un pelerinaj facut pe jos, din sat in sat, insotiti de o caruta de bagaje, trasa de un cal cu un nume extraordinar: Bunik!

Acei colonisti de demult au reusit sa isi pastreze identitatea lor de germani, aflati atat de departe de patrie. Urmasii lor traiesc azi in Germania, si reusesc sa pastreze identitatea bunicilor si strabunicilor lor de pe pamantul Basarabiei. Sa va dau cateva fraze spuse in filmul al treilea:

Heimat ist kein Ort
Heimat ist ein Gefühl

Wer nicht weiß, woher er kommt, der weiß auch nicht, wohin er geht!


1. Back to the Roots (Inapoi la radacini)

Back To The Roots, martie 2009
Anika Teubner
Impressionen in Fotoform
(video by melocotonchen)


2. Eine Bessarabische Reise (O calatorie basarabeana)



Eine Bessarabische Reise, septembrie 2009
Anika Teubner und Werner Schabert
Part 1/4
(video by melocotonchen/)


Eine Bessarabische Reise, septembrie 2009
Anika Teubner und Werner Schabert
Part 2/4
(video by melocotonchen/)


Eine Bessarabische Reise, septembrie 2009
Anika Teubner und Werner Schabert  
Part 3/4
(video by melocotonchen/)


Eine Bessarabische Reise, septembrie 2009
Anika Teubner und Werner Schabert  
Part 4/4
(video by melocotonchen/)


3. Der Weg ist das Ziel - zu Fuß in Bessarabie (Drumul este scopul - pe jos prin Basarabia)



Der Weg ist das Ziel - zu Fuß in Bessarabie, 2011
Anika Teubner
die Dokumentation einer 5-tägigen Wanderung 
durch verschiedene, ehemals deutsche Ortschaften Bessarabiens.
Stationen: Tarutino, Alt-Posttal, Katzbach, Alt-Elft, Paris, Krasna.
Strecke: ca. 80 Km
(video by melocotonchen)



(Amintiri din Garla Mare)

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Friday, June 22, 2012

Rabindranath Tagore, a movie by Satyajit Ray



Together come here two great names of the Bengali universe, Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray. A documentary made in 1961, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Tagore.

It was a tribute of admiration, and Ray was careful to strictly keep within the limits of the portrait as known and revered throughout India, to avoid any possibly controversial aspect, any iconoclast question. The whole space of the movie was reserved to Tagore, and Ray tried to hide completely any mark of his own presence. However, in the scenes of Tagore as a boy, you feel the universe from Pather Panchali, the way the boy Tagore is looking at the world call in mind the fascinated eyes of Apu. It is there that you feel the encounter of the two titans. And Ray once said that ten or twelve minutes of it (of the documentary) were among the most moving and powerful things he had produced (http://www.satyajitray.org/films/tagore.htm).




Rabindranath Tagore, a documentary by Satyajit Ray (1961)
(video by sshoibal)

(Satyajit Ray)

(Rabindranath Tagore)

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