My Birthplace and Place of Residence until 1940
From the Website of des Willi Kosiul
Translation by Google, Needs Editing
Posted with permission of the author’s son, February 7, 2021
My place of birth and until 1940 my place of residence Czudyn (in German Tschudin and in Romanian Ciudei) is also in the northern part of Bukovina, in the former Storozynetz district. The trunk road (the former Austrian military road) which once connected the north and south of Bukovina runs through the town of Czudyn. North it goes to Storozynetz and Chernivtsi and then to Galicia and Poland. Head south towards Krasna, then to the Ukrainian / Romanian border and in Romania to Radautz, Suczawa, Transylvania and Hungary. In the center of Czudyn this trunk road is crossed by a paved gravel road to the east and west.
Two mountain rivers run through the market town of Czudyn,
- a larger river is the “Serecell”, which flows from the mountains of Krasna Ilski into the river “Kleiner Sereth” and
- a smaller river called “Czudyn”, which comes from the mountains of Neuhütte, in the place Czudyn flows into the river “Serecell” and is thus a tributary of the “Serecell”.
Both rivers arise in the Carpathian Mountains at heights of around 500 m to 600 m and are small, flat and peaceful streams in dry weather in summer. However, in spring when the snow melts and at other times of the year when there is a lot of heavy rain, they both become inundated torrential rivers.
The market town of Czudyn consisted of the large central market town that had arisen around the street crossing and the trunk road. Then Czudyn has a large district = called Kornischor, which stretches out from the center in a westerly direction, mainly along the river Czudyn and the road to Neuhütte, over a length of about 3 km and also widens like a nest to the north . The market town of Czudyn was about 446 above sea level and its district of Kornischor (where we had lived until 1940) had a height of 480 m. Behind it, the Carpathian forest and the mountains began with over 500 m height and then in just west a few kilometers the increase to over 1,000 m.
Our property there was located directly on a high mountain, with a very steep southern slope and a very beautiful and wide view to the south towards Krasna and Althütte and to the southwest towards Neuhütte. Only German families and their descendants had once settled on and around this mountain. At that time, no building land was sold to non-German families, and as a result, they had no access to settlement. In the time before 1700 this housing estate “Czudyn” with some wooden houses and huts as well as the surrounding lands belonged to two wealthy sisters from Moldova who inherited it, but never managed it and did not even live there themselves. According to an old document dated August 15, 1701, these two rich and very devout Greek Orthodox sisters, Her entire property there – this housing estate in Czudyn with the lands belonging to it, was given to the Greek Orthodox monastery in Putna district of Radautz in southern Bukovina. As a result, from 1701 this entire area belonged to the Greek Orthodox monastery in Putna, which was about 40 km from Czudyn.
Since the Putna monastery could not cultivate these so distant lands in Czudyn with their monks and slaves themselves, they had leased it to the landless residents of Czudyn and the surrounding area – for high taxes in kind and a rent. In 1707 this housing estate was first mentioned by name as “Czudyn”. This place name Czudyn comes from the Ruthenian (today Ukrainian word) “Czudo” and means in German = miracle. This name comes from the following legend:
In the Czudyner area there were once water springs = mineral springs, which at that time were regarded by the local residents as holy miracle springs with a miracle water as a remedy and then also called that. The miracle water of these miracle springs was used especially as a remedy for eye ailments, but also for other diseases. People in this area with eye problems or other diseases came to these miraculous springs and washed their faces and eyes as well as other sick body parts with this spring water, and also drank this spring water in order to experience relief or even a cure for their illness. But many healthy people in the area came to these miraculous springs, washed themselves with these miraculous water and also drank it in order to prevent such diseases.
As a result, this housing estate with its miraculous springs had a special meaning in this area even then, was visited again and again by a large number of people and was therefore very well known to the population of the area. This housing estate is said to have been given the popular name “Czudo” = miracle, from these alleged miracle sources, and the official place name “Czudyn” later emerged from this. The river Czudyn is said to have nothing to do with these miraculous springs. This mountain river got its name later, derived from the name of this housing estate, because it flows through this place Czudyn. The residential area of Czudyn and its surroundings, like this entire area, once belonged to the Principality of Moldova and was under the rule of the Ottomans = the Turks for almost 300 years. In the Russo-Turkish War (1768 – 1774) it was continuously occupied by Russia from 1769 to 1774. In 1774, Austrian troops occupied this entire area forever and in 1775 it was ceded by Turkey to Austria under treaty and international law. During this period from 1774/1775 to 1783 the settlement of Czudyn and its surroundings were still owned by the Greek Orthodox monastery in Putna, Radautz district in southern Bukovina. During the Austrian occupation in 1774, the Czudyn housing estate had a total of 34 families with around 170 people. In the years 1783 to 1785, according to the decree of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II, the entire land of the Greek Orthodox Church and its monasteries was removed and placed under Austrian state administration. According to this imperial decree – between 1783 and 1785 – many monasteries in Bukovina were completely dissolved and their number was greatly reduced. In the monasteries that remained, their staff (their monks and also their slaves) were also reduced in numbers.
These ecclesiastical lands and forests were regionally combined in what was then called the “Greek Orthodox Religious Fund” and administered by the Austrian state. The housing estate Czudyn with the lands and forests belonging to it came under the rule of the religious fund with its seat in Kuczurmare – between Storozynetz and Czernowitz – which exercised state administration over it.
This state religious fund rule in Kuczurmare leased these lands around Czudyn, Krasna Putna, Neuhütte etc. up to the Storozynetz area to an Austrian leaseholder Ritter von Kriegshaber from Galicia. This Austrian major tenant Ritter von Kriegshaber then leased the long-term leased land, including the forest areas, to the residents there and then later to immigrant families, under certain conditions, for their use.
Due to this possibility of the now favorable land allocation and the subsequent settlement of immigrants, the favorable location as well as the transport connections, the housing estate Czudyn had developed well and its population increased. In 1784 Czudyn already had 67 families with about 335 people. After the immigration from Moldova and Galicia, some German-Bohemian immigrants from the Bohemian Forest came after 1800 and settled here in Czudyn among the already existing population. When a new glassworks was built in the western forest of Czudyn around 1815 by German-Bohemian glassmakers and also Slovak and Polish woodcutters, a new German housing estate was built, which was later called “Neuhütte” and always belonged to the municipality of Czudyn. In later years, all immigrants of all nationalities who immigrated to and settled in Bukovina were given the land leased there as their own hereditary land by means of an Austrian imperial decree. The property obtained in this way could also be bequeathed to the children, but could not be sold on. Around 1880 and afterwards, many different immigrants of different nationalities came, settled here in Czudyn and became settled. There were German-Bohemian immigrants or their descendants from other newly established German housing estates from the Bukowina who had come to Czudyn and lived here for various reasons. with an Austrian imperial decree, the land leased there as a separate hereditary land. The property obtained in this way could also be bequeathed to the children, but could not be sold on. Around 1880 and afterwards, many different immigrants of different nationalities came, settled here in Czudyn and became settled. There were German-Bohemian immigrants or their descendants from other newly established German housing estates from the Bukowina who had come to Czudyn and lived here for various reasons. with an Austrian imperial decree, the land leased there as a separate hereditary land. The property obtained in this way could also be bequeathed to the children, but could not be sold on. Around 1880 and afterwards, many different immigrants of different nationalities came, settled here in Czudyn and became settled. There were German-Bohemian immigrants or their descendants from other newly established German housing estates from the Bukowina who had come to Czudyn and lived here for various reasons. Around 1880 and afterwards, many different immigrants of different nationalities came, settled here in Czudyn and became settled. There were German-Bohemian immigrants or their descendants from other newly established German housing estates from the Bukowina who had come to Czudyn and lived here for various reasons. Around 1880 and afterwards, many different immigrants of different nationalities came, settled and settled here in Czudyn. There were German-Bohemian immigrants or their descendants from other newly established German housing estates from the Bukowina who had come to Czudyn and lived here for various reasons.
On December 31, 1900, the municipality of Czudyn, with its district of Kornischor (excluding the Neuhütte housing estate) had a total of 2,594 inhabitants, different ethnic groups and nationalities. The following creeds were among these residents of Czudyn:
- 67% Greek Orthodox with predominantly Romanians and some Ruthenians,
- 20% Jews and
- 12% Catholics (mostly Germans and some Poles).
The colloquial language in Czudyn at that time was:
- 66% of the residents spoke Romanian,
- 31% spoke German (including the Jews) and only
- 2% spoke Ruthenian here.
Since the official language here at that time was German and the educated Jews had also attended German schools and other higher German educational institutions because their parents were wealthy and could afford it financially, almost all Jews at that time had a very good command of the German language.
Since the municipality of Czudyn grew into a large municipality due to strong immigration, the location was very central and the traffic conditions there were also very favorable, the municipality of Czudyn was raised to a market municipality in 1906. After that, Czudyn was officially a market town with official market rights, a central point for public trade and the regular market activities of all surrounding villages and communities. In addition, the official market town of Czudyn was also included in the rules of the weekly scheduled large market days of Storozynetz – Czudyn – Sereth – and Radautz. After that there was the big market day every Wednesday in Czudyn, when the traders from Storozynetz – Sereth – and Radautz also came to Czudyn to trade here. In these great weekly markets On certain days of the week, in Storozynetz – Czudyn – Sereth – and Radautz, everything was traded, from chicken eggs and butter to cattle and horses. At that time, Jews and professional traders hiked on all market days – from one to the other – on Wednesday to Czudyn, on Thursday to Storozynetz, on Friday to Radautz and on Saturday to Sereth, as desired and required. But also the farmers and artisans who had several goods to sell, such as B. in autumn after the harvest, also drove from Czudyn and the surrounding area to Storozynetz or further to sell their goods. The peasant women from Czudyn and the surrounding area, who did not get rid of their agricultural products at the wholesale market in Czudyn on Wednesday, also walked the 16 km to Storozynetz on Thursday or took a horse-drawn carriage,
The municipality of Czudyn had had a large, massive state Austrian elementary school with several classrooms and several teachers, who had taught in German in the first few years and in some classes in Romanian since 1900. After 1919 – under Romanian rule – this large elementary school became a Romanian state elementary school with lessons in Romanian only.
In 1930 a small, massive Romanian state school with two classrooms was built in our district of Kornischor, in which all children of this district from the 1st to the 4th grade attended this school with only Romanian language lessons. Two age groups were accommodated in each classroom. The older age group had lessons in the morning and the younger age group had their lessons in the afternoon and were each taught by a teacher. My siblings and I had attended this Romanian state school in the Kornischor. This school was only about 400 to 500 m from our house. Since our house was on a high mountain, we could see our way to school from home and also see our school.
I started school there in 1937 – at the age of seven – and had attended it up to third grade in June 1940. We German-Bohemian children were allowed to talk to each other in our German-Bohemian mother tongue in this Romanian state primary school, not even during the breaks. At this school, as in many other Romanian schools, this was forbidden on punishment.
As in schools, it was also in all Romanian state administrations. Only the Romanian official language was allowed there. All other languages were forbidden. This was demanded and enforced by the Romanian authorities and administrations in order to humiliate the German population there as well as other nationalities, to suppress them and thus to Romanize them more easily.
From the fifth to the seventh grade, the children in our Kornischor district then had to go to the large elementary school – the central school – in Czudyn. But most of the children had not made use of it and simply stayed away from school after the fourth grade, without permission. The way to school to the large elementary school – the central school – in Czudyn was about 3 km and was therefore too far to walk. The older children were already needed as workers at home in agriculture and housekeeping and that is why most parents did not send their older children to school after the fourth grade. It was the same with all my siblings, who had only attended elementary school there for only four years.
The few parents who had sent their children to the central school in Czudyn from the 5th grade onwards were often induced to keep their children at home during this cold season, especially in the winter months because of the very heavy snow there and the severe cold and wait for better weather
But even in the times of spring tillage, maintenance work in agriculture and then also in the harvest season in autumn, many parents kept their older children at home as workers and did not send them to school. As a result, school attendance also came to an end for some of these older children. This attitude of the parents towards their children going to school was tolerated there by the Romanian authorities. No school authority and the teachers were not interested.
The gifted children with rich parents who could afford it financially sent their children to elementary school on a regular basis until they had finished 7th grade, as was customary there after compulsory schooling. After that, many of them sent their children to higher educational institutions in the district town of Storozynetz or in the state capital Chernivtsi, with boarding school accommodation and expensive financial expenses. The medical outpatient care and care was given in Czudyn for the residents of the community and also the surrounding villages and communities until 1940 by three doctors and a pharmacy. There was no hospital in Czudyn, only in towns like Storozynetz and Chernivtsi.
Since the residents there did not always have the money to see a doctor when they were sick, mostly natural plants and home remedies were used to get well again. Anyone who was physically too weak, had too few defenses of their own and therefore did not manage to get well again, did not survive it and was buried. Because of this, the mortality rate among the population, often from simple colds, was quite high. Child mortality and female death in childbed were particularly well represented. Only in very serious cases of illness and if the necessary money was available, a doctor was consulted and the necessary medicine was bought in the pharmacy.
The market town of Czudyn had a district court, public prosecutors and lawyers and a small police station with two police officers for our area in Czudyn and the surrounding area. In the town of Czudyn there was also a guard and lock company with some armed men who had served the Romanian military. My oldest brother Adolf was there too. There were also several shops and restaurants in Czudyn, but mostly in Jewish hands.
The market town of Czudyn also had the only railway connection with a train station in this whole area. It was a dead end because this railway connection in front of the Carpathian Mountains ended here, it couldn’t go any further. The train traffic therefore started from Czudyn, only in one direction, to the northeast to Hliboka and on detours – through the mountains – to the district town of Storozynetz and then further north to the state capital Chernivtsi or to the south, to Sereth, Radautz and Suczawa . From Czudyn there was also an operating track with standard gauge, only for freight traffic about 7 km to Krasna to the large sawmill and the large plywood factory there.
Czudyn also had a small narrow-gauge railway going west into the mountains – via Augustendorf to Banilla. This narrow-gauge railway was built especially to transport wood from the forest mountains. It went as far as the Czudyner train station, then the tree trunks were reloaded onto the normal gauge operating track and then transported on to the sawmill in Krasna. This narrow-gauge railway also had a small passenger train car with it, in order to also carry passenger traffic between Czudyn – Augustendorf – and Banilla on this route. Furthermore there were no train stations or train connections in this our area – because of the Carpathian Mountains.
Due to the official market place in Czudyn and these existing social facilities, including the only train station and the railway connection, Czudyn was a central focus here and the inhabitants of the surrounding villages and communities were dependent on Czudyn for many questions.
The place Czudyn had for many years a large, massive Greek Orthodox church and also a large, massive Jewish temple, which were the only ones here for the many believers of these denominations in the surrounding villages and communities. This is how these believers came to their church in Czudyn. In 1867 the Catholics in Czudyn built a small Roman Catholic chapel out of wood, in which a small mass was only held every other Sunday. A Catholic missionary (chaplain or pastor) came first from Kaczyka, later from Krasna and Althütte, who had held this service.
At that time and later until 1940, Althütte was the only competent Catholic church and also the parish of this entire area. Therefore, the Catholics from Czudyn had to go to church 10 km to Althütte or drive with the horse and cart, especially on church days of worship and church holidays and also for family events such as child baptism and weddings. In the event of deaths and their burials, the pastor from Althütte had to be picked up by horse-drawn carriage, taken to the house where he died and the cemetery, and then brought back home to Althütte. If you didn’t have horses, you had to hire a carter.
Between 1933 and 1935 a larger, massive Roman Catholic church with a steeple was built in Czudyn. Until 1935 the Catholic parish of Czudyn belonged to the parish of Althütte and when the church in Czudyn was established, the Catholic parish of Czudyn (with some surrounding villages and parishes) was separated from the parish of Althütte and raised to its own parish, which was later that didn’t work either. The parish of Czudyn at that time had about 600 Catholics, mostly Germans and some of them Poles.
Now, from 1935 onwards, Czudyn had its own massive, beautiful church with a steeple and a church bell and it also became an independent parish, but it did not have its own priest who also lived there. Because of this, a pastor from Althütte still had to come to Czudyn, as before – until 1940 – to hold mass there on only certain days and also to do all other church tasks.
In 1939 the market town of Czudyn with its large district of Kornischor (without the associated village of Neuhütte) had 3,741 inhabitants, of which 597 = 16% Germans who had once come to Bucovina as German-Bohemian immigrants. Later descendants from German-Bohemian villages immigrated to Czudyn. They were all Roman Catholic.
In 1940 Czudyn with its district Kornischor (excluding the German-Bohemian village Neuhütte) had around 4,500 inhabitants, including 18% Germans and almost as many Jews in the village. The market town of Czudyn had a very large hut pasture of several square kilometers to the west and northwest of its suburbs, Kornischor. This old Austrian term “Hutweide” meant a large public pasture for domestic cattle that belonged to the municipality. Every community resident was allowed to graze all of their cattle – from goose to horse – free of charge throughout the year. Since this pasture was not fenced in at all, or not completely fenced, every owner had to be careful about it, so that it did not run away or penetrate into the surrounding cultivated areas and cause damage there.
Our pasture there was completely open to the west towards the Carpathian Forest, so that the sheep, cattle and horses could have disappeared into it. This pasture was so large that the cattle grazing on it – even without supervision – were often driven home in the evening by a rider with a dog.
Since our small farm – like some others – was directly adjacent to this hut pasture, it was very cheap to drive our cattle from the farm to the hut pasture.
The community forest also began about a kilometer from our farm, which was very cheap for the procurement of the necessary building materials and firewood. One tree was bought from the responsible forester and the “rest” was only “taken away”.
The German minority lived here in Czudyn, in this multinational market town, as day laborers, forest workers, carters, farmers and artisans with a peasant sideline (mostly in poor conditions) until they were relocated to the German Empire in 1040.
Here the Germans, like the other nationalities, lived modestly, quite undemanding and especially the large families (who had between 8 and 12 or even more children) were very poor. Here, the families’ property was divided up more and more through marriage and dowry as well as the building of houses for the young couple on their own clod, and thus continuously reduced in size. As a result, the parents’ arable land became smaller and smaller over time and was no longer sufficient to feed their own family. As a result, the householder and then also the sons were forced to look for a job and thus an income in order to be able to support the families.
The resulting smaller farms were – in these cases – farmed by women and children, mostly only for their own needs. Most of the time the men had worked outside the village or many kilometers in the Carpathian Forest and only came home for the weekend. As a result, small-scale farming and housekeeping, as well as providing for the family and bringing up children, mostly rested on the shoulders of women, who were generally more stressed and struggled than their husbands abroad and far from their families.
In the entire market town of Czudyn and in all surrounding villages and communities there was no electric light until 1940. Here the well-known kerosene lamp and the stable lantern were the lighting sources for the house and stable. The water supply was ensured by a box crank well with chain and water bucket, which is still the case in the villages today and works well.
On June 28, 1940, the Soviet Army occupied our market town of Czudyn and the surrounding area forever, triggering the resettlement of the Germans to the German Reich.
According to the resettlement agreement between Berlin and Moscow of September 5, 1940, we Germans had special privileges compared to the other nationalities of the Soviet-occupied northern Bukovina. As Germans, we enjoyed special protection and official consideration from the Soviet army with our property. In the cities and larger communities, signs in German and Russian were affixed to important houses or objects belonging to the Germans, clearly visible from the outside, with the inscription “This house is German property”. These signs on the houses as well as the personal resettlement cards of the resettlers were observed by the Soviet Army and the contractual agreements were also observed.
The resettlement area Czudyn with Neuhütte and a few other surrounding towns and communities such as Budenitz, Petrowitz and Kupka, was formed as the local area “Bu 10”.
The Imperial German local representative appointed here in Czudyn, who was responsible for the entire local area “Bu 10”, stayed here in a German residential building and also rented a room here in Czudyn in a larger German residential building as his work office. The German resettlement commission in Czudyn consisted of the Reich German local representative, his deputy and a German-Russian interpreter, a taxactor and his secretary. In addition, he also had a driver with a car. The local representative in Czudyn had two local advisors and helpers who were both local and local from Germany. A permanent Soviet representative (officer of the Soviet army) with his Russian-German interpreter and driver also belonged to the entire resettlement commission.
All German families and persons from the age of 14 who wished to resettle had to appear here in person at the resettlement commissioner’s office with their documents, such as baptism certificates, marriage certificates, ancestral passports, etc., and apply for resettlement to the German Reich. Here in the work office of the resettlement commission, in the presence of the German local plenipotentiary and the Soviet representative, the resettlement applications were submitted, the documents brought with them were presented and checked by both responsible representatives and parties for their authenticity and application authorization, and questions were also clarified.
With the support of his advisors and helpers who were familiar with the area, the Reich German local representative made sure that no foreign families or people were accepted for resettlement. Every applicant had to be able to officially prove at least one Aryan-German grandparent. The German applicants must have always publicly confessed to German nationality, officially belonged to the German national community and lived and behaved according to German customs and traditions. These factors were also assessed and considered very critically by the local German resettlement commission.
The Soviet representative of this resettlement commission made sure that no applications from non-Germans, i.e. unauthorized persons, were accepted and allowed for resettlement. His task was also to keep the number of resettlements from his area of activity as low as possible.
In cases of doubt when applying for resettlement or when the Soviet representative raised an objection (which often happened), the documents were sent to the regional resettlement commission in Chernivtsi, where the higher-level German and also the Soviet side checked it again, discussed it and discussed it then finally decided it together.
Every German applicant who was accepted for resettlement by the German authorized representative in coordination with his Soviet partner received his official German “resettlement card” with his surname, first name, date of birth and his identification number as legitimation. This resettler card was made of sturdy cardboard with an eyelet and a neck strap and had to be worn around the neck by every resettler when they were removed.
After that, their immovable property (the houses and their fields) at home was valued jointly by a German and a Soviet appraiser, recorded in writing and accepted. Every resettler there immediately received an official property list from the German appraiser – as his proof. In the meantime – in Czernowitz – the transport plan for the resettlement was drawn up, then the special trains to the agreed dates and necessary departure stations were ordered from the local Soviet authorities and the transport began.
In the “Bu 10” area of Czudyn and the surrounding area, a total of 2,172 people of German origin were recorded and approved for resettlement in the German Reich. They were all removed from the Czudyn station in two special trains. Each special train consisted of passenger cars and had a capacity of about 1,000 people, with their hand luggage. In every special train there were also some freight cars for the larger luggage of the resettlers. Each resettler was assigned a special train with the respective departure time and on that day, before departure, had to be at the station with his family and luggage in good time. On October 7, 1940 at 12.00 noon, our family (my mother with us 3 children) took the first special train from our local area “Bu 10” Czudyn, as the 12th special train from northern Bukovina, via Chernivtsi and the Sanok border crossing and Krakow into the German Empire. Our special train had taken 976 people, mostly from Czudyn and some from Neuhütte.
Our local representative stayed behind in Czudyn and our transport driver took us – in the Soviet special train – across the Soviet / German border to Przemysl. Then we drove to Krakow, where we had a big official reception in the German Reich, with extensive warm meals and medical care. Then we went – equipped with food for the march – in the same train to the destination of our journey, to the observation camp in Ottmachau in Upper Silesia. On October 29, 1940 at 10 p.m. the second special train from our local area “Bu 10” = Czudyn with a total of 1,101 people left. With this second special train, the resettlement of the Germans from the local area “Bu 10” Czudyn was completed and the Germanness in this area became extinct.
Since our previous immovable property was appraised and recorded by the Soviet representatives and the Soviet Union was supposed to pay it financially to the German Reich through foreign trade, it became state property of the Soviet Union. But since the local Soviet authorities did not take care of it afterwards, local Romanians and Ukrainians moved into many German houses and farms and took possession of it. Other German houses remained empty, were exposed to decay and everyone got what they needed as building material or firewood. On June 22, 1941, the war between the German Reich and the Soviet Union began and the Soviet troops then withdrew without a fight from this entire area of northern Bukovina to the east into what was then the Soviet Union. Then the Romanian troops followed in early July 1941 without a fight and occupied Czudyn and all of northern Bukovina. Immediately afterwards all Jews from Czudyn and the surrounding area were arrested by Romanian soldiers and taken to the Czudyn courthouse. In one day a total of 634 Jews were murdered one after the other, shot in the neck and buried in a mass grave behind the courthouse. As a result, no Jew remained alive in Czudyn and the surrounding area. On March 30, 1944, Czudyn – like the whole of northern Bukovina – was again occupied by the Soviet Army forever without a fight and placed under the Ukrainian Soviet Republic. detained by Romanian soldiers and taken to the Czudyn courthouse. In one day a total of 634 Jews were murdered one after the other, shot in the neck and buried in a mass grave behind the courthouse. As a result, no Jew remained alive in Czudyn and the surrounding area. On March 30, 1944, Czudyn – like the whole of northern Bukovina – was again occupied by the Soviet Army forever without a fight and placed under the Ukrainian Soviet Republic. detained by Romanian soldiers and taken to the Czudyn courthouse. In one day a total of 634 Jews were murdered one after the other, shot in the neck and buried in a mass grave behind the courthouse. As a result, no Jew remained alive in Czudyn and the surrounding area. On March 30, 1944, Czudyn – like the whole of northern Bukovina – was again occupied by the Soviet Army forever without a fight and placed under the Ukrainian Soviet Republic.
Today the municipality of Czudyn has about 4,000 inhabitants and has become a meaningless place. There is no court, no public prosecutors or lawyers, no police station, no doctor, no pharmacy, no shops or restaurants. There is also no trading on the market today. Only a “magazine” as a small shop is available there in Czudyn today, with only a very small range of goods, because there is hardly any purchasing power there due to the very high unemployment today.
The place Czudyn is called today in Ukrainian “Mejirizzia” and in Romanian Ciudei. The distance from Czudyn to Storozynetz is 16 km and to Chernivtsi 38 km. It is 6 km from Czudyn to Krasna Putna, 10 km to Althütte along the gravel road via Krasna Putna. The footpath through the forest from Czudyn to Althütte is only 6 km away. It is a total of 17 km to the Ukrainian / Romanian border to the south. From Czudyn to Neuhütte it is 10 km, then further via Neuhütte to Augustendorf it is another 4 km, a total of 14 km and then another 2 km further, via Augustendorf to Moldavian-Banilla it is a total of 16 km.
Further and even more extensive information can be found in the three books I have already mentioned about Bukovina.