8/17/2012: Stary Sambir & Nanczuka Mala

8/17/2012:  (home to family of Steve, Russ & Ed's paternal grandmother) Morning in Stary Sambir cemetery on hillside by road.  Had been cleared by Jack Gardner, US philanthropist.  In principle, we were going to divide up and look for Nussim (Natyan) and Beila Reisner.  In fact, the hillside was steep and the weeds (tho cut at least once during the summer) were calf-high.  Even where the lettering on the stones was readable, our Hebrew didn’t get us much past “a simple and upright man”, or “a modest woman”.  I left Eileen the easiest-to-navigate section (Steve had headed to the steepest and most distant) and betook myself to mid-slope.  I tried to move systematically & take pix, but even that had me puffing and panting after a (shamefully) short while.

Anyway, we gave up after maybe an hour, headed for the nearest town where the 8 of us ate for around UAH 125 (so USD $15.)

We travel in a white van, fitted with 3 seats in front (Caroline sits there, being the thinnest), two middle seats (prime real estate).

Anyway, the three rear seats bounce a lot and have no seat belts.  The bouncing matters because the roads are rutted (deep holes)or, if they’re just uneven, Alexi (aged 23, an unemployed comp sci graduate) is driving 100 kph.  The roads are 2 lane, often nec to pass – it talks a while to get used to tearing down the left hand side of the road.

After lunch, we headed for Nanczulka Mala, listed as either the birthplace or residence of Nussim (not clear which).  Very pretty valley – forest & pasture – a little like Mimi’s slice of Vt, but with gardens in the foreground.  Alex asked the old folk (one of whom we later found out was born 1950, so same yr as me), did Jews once live here?  They said yes, pointed us to a bridge, the people at the bridge pointed us to a synagogue vondation with a mond where the stove used to be.  There was never a cemetery there – people were buried in Stary Sambir.

The family we were asking questions of invited us for coffee – we filed onto the porch of their little store and the coffee turned into coffee with cognac and cookies.  They run a small store, farm, raise a few cattle (they’re only a few miles from the Polish border).

We’re sitting in the office of a notary who is preparing (separate) powers of attorney for Alex / his daughter to do genealogical research in the government archives on behalf of Russ & me.  Quite a procedure – I’d say we’ve been here about an hour.