Fanny and Gabriel
Published in Issue #24 Translated from Hebrew by Gilah Kahn-Hoffman(Excerpt from a Novel)
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Once upon a time in Bukovina. A fairytale name, like a literary invention, there’s no point searching for it on a map, since it isn’t a state or a country, but was a province of the Austro- Hungarian Empire before the First World War. Bukovina, which exists today only in the memories of those who lived there, remains the byword for individuals of discerning taste, possessed of wit and an ironic view of the world, seasoned with an acidic humor. It was the shared starting point for Fanny and Gabriel – both of them were born there.
Fanny loved the “land of the forests” that extended to the north of the Carpathian Mountains and nestled at their feet. Snow-capped ridges, deep ravines, meadows lush with greenery, rivers and rushing streams, and an abundance of oak, beech, and especially maple trees – called “buk” trees in the Slavic language, hence the name Bukovina.
Outside the house they spoke a polished German, while Yiddish was the language within. Eyes were always cast longingly toward Czernowitz, a miniature copy of glorious Vienna. Abraham Katz, Fanny’s father, proudly dubbed it “Jerusalem on the River Prut,” and advocated for enlightened Jewish learning that would go hand-in-hand with German heritage. He bought books of poetry by Goethe, Rilke, and Heine, but the height of his regard was reserved for the poet Paul Celan, a native of Czernowitz, who had become the symbol of modern German poetry. They had even met once, and he had exchanged a few words...
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