Dean Scott H. Bice - USC Gould School of Law - University of ...

Top: Dean, faculty, and students in unheatedBalti University Faculty of Law officeMiddle: Moldova State University Facultyof Law’s 40th Anniversary brochureBottom: ABA (CEELI) staff inChisinau, Moldovareview what she would say at herpress conference announcing adomestic violence awareness week– the staggering list of activitiesincluded age-appropriate curriculumat public schools, roundtablediscussions at health clinicsthroughout the country and publicservice radio and newspaper ads. Iasked why she wasn’t announcingthe package of legislative reformsbeing introduced to Parliament toaddress the dreadful absence oflegal remedies for battered women.I suggested that it was the perfecttime to reach the general publicabout the reforms, encouragingthem to contact their elected officialsin order to urge them to supportthe proposed legislation.Although she was thrilled with theidea, it simply hadn’t occurred toJana to do this since, she explained,Moldovans “are still learning aboutthe role voters can play in shapinglaws – they don’t know the powerof their voice.”Also indicative of this inexperiencewith raising their voices, washow people appeared to be respondingto Russia’s threat to turn off allgas if the Moldovan governmentdid not pay its outstanding debt.Half the people I questionedthought I was naive for thinking itwould actually happen — the otherhalf thought it probably would getturned off but considered me naivefor thinking they could influencethe Moldovan government to paythe debt or account for missingfunds intended for this purpose.No one could see the value inspeaking out or contacting theirelected officials. If anything, it isthis failure to believe they canmake a difference, I fear, that couldprevent Moldovans from becominginvolved in government and evolvinginto a true democracy.New IdeasThe excitement about creatingthe first legal clinics inthe country seemedemblematic of a general interest innew ideas and opportunities toimprove Moldova. Interesting tome, however, was the extent towhich the clinics themselvesinvolved new concepts.In my first conversations aboutvolunteer training, I realized Icould not simply refer to the use of“simulations” to demonstrateinterviewing techniques – the currentMoldovan purely theoreticalteaching style involves no practicaltraining of any kind so the conceptwas unknown. I had not predicted,how unfamiliar it stillseemed that individuals couldinvoke the law to respond to socialproblems such as domestic violence,much less use the law toprotect individual liberties. Thesenotions represented a dramaticdeparture from the norm duringfifty years of communism.Even the notion of volunteerism,which now seems inextricablyintertwined with establishinga democracy, was new toMoldovans. The communist government’srole included advancingthe state in part by meeting basicneeds itself such as housing, medicalcare and food. In such a system,volunteerism seemed unnecessary,even subversive. In ademocracy, the government maynot always care adequately for itsmost vulnerable, requiring thatvolunteerism be promoted as oneof society’s highest values andhopefully fill the current need.The Future of MoldovaDespite an economy on thebrink of disaster and thestill long road to a functioningdemocracy, I left feelingtremendously optimistic aboutMoldova’s future. Throughout thecountry, I met generous, peaceful,intelligent, and energetic people,receptive to new ideas and possessinga fiercely held national pride.Embodying the promise forMoldova’s future is the youth – the18-25 year-olds, many of whom areso mature and savvy, I related tothem as peers. Committed andidealistic, they lack the cynicismof previous generations. I have nodoubt that if Moldova can surviveuntil these talented youth takeover, it will flourish. I dream alongwith them of the potential for thissmall, proud nation.Following her trip to Moldova, Dean Lash spent aweek in Ukraine, tracing her family’s roots.My grandmother told storiesof longing for, andloathing of, “the OldCountry” – Skvira and BelaTserkov, Ukraine during the firstquarter of the 20th century. Bubbierelated the joys of living amongthousands of Jews in a tight-knitcommunity, yet the perils this heldwhen the pogroms grew increasinglyfrequent and deadly; havingthe whole family live and worktogether, yet the pain of separationas siblings and cousins left for thepromise of religious freedom andopportunity in the U.S.; the excitementof getting an education, butthe humiliation of competition forthe limited spaces for Jewish childrenin the public schools. As achild I was fascinated by the detailsof Bubbie and Zaydie’s courageousand frightening stories, in awe ofwhat they and my great aunts anduncles had endured.Since Moldova is so close toUkraine, I decided to visit thesmall towns of her stories. Nodescendant of a Loshak – my grandfather’spre-Ellis Island name – orOrgell – my grandmother’s name inthe Old Country – had returnedsince emigrating to the U.S.between 1914 and 1921. Fortunately,as a teenager I had interviewedmy Ukrainian-born relatives.Listening once again to thenow decades old tapes I strained tohear street names, landmarks, andreferences to my great grandfatherMotl Loshak’s numerous siblings,some of whom had never emigrated.Piecing together bits ofinformation, I learned that mygrandfather, who died in the mid-70’s, had an 81-year-old first cousinSTORIES OF THE “OLD COUNTRY”Top: Upon entering Skivra -- the city signSecond from top: Bubbie’s lake, a gatheringplace for Jews in the early 1900’sThird from top: Bubbie’s neighborhoodshul -- now abandonedBottom: The author andLaura with guide Larisanamed Joseph Loshak still living inBela Tserkov.With the help of newly-discoveredcousins in New York, CEELIstaff in Kiev, and a multi-lingualgenealogist from Zhitomir,Ukraine, I planned an excursion toKiev, day trips to meet my “new”family in Bela Tserkov, and a visitto Skvira, my grandparents’ hometown.My partner, Laura Esquivel,met me in Kiev, where we spentour first two days in Ukraineadjusting to the shock of not beingable to read a single street sign,store name or menu (unlikeMoldova, the Cyrillic alphabetreigned), as we toured Kiev and preparedfor our day trips.After a two-hour drive to BelaTserkov, we found JosephLoshak’s home. On thefourth floor of a typical massiveSoviet-style concrete building,Joseph, his wife Ida, and their son,Vova, and daughter-in-law, Luba,shared a small apartment. Speakingthrough a translator, we spent anamazing five hours trading storiesabout our family’s parallel histories,while we exchanged photographsand visited the city’s Jewish cemetery.From total strangers, wesoon became family when I pulledout family photos taken inChicago in the 1930’s and Josephexcitedly pointed to my greatgrandparents,calling out theirnames and sharing his 91-year-oldbrother’s recollections of mygrandfather and each of his siblings,including the year each leftfor the U.S. We also visited theJewish cemetery in Bela Tserkov,which dates from about 1945,guided by Joseph who knew thelocation of every Loshak headstone.The pre-WWII Jewishcemetery no longer exists.The next day in Skvira was similarlyemotional. Although almostall the Loshaks had lived in BelaTserkov, my great grandfather44 USC LAW • SPRING 2000USC LAW • SPRING 200045