Today Sylvia and I started to explore Lviv together. The city is a familiar place for me, a new one for Sylvia. It was also a chance to meet friends. It was a day of talks.

Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg) is a good place for young people. A thought which came into my mind by the joy expressed in the graffitis we saw. The happiness of these images contrasts sharply with what we saw at Lychakiv cemetery. A new section was opened for soldiers who have been recently killed in the war in eastern Ukraine. Life is very fragile.

Our today’s talks often centered around this fragility. I am thankful to my friends who contributed to this topic: Katharina, who was one of the very first volunteers to clear the Jewish cemetery in Chernivtsi (Czernowitz); Meylakh, who listened with great empathy to Sylvia; Alex, who tirelessly explores the archives for the traces of the past. It’s good to be here. It’s good to know all of these people and to be able to talk to them. I am grateful for this day of talks.

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