Through Bukovina and Galicia with the Volunteers

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

Meanwhile, I’m back home and still have to report the latest events of the recent journey. On Friday – our last day in Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Arthur and I have been on a day trip through Bukovina and Galicia with the volunteers of SVIT Ukraine. Vashkivtsi, Vyzhnytsia (Wischnitz), Kuty and Kosiv were the places we went to.

Vyzhnytsia (Wischnitz)

Vyzhnytsia (Wischnitz) – talking about what we saw

Kuty Jewish cemetery

Kosiv Jewish cemetery

Cooling down

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Through the window

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Christian Herrmann under Northern Bukovina

Vikno is a Ukrainian village north of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), near the Dniester River. My friend Halyna originates from this village and yesterday she showed me the place of her childhood. With us were Halyna’s mother and our friends Tetyana and Sergey. Thank you friends!

Spring in Vikno

In Halyna’s house

Memorial for the Soviet deportations

Soviet war memorial

Mansion in Vikno

Dniester River

Picnic at Dniester River

World War 1 memorial

sunflowers

Dniester River

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Hard-working volunteers, sleepy cats

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

It’s hot in Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), every day over 30 degrees Celsius. The volunteers of SVIT Ukraine and Action Reconciliation start working in the Jewish cemetery early in the morning to escape the heat. Today they were lucky, in the morning it was cloudy, even some rain came down.

Volunteers of Action Reconciliation clearing the Jewish cemetery of Czernowitz

Volunteers of SVIT Ukraine clearing the Jewish cemetery of Czernowitz

Czernowitz – old Jewish quarter

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A missing Center at the Golden Creek

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

It was the wish of my friend Arthur to go to Horodenka and Zolotyi Potik (Golden Creek) – small towns in Galicia, from which his ancestors came to Chernivtsi (Czernowitz). Today we have been there; a long day trip through the beauty of the Galician summer. An ocean of flowers over which the storks circle. With us was Maxym, a local photographer and journalist, who maneuvered his car bravely around the potholes.

Horodenka Synagogue

Horodenka Jewish Cemetery

Zolotyi Potik – Potocki Castle

Zolotyi Potik Jewish cemetery

Zolotyi Potik – former Jewish quarter, now a park

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Voices from the past

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

Yesterday, my friend Silke drew my attention to a sound installation that was designed by students of Chernivtsi University in the former Synagogengasse (Synagogue Alley, now Anri Barbyusa Street) of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz). It brought voices of the past into the present of the city. Today, the volunteers of Action Reconciliation and SVIT Ukraine have begun their work in the Jewish cemetery.

Sound installation in Anri Barbyusa Street

The volunteers of SVIT Ukraine and Action Reconciliation

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Finally in Czernowitz

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Northern Bukovina

It is already our third travel day. Arthur Rindner – an old time Czernowitzer – and I met on Friday at Vienna’s airport and flew to Lviv / Lemberg. Now we are already in Czernowitz and have met the international volunteer group that will work in the next two weeks in the Jewish cemetery.