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.

The volunteers are in good mood. Both groups work in an area that has not been cleaned for several years. Trees have already grown again, which will now be removed. The volunteers of SVIT are happy with the results of their work, making faster progress than they have thought. Within a short time a large piece is cleaned. This success motivates and it’s nice to see the joy the volunteers do their work with.

At noon I took the opportunity to walk through a part of town I do not know well. A quarter between Anri Barbyusa, Sholem Aleikhem, and Golovna Street – formerly Synagogengasse, Enzenberg Hauptstraße, and Judengasse. This part of the city was formerly predominantly Jewish. Not the magnificent Czernowitz of the postcard views; a quarter of poor Jews and until today, not a quarter of the rich. The roads are bad, there is no money to restore the old houses, the streets are still named after Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. Cats sleep in the shade, time stands still.

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