From Soroca we went further north to Zguriţa (Zguritsa) and Otaci (Ataki). In both places there are Jewish cemeteries and former synagogues. Both cemeteries have a special magic – the one due to its picturesque location, the other due to the age and the artistic quality of the gravestones.
The former synagogue is located in the center of the town. In Soviet times it had been used as a warehouse – now it is crumbling and deserted.
Otaci is already at the Ukrainian border – opposite of river Dniester is Mohyliv-Podilskyi. For the Bukovinian Jews Otaci was a place of horror. During the war it was the transit point to the camps and ghettos in Transnistria. Who was deported, came inevitably through Otaci; who set over the river could not hope to return. Otaci separated the normal life of the past from the horrors of the present and the future. It is often forgotten that Otaci looks back on a long Jewish history. The Jewish cemetery – situated in the suburban village of Vălcineţ (Volchinets) – is impressively large. Its oldest part is surrounded by an earthen wall, as it was common in the medieval cemeteries in Galicia.
The old gravestones in Vălcineţ are quite different from most of what we have seen so far on our trip. Here we saw reliefs of lions, deer, unicorns and candlesticks – in style as the old gravestones in Galicia and Bukovina. Many gravestones overwhelmed us by the high artistic quality of the stone carving.
Less encouraging is the state of the former synagogue of Otaci. The building has burnt out and offers a sad view. Whether it can be saved is doubtful.
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Vanished World 
I wish you could have taken close ups of the graves of Zguritsa………my father in laws family were from there. Most perished in the holocaust…..
Christian:
Your photographs are always a treat and your commentary a sad reminder of Otaci’s past.
Thank you so much for all your good work.
Simon
Thanks a lot, Christian.
I’am a brazilian jewish from Porto Alegre, in the south. My grandparents came to Brazil in the 1920s from Zguritza, surnames are Wasserstein, Ferman, Karangatch and Roitman. Very intersting your research. Best regards.
I have many first-hand details from my mother about the crimes committed there in 1941. Drownings, torture and execution. We should never forget what happened or the loss of toese precious lives. Thank you, Christian
lieber Christian, ich bin so berührt durch deine photografien,! Dieses Thema , die Spuren so entsetzlich gemordeten Lebens festzuhalten und vor allem , sich zu erinnern, das begleitet mich ein Leben lang. Ich bin ein nachkriegskind , wir waren Flüchtlinge aus Mecklenburg,und auch wenn ich keine jüdischen Wurzeln habe, so verspüre ich seitdem ich denken kann, das Bedürfnis zu betrauern , wie wenn das eine kollektive Pflicht ist.
Danke für deine Arbeit!!!
Christina
Vielen Dank für die berührenden Worte, Christina!