Today, a new journey to Jewish heritage sites has begun and it is different from all others before. I’m going to guide a group of 16 Germans through Galicia, Bukovina and Bessarabia in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. We started with day trips from Lviv – while one part of the group went to Drohobych and was guided there by the wonderful Tanya Firman, the other part went north to Zhovkva, Uhniv, Belz and Velyki Mosty.
Our route will lead us southwards – tomorrow to Ternopil, further to Chernivtsi and finnally to Chişinău. There will be no extensive photo shootings this time and also not much time to write a lot. But nevertheless I will try to report as good as I can by snapshots from the places we visit. So stay tuned if you like to join us virtually.
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Vanished World 
Thank you for what you do.
My mother was born in Drohibych in 1908. The family lived at #1 ulitsa sobieski. She emigrated with her parents and grandparents in 1912.
My grandmothers two sisters stayed in Drihibych with their children and were taken to the forests in 1942.
My mother list 23 members of her family. No one survived .
Thank you Christian for your incessant involvement. We are on the road with you.
Thank you Christian for your work and your persistence in showing the truth!
The best on your journey…
jerome
Christian, I’m sure your group will have a fantastic tour. You have been deeply involved in the Jewish heritage of the area for so long and know the towns and shtetls better than most. Wishing you good health and continued success.
Simon Kreindler
Thank you Christian!
Finding this blog today is like returning and continuing to where I have been 1,5 months ago. Focussing on Krakow and Lviv during our trip to Galicia, including the extermination camp in Belzec and some few other places, we got a profound extension of awareness about what happened….I am grateful for the work you are doing, Christian, and wonder if it might be possible even to mobilize resources to mark these hidden/unknown/not remembered places, “totgeschwiegen” as we say in German. Surprisingly there was hardly a remark about what happened during the 30ies and 40ies in Lviv during our guided walking tour in Lviv……
If there are any activities concerning the mobilization of remembrance, please contact me ! Elisabet
Dear Elisabet,
there are activities and there were even a lot of activities during the 75th anniversary of the liquidation of Lviv ghetto and Janowska concentration camp in late summer this year. A good ressource to learn about it or even participate is the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe – https://www.lvivcenter.org/
In Addition there are a lot of private initiatives to save the local Jewish heritage. A good example is “Rohatyn Jewish Heritage” – http://rohatynjewishheritage.org/en/
Warm wishes,
Christian
I will be visiting Uhniv a week from Monday. Do you know if any maps of the town exist from last century? My great-great grandfather Kuny Sonenthal lived in house number 355 from at least 1879 until his death in 1912. I don’t know if there is any remnant of the house or if his burial site exists, but I would appreciate any information or ideas you might have to share.
Dear Anne Leader,
If there is an old map of Uhniv, it is in the archives in Lviv. They have the cadastral maps of most Galician towns. A selection is online at the Gesher Galicia map room – not including Uhniv. https://maps.geshergalicia.org/
The local history museum of Uhniv is closed since years. But you may ask the locals for the lady who used to run it. She may have information too.
There is no surviving Jewish cemetery.
Best,
Christian