From Lviv to Chernivtsi

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina, Synagogues

Our journey through Galicia, Bukovina and Bessarabia goes on. During the last two days we went further south. Between the regional metropolises of Lviv and Chernivtsi we visited the towns and villages of Busk, Olesko, Brody, Skalat, Hrymailiv, Sataniv, Husiatyn, Chabarivka, Zalishchyky and Yuzhynets. What a trip!

Busk – Jewish cemetery

Busk – Jewish cemetery – there is always somebody to tell the story

Olesko synagogue

Brody – Jewish cemetery

Skalat synagogue

Hrymailiv – interior of the synagogue

Sataniv – Jewish cemetery

Chabarivka – tombstone fragments from the destroyed Jewish cemetery of Husiatyn

Zalishchyky synagogue

Chorus in Yuzhynets

Yuzhynets – war memorial opposite of the former property of the Reich family

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A new Experience

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

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.

Zhovkva – trace of a mezuzah

Zhovkva synagogue

Uhniv – beit midrash and synagogue

At Uhniv synagogue

Catholic church in Uhniv

In Uhniv

Belz Jewish cemetery

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Transcarpathia is different

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Transcarpathia

Yesterday was the last day of our 5 days trip through Transcarpathia. We visited Jewish and non-Jewish heritage sites in Bila Tserkva, Velykyi Bychkiv, Rakhiv, Yasynia, Halych and Bilshivtsi. On our way home we contemplated on what we saw and experienced. Transcarpathia differs in many aspects from Galicia.

Bila Tserkva – Jewish cemetery

Bila Tserkva – building with holocaust memorial

Bila Tserkva – holocaust memorial

Velykyi Bychkiv -former synagogue

Velykyi Bychkiv – Jewish cemetery

Rakhiv – Jewish cemetery

Yasynia

Yasynia – wooden church

Halych – Karaite cemetery

Halych – medieval church

Bilshivtsi – Jewish cemetery

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From the Flatlands to the Mountains

Posted on March 31, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Transcarpathia

Our route lead us along the Romanian border today. We found Jewish heritage sites in Vynohradiv, Sasovo, Khust, Tiachiv, Teresva and Solotvyno – and beyond this the traces of literally collapsed industries and profitable smuggling activities.

Vynohradiv – synagogue

Vynohradiv – beit midrash

Vynohradiv – Jewish cemetery

Sasovo – Jewish cemetery

Khust – synagogue

Khust – Jewish cemetery

Tiachiv – Jewish cemetery

Tiachiv – synagogue

Teresva – Jewish cemetery

Solotvyno – synagogue

Solotvyno – old Jewish cemetery

Solotvyno – collapsed salt mine

Solotvyno – new Jewish cemetery

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In the Borderlands to Hungary and Romania

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Transcarpathia

Our Transcarpathia trip goes on. South of Mukachevo are towns and villages with traces of a rich Jewish heritage. Berehove is known for it, but we also found traces in Irshava, Velyki Komiaty, Khmilnyk, Siltse and Kamyanske – cemeteries and synagogues, and in Velyki Komiaty even the remains of a wooden synagogue.

Berehove – active synagogue

Berehove – former Great Synagogue

Berehove – Jewish cemetery

Khmilnyk – Jewish cemetery

Slitse – Jewish cemetery

Irshava – former synagogue

Irshava – Jewish cemetery

Velyki Komiaty – former synagogue

Velyki Komiaty – Jewish cemetery

Kamyanske – Jewish cemetery

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In Uzhhorod and Mukachevo

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Transcarpathia

The damages to Jewish life are visible in the Transcarpathian towns of Uzhhorod and Mukachevo: synagogues used for other purposes than worship, a destroyed cemetery and the missing Jewish presence in public life due to mass deportation and extermination under Hungarian and German rule and later Sovietization. Nevertheless, there are rays of hope. In both towns we found functioning synagogues, active communities and well maintained cemeteries.

Uzhhorod – former Orthodox synagogue

Uzhhorod – former yeshiva

Uzhhorod – former Neolog synagogue

Uzhhorod – former Hasidic synagogue

Uzhhorod – active synagogue

Uzhhorod – Pesach preparations in the active synagogue

Uzhhorod – Radvanka synagogue

Mukachevo – Spinker Rebbe Kloyz

Mukachevo – Munkach Rebbe Kloyz, its former function unrecognizable today

Mukachevo – Munkach Rebbe Kloyz, present active synagogue

Mukachevo – old Jewish cemetery

Mukachevo – new Jewish cemetery

Uzhhorod – old Jewish cemetery

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A long Way through the Carpathians

Posted on March 28, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Synagogues, Transcarpathia

The first day of our new trip. Marla, Jay, Vasyl and I left Lviv in the morning. We had a first stop in Drohobych, continued via Boryslav and Skhidnytsia, and finally arrived in Uzhhorod shortly before sundown. We found a beautiful church, two beit midrash (Jewish study houses) and one of the last surviving wooden synagogues of Ukraine.

Church of St. George in Drohobych

Beit midrash in Boryslav

Oil pumps in Boryslav

Beit midrash in Boryslav

Former synagogue in Skhidnytsia

In the Carpathians

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Just a Forest

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia

A new journey through Ukraine has begun. From tomorrow on Marla, Jay, Vasyl and I will be on the road to and through Transcarpathia. Today we had a first excursion from Lviv to the neighboring village of Lysynychi, one of the biggest mass killing sites in Ukraine and one of the most unknown. Estimated 90,000 people have been murdered here during the German occupation in World War 2 – mainly Jews but also Ukrainians, Poles and thousands of Italian soldiers. Except of a little memorial there are no visible traces of the crime. To visitors with no background information Lysynychi forest looks just like an ordinary forest.

Lysynychi forest

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Back in Warsaw

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Mazovia

It was not only the carnival in my hometown Cologne that gave me a pretext to travel to Warsaw during the last weekend. For the preparation of my next photo book on the remaining Jewish heritage in Eastern Europe I collaborate with an excellent Polish designer – Ania Nałęcka-Milach. But I also took the opportunity to stroll through the streets and backyards of Praga, situated on the east bank of Vistula River, and to have a look on the new museum documenting Bródno Jewish cemetery.

Working on the new book with Ania

Museum at Bródno Jewish cemetery

Bródno Jewish cemetery

Adam Erdheim

In Praga

Trace of a mezuzah in Praga

Old shop sign in Praga

In Praga

Mary in a backyard in Praga

In Praga

Market in Praga

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Beautiful Budapest

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Central Europe, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

Hungary’s capital Budapest is known for its rich Jewish heritage but also for its present vivid Jewish community. Those, liberated from Budapest ghetto by the Red Army laid the foundation for the renewal of Jewish life. Their descendants are heirs of a unique legacy. During a trip in early January I had the opportunity to experience some highlights of Jewish Budapest.