From Bukovina to Bessarabia

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Bessarabia, Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

Yesterday, we followed the traces of the Hasidic courts in Bukovina and neighbouring Galicia. We have been to the towns of Sadgora, Kuty and Vyzhnytsia – and the day before we saw how the renovation of the magnificent mortuary of Chernivtsi cemetery makes progress. Today, we went on to Bessarabia in the Republic of Moldova. Lipcani and Briceni were on our way to Bălţi, where we are right now. Now, in spring the Jewish cemeteries are beautiful enchanted gardens. Here are some photo impressions.

Mortuary at Chernivtsi Jewish cemetery

Monument for psychoanalyst and writer Manes Sperber in Zabolotiv

Kuty Jewish cemetery

Vyzhnytsia Jewish cemetery

Lipcani Jewish cemetery

Briceni Jewish cemetery

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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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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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At low Light

Posted on November 27, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

Yesterday, it was raining all day long when my friends and I returned to Lviv. En route were the towns of Turka, Khyriv, Ralivka and Mykolaiv. I also took the opportunity to photograph the synagogues in Sambir and Staryi Sambir under different light conditions.

Turka – Jewish cemetery

Turka – Jewish cemetery, Holocaust memorial

Turka – Great Synagogue

Staryi Sambir – synagogue

Khyriv – former Jewish cemetery

Crumbling Catholic church

Sambir – Great Synagogue, now a gym

Ralivka – mass killing site

Mykolaiv – mass killing site next to the Jewish and Christian cemetery

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South-West of Lviv – Between Hope and Depression

Posted on November 26, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

Marla, Jay, Vasyl and I were on the road again for another two days trip through Galicia during this weekend. From Lviv we headed south-west towards the Carpathian Mountains. Komarno, Rudky, Sambir and Staryi Sambir were our targets on Saturday. A trip between hope and depression.

Komarno – former rabbinical residenc

Komarno – location of the destroyed synagogue

Komarno – fragments of tombstones from a construction ground returned to the Jewish cemetery

Komarno – Jewish cemetery

Rudky – Great Synagogue

Rudky – building of the Judenrat

Rudky – former Gestapo headquarter

Marla, Volodya and Vasyl talking

Rudky – territory of the Jewish cemetery

Rudky – Holocaust memorial made of Jewish tombstones

Rudky – Jewish tombstones from the yard of Gestapo headquarter at the Holocaust memorial

Rudky – Holocaust memorial

Rudky – memorial for NKVD victims

Sambir – restaurant sign from the Austrian period

Sambir – Great Synagogue

Sambir – Jewish cemetery

Staryi Sambir – Jewish cemetery

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The End of Silence

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia

Thousands of Jewish tombstones were used as construction material in the Ukrainian city of Lviv – first by the German occupants during World War II, later by the Soviets. Sometimes they appear, and sometimes there are people who save them. Today, tombstones from a courtyard in downtown Lviv were returned to the Jewish cemetery by Sasha Nazar and his friends from Lviv Volunteer Center.

Saving Jewish tombstones at Halytska Square 15 in Lviv

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From Medzhybizh back to Lviv

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Volhynia (Volyn)

My friends and I had a long ride from east to west today. Starting from the Hasidic hot-spot of Medzhybizh, we returned to Lviv with stops in Volochysk, Zbarazh and Zaliztsi. Join us on the last day of our four days Jewish heritage trip through Volhynia, Podolia and Galicia in Ukraine!