The last part of my journey with the German TV team began on 30 August in Mohyliv-Podilskyi, took us on to Chernivtsi – finally a reunion with one of my favourite places! – and back to Lviv. On the way back, we made short stops in Halych and Burshtyn.
On the morning of 27 August, the TV crew and I left Ternopil for the south-east. The journey of the next two days would take us to Skalat, Hrymailiv, Husiatyn, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Shatava and Dunaivtsi. Some of these places were unfamiliar terrain even for me.
On 25 August, the TV crew and I left Lviv. It was the beginning of a 10-day journey that would take us in a wide loop through Galicia, Podolia and Bukovina. Brody, Pochaiv and Zbarazh were on the agenda for the first two days.
The Corona pandemic has changed my life – like that of many others. I worked from home for over half a year. What hit me hardest: I couldn’t travel. In the first half of October, however, a time window opened up. I traveled to Greece with two friends – first to Athens, then on to the island of Nisyros. On the way back we had half a day to explore Kos – once the home of a Jewish community.
Galicia, Kyiv, Greece and some exhibitions. There is still a lot to tell about the past year. The forced break caused by the corona virus gives me the opportunity to do it.
My friends and I continued our trip through Galicia in Ukraine on February 23. We started our day in Kolomyia and headed east to Horodenka and then towards Zolotyi Potik. Jewish heritage sites in Hvizdets, Chernelytsia, Zabolotiv and Obertyn were along the way.
Last weekend my friends and I traveled through Galicia in Ukraine again – this time south of Lviv. The first day of the trip took us to Kolomyia. Along the way were Jewish cemeteries in Mykulychyn, Lanchyn, Pechenizhyn, Yabluniv and Zabolotiv.
During the carnival, I fled my hometown Cologne for a week and traveled to Ukraine. For three days, I was on the road with friends. On February 20, our route led us to Medenychi, Opory, Rivne (Königsau), Skole, Lysiatychi, Lavochne and Rozhniativ.
Trochenbrod is internationally known due to Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel “Everything is illuminated” and its Hollywood adaption. Like in the novel, nothing is left of this former all-Jewish town. My friends and I were out there for an excursion on 22 June. On the way back to Lviv we had stops in Lutsk, Stoyaniv and Radekhiv. If you are depressed by the nothingness of Trochenbrod, in Radekhiv you can find a ray of hope.
Despite its destruction in 1519, the traces of Regensburg’s medieval Jewish community are still there. They can be found along the streets and backyards: tombstones of the Jewish cemetery.
Vanished World 