Between Lviv and Ternopil

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

Today was the first day of a new trip through Galicia with my friends Marla, Jay, Alex and Vasyl. On our way to Ternopil we stopped in the towns of Bibrka, Rohatyn, Berezhany and Kosova to visit its Jewish heritage sites. As different as those towns are, as different is what is preserved there.

Bibrka synagogue

Rohatyn – mass grave site

Rohatyn – old Jewish cemetery

Berezhany synagogue

Berezhany – Armenian church

Berezhany – building in the old town

Berezhany Jewish cemetery

Kosova synagogue

Kosova Jewish cemetery

Continue reading →

Jerusalem of the Balkans

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Balkans, Jewish Cemeteries

The Greek city of Thessaloniki had 53,000 Jewish residents before the German occupation in World War II. The vast majority was murdered in Auschwitz, Treblinka and Sobibor. Less than 2,000 survived. My friends Eleftheria and Tsako showed me some of the places where the heritage of the once largest ethnic group of the city is still visible.

Thessalonik, view from Ano Polis

Thessaloniki Jewish cemetery, survivors grave

Thessaloniki Jewish cemetery

Thessaloniki Jewish cemetery, Holocaust memorial

Thessaloniki Jewish cemetery, monument for soldiers of WW I

Thessaloniki Jewish cemetery, survivors grave

Thessaloniki Jewish cemetery

Thessaloniki synagogue

Continue reading →

Sinking in the Sand

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Mazovia, Synagogues

In the towns south of Warsaw some traces of the former Jewish presence are still visible. In Falenica is a former synagogue. In Otwock, Karczew and Radość Jewish cemeteries are preserved. But the future of these monuments is uncertain.

Karczew Jewish cemetery

Karczew Jewish cemetery

Otwock, wood building

Otwock Jewish cemetery

Falenica, former synagogue

Radość Jewish cemetery

Continue reading →

What is left of the Jewish Heritage in Góra Kalwaria?

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Mazovia, Synagogues

South of Warsaw, Góra Kalwaria was once an important Hasidic court. Thanks to a friend, I was able to find what is left and preserved until the present day. There are the remains of a synagogue – waiting for renovation – and a destroyed but well maintained cemetery. And there is a strange local habit…

Góra Kalwaria synagogue

Góra Kalwaria, residence of the rabbi

Góra Kalwaria synagogue

Góra Kalwaria Jewish cemetery

Continue reading →

Bródno Jewish Cemetery Revisited

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Mazovia

Bródno Jewish cemetery in Warsaw is an extraordinary place. There are intact cemeteries or there are destroyed cemeteries, where no or only a few remains of the former purpose are still visible. Bródno Jewish cemetery is the visibility of destruction.

Bródno Jewish cemetery, Warsaw

Continue reading →

A Jewish Necropolis

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Central Europe, Jewish Cemeteries

There is a competition between Warsaw, Vienna, Łódź and Berlin, who has the biggest Jewish cemetery in Europe. With 43 hectares and 115.000 burials the cemetery in Berlin’s suburb Weißensee is at least one of the biggest. I had a walk there.

Berlin, Weißensee Jewish cemetery

Continue reading →

Snow covered Cemeteries

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

Winterly Galicia looks beautiful. But iced roads can be dangerous and a cold wind was blowing today, when I was out with friend and driver Vasyl to visit the Jewish cemeteries in Shchyrets, Rozdil and Mykolaiv. We discovered some real masterpieces of stone carving.

Shchyrets Jewish cemetery

Rozdil Jewish cemetery

Rozdil synagogue

Mykolaiv – mass shooting site

Mykolaiv Jewish cemetery

Continue reading →

Mizoch and the Emptiness

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Volhynia (Volyn)

Mizoch (Mizocz) is a small town in Volhynia. The population was composed of Ukrainians, Poles and Jews – until World War II. The scars of the past are still visible in Mizoch; the town’s center remained half empty until the present day.

Mizoch – town center

Mizoch – Holocaust memorial

Mizoch – mass killing site

Mizoch – Jewish cemetery

Mizoch – town center, pre-war building

Continue reading →

Some Summer Black and Whites

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Christian Herrmann under Bessarabia, Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

After working a lot on my colour photos I finally found time to return to the analogue black and whites. Here is a selection of images I took in August during the trip to Ukraine and Moldova. Represented are Jewish cemeteries in Chişinău (Kishinev), Orhei and Vadul-Raşcov (Vadul Rashkov) in Bessarabia/Moldova, cemeteries in Rîbniţa (Rybnitsa) and Raşcov (Rashkov) in the break away “state” of Transnistria, as well as the former synagogue of Sniatyn in Galicia, Ukraine.

Chişinău Jewish cemetery

Orhei Jewish cemetery

Rîbniţa Jewish cemetery

Orhei Jewish cemetery

Raşcov Jewish cemetery

Vadul-Raşcov Jewish cemetery

Sniatyn synagogue

Continue reading →

Vadul-Raşcov Jewish cemetery: Little is known, all is visible

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Christian Herrmann under Bessarabia, Jewish Cemeteries

Vadul-Raşcov (Vadul-Rashkov) in Bessarabia is one of the most impressive Jewish cemeteries I have ever seen. There are a few hundred, if not a few thousand gravestones, located on a hill sloping to the banks of river Dniester. This is borderland – in many aspects.