Farewell Czernowitz!

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Christian Herrmann under Northern Bukovina

Tomorrow we will leave for Lviv. Our last day in Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) is also our most relaxing one. For the first time it is a day without obligations. One last day to stroll through the streets – almost without having to think about an appointment.

Birthplace of Paul Celan

Plaque for Olga Kobylanska

Plaque for Karl Emil Franzos

Wisdom of Czernowitz

The riddle of the flat house (for my friend Hardy Breier)

Continue reading →

A Church and a Synagogue come to Life again

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

Our penultimate day in Chernivtsi (Czernowitz). I show my friends Ingo and Sabine the upper part of the city, which they do not know yet. We make interesting discoveries at the Sacred Heart Church (Herz Jesu Kirche). In the afternoon we meet with the volunteers who work at the Jewish cemetery for a trip to Sadhora (Sadagora). There are good news from Sadagora.

Czernowitz – Herz Jesu Kiche

Sadagora – Jewish cemetery – Ohel of the Friedman family

Sadagora – Jewish cemetery

Sadagora – Hasidic court

Continue reading →

Recently discovered Wall Paintings in the “Groisse Shil” of Czernowitz

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Christian Herrmann under Northern Bukovina, Synagogues

With my friends Sabine and Ingo I am walking through the old Jewish quarter of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) today. One of the most important cultural monuments there is the “Groisse Shil”, a synagogue dating from the mid 19th Century. The building is now used as a carpenter’s workshop. Although the original purpose of the building is hardly to imagine from inside, fragments of the original ceiling paintings are still visible. I want to show them to my friends. What we discover is incredible: Recently uncovered wall paintings with motifs from the bible.

Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings

Czernowitz – Groisse Shil

Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings

Continue reading →

A trip through Bucovina

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

Sunday is a free day for the volunteers who clear the Jewish cemetery of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) of shrubs and vines. Today, an excursion is on the agenda. Vashkivtsi, Vyzhnytsia, Kosiv, Storozhynets and the local Jewish cemeteries.

Storozhynets – Jewish cemetery

Kosiv – Jewish cemetery

Vyzhnytsia Jewish cemetery

Kosiv – Jewish cemetery

Kosiv – volunteers having a break

Kosiv – Jewish cemetery

Vashkivtsi Jewish cemetery

Storozhynets – Jewish cemetery

Vashkivtsi Jewish cemetery

Storozhynets – Jewish cemetery

Vyzhnytsia Jewish cemetery

Storozhynets – Jewish cemetery

Vyzhnytsia Jewish cemetery

Continue reading →

A walk through Czernowitz

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Christian Herrmann under Northern Bukovina

A morning without obligations. This gives me the chance to take a walk through the city. It’s hot, the sky is bright blue. The city is beautiful.

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Golovna Street

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – market

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Synagogengasse – Groisse Shil (Great Synagogue)

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – administration building from Austro-Hungarian periode

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Synagogengasse – Groisse Shil (Great Synagogue)

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Synagogengasse

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Golovna Street

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Synagogengasse

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Golovna Street

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Judengasse

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Landhausgasse

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Synagogengasse

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – market

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – townhall

Continue reading →

Two Cemeteries and an Adventure

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

Today, the work camp of SVIT Ukraine has begun at the Jewish cemetery of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz). 14 young people will clean the cemetery of shrubs and vines for the next three weeks. I met the volunteers this morning. In the early afternoon I was searching of traces of the old Jewish cemetery together with Sylvia de Swaan. A little adventure!

volunteers at the cemetery

volunteers at the ceme

Czernowitz – old Jewish cemetery

Continue reading →

The Forgotten Cemetery of Czernowitz

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

The Jewish cemetery of Czernowitz (Chernivtsi) is famous – it attracts many people who are looking for the graves of relatives. Even greater is the number of cultural tourists who visit the cemetery. But there was a second – much older – cemetery, of which was said that it had been destroyed in the Soviet period. However, the remains of this cemetery still exist. They need to be examined and protected.

Czernowitz old Jewish cemetery, wall made from grave stones, © Mykola Kushnir

Czernowitz old Jewish cemetery, grave stones, © Mykola Kushnir

Czernowitz old Jewish cemetery, fragment of a grave stone, © Mykola Kushnir

Czernowitz old Jewish cemetery, textile factory, © Mykola Kushnir

Continue reading →

Galicia and Bukovina in Black and White (2)

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina, Synagogues

Here it is, the second half of the selection of black and white photos from the trip through Galicia and Bukovina in April and May 2013. The journey finally comes to an end and something new starts.

Ivano-Frankivsk – Jewish cemetery

Kalush – Jewish cemetery

Kuty – Jewish cemetery

Lysynychi – mass grave site

Nadvirna – Jewish cemetery

Pidhaitsi – synagogue

Pidhaitsi – Jewish cemetery

Rohatyn – old Jewish cemetery

Rohatyn – new Jewish cemetery

Continue reading →

Galicia and Bukovina in Black and White (1)

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina, Synagogues

Analog photography is not for the impatient. Through digital cameras we are used to check a picture directly. Images on film are different. Two weeks after the trip through Galicia and Bukovina I got the developed black and white films and the scans of the negatives. A first impression and a first selection.

Busk – Jewish cemetery

Brody – Jewish cemetery

Bolekhiv – Jewish cemetery

Bolekhiv – synagogue

Berezhani – Jewish cemetery

Berezhani – synagogue

Continue reading →

Journey through Galicia and Bukovina in May and April 2013 – Some Thoughts

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina, Synagogues

Two weeks I traveled with my friends Petra and Achim through Eastern Galicia and Northern Bukovina. It was a very intense and emotional journey to the heritage of a vanished Jewish world. We visited 27 towns and villages, many spots made a deep impression. With some distance I would like to summarize some experiences and reflect them. What did we see? Who commemorates what and how? And I want to thank all those people who enabled the journey in many different ways and observed it with passion.