April 29. My fellow travelers and I have time to stroll through the streets of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz). As always, it is wonderful to be here. In October last year I wrote about the lost synagogues of the city. Berti Glaubach then made me aware of an error. Now I have a chance to correct my mistake.
April 28. We drive through Bukovina: Storozhynets, Davidivka, Vyzhnytsia and Vashkivtsi. We are in search of the traces of a Bukovinian celebrity – Joseph Schmidt. And of course, there is a lot along the way to see.
This is a poem by Tom Berman, the great-grandson of Lazar Igel, the first Rabbi of the Czernowitz Temple. Tom died a few days ago in the Galapagos islands; it was a life-long dream of him to go there. Tom survived Nazi dictatorship over huge parts of Europe through the “Kindertransport” to England. His family was erased. The poem reflects this. Tom immigrated to Israel and became an internationaly known scientist. He survived the time of persecution by 68 years.
Tomb of Lazar Igel at Czernowitz Jewish cemetery
From April 21 to May 5 I go to Ukraine again. With me are two good friends, an old camera, a bunch of black and white films, a lot of travel plans and one of the most terrible books I have ever read. I hope to report from the trip while traveling. Do you have recommendations?
Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) expects 13 to 15 volunteers for a summer camp from September 26 to October 8 in Chernivtsi (former Czernowitz). Participants in the age of 40+ will not only work but also explore the history of the city.
In 2006 I was for the first time in Sadagora (Sadhora in Ukrainian). Since then I have returned almost every year. The formerly independent community is now a suburb of Czernowitz (Chernivtsi) and was up to the Romanian and German occupation, the home of a Hasidic rabbinical dynasty and its followers. What remained is a cemetery, the synagogue of the rabbi of Sadagora and his residence. Do these spots of commemoration have a future?
The Chabad community of Czernowitz (today’s Chernivtsi) has compiled an impressive list of Jewish related sites in the city and published it. Using this list, I was strolling through the streets of the city in August 2012. Often these traces can only be suspected, but sometimes they are also obvious. From the former 60 synagogues and prayer houses many are still there.
In 2006 I was for the first time in Chernivtsi, former Czernowitz. Looking for the traces of Jewish life I tried to locate former synagogues. One of them is the Korn Shil – 2006 still abused for an electric transformer of the power company. Today the Korn Shil is a synagogue again.
We can complain or we can take action. SVIT Ukraine helps since 5 years to rescue one of the most important spots of Jewish heritage in Eastern Europe: The Jewish cemetery of Chernivtsi – former Czernowitz. You can be part of it!
The houses and the streets of Chernivtsi have not changed much since the pre-war period. The population, however, has almost completely been replaced. Anyone walking on the streets of Chernivtsi, when looking at the pavement can see on manhole covers which might say “Czernowitz”, “Cernăuţi”, and of course the current name of the city – “Chernivtsi”. The traces of the past are still there.
Vanished World 