In the Borderlands to Hungary and Romania

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Transcarpathia

Our Transcarpathia trip goes on. South of Mukachevo are towns and villages with traces of a rich Jewish heritage. Berehove is known for it, but we also found traces in Irshava, Velyki Komiaty, Khmilnyk, Siltse and Kamyanske – cemeteries and synagogues, and in Velyki Komiaty even the remains of a wooden synagogue.

Berehove – active synagogue

Berehove – former Great Synagogue

Berehove – Jewish cemetery

Khmilnyk – Jewish cemetery

Slitse – Jewish cemetery

Irshava – former synagogue

Irshava – Jewish cemetery

Velyki Komiaty – former synagogue

Velyki Komiaty – Jewish cemetery

Kamyanske – Jewish cemetery

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In Uzhhorod and Mukachevo

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Transcarpathia

The damages to Jewish life are visible in the Transcarpathian towns of Uzhhorod and Mukachevo: synagogues used for other purposes than worship, a destroyed cemetery and the missing Jewish presence in public life due to mass deportation and extermination under Hungarian and German rule and later Sovietization. Nevertheless, there are rays of hope. In both towns we found functioning synagogues, active communities and well maintained cemeteries.

Uzhhorod – former Orthodox synagogue

Uzhhorod – former yeshiva

Uzhhorod – former Neolog synagogue

Uzhhorod – former Hasidic synagogue

Uzhhorod – active synagogue

Uzhhorod – Pesach preparations in the active synagogue

Uzhhorod – Radvanka synagogue

Mukachevo – Spinker Rebbe Kloyz

Mukachevo – Munkach Rebbe Kloyz, its former function unrecognizable today

Mukachevo – Munkach Rebbe Kloyz, present active synagogue

Mukachevo – old Jewish cemetery

Mukachevo – new Jewish cemetery

Uzhhorod – old 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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Beautiful Budapest

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Central Europe, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

Hungary’s capital Budapest is known for its rich Jewish heritage but also for its present vivid Jewish community. Those, liberated from Budapest ghetto by the Red Army laid the foundation for the renewal of Jewish life. Their descendants are heirs of a unique legacy. During a trip in early January I had the opportunity to experience some highlights of Jewish Budapest.

Jewish section of Kerepesi Cemetery at Salgótarjáni Street

House of Fates–European Education Centre – unfinished Holocaust museum next to Kerepesi Cemetery

Dohány Street Synagogue

Mass grave site in the court yard of Dohány Street Synagogue

Memorial in the court yard of Dohány Street Synagogue

Lapidarium in the court yard of Dohány Street Synagogue

Dohány Street Synagogue

Jewish Museum next to Dohány Street Synagogue

Kazinczy Street Synagouge

Jewish cemetery at Kozma Street

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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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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!

Medzhybizh - Jewish cemetery - tomb of the Baal Shen Tov

Medzhybizh – Jewish cemetery – tomb of the Baal Shem Tov

Medzhybizh – Jewish cemetery

Medzhybizh – reconstructed Beit Midrash

Medzhybizh – synagogue

Southern Bug near Medzhybizh

Medzhybizh castle

Volochysk – Jewish cemetery

Zbarazh – territory of the old Jewish cemetery

Zbarazh – Great Synagogue

Zbarazh – former Jewish houses

Zbarazh – new Jewish cemetery

Zaliztsi – Jewish cemetery

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From Zhytomyr to Berdychiv

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Podolia, Synagogues, Volhynia (Volyn)

To travel to Berdychiv was my desire since a long time. Today my friends and I went from Zhytomyr to Berdychiv – having a look on the Jewish heritage sites of both cities. Berdychiv’s Jewish cemetery is one of the most spectacular sites I’ve ever seen.

Zhytomyr – Jewish cemetery

Zhytomyr – renewed prayer house of peddlers

Zhytomyr – prayer house of water carriers

Zhytomyr – Holcaust memorial at a mass killing site

Berdychiv – Jewish cemetery

Berdychiv – Great Synagogue

Berdychiv – Old Jewish Cemetery, now a park

Berdychiv – Holocaust memorial at a mass killing site

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Further East

Posted on November 21, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Volhynia (Volyn)

My friends Marla, Jay, Vasyl and I continued our journey through Volhynia. Today, Jewish heritage sites in Rivne, Ostroh, Slavuta and Shepetivka were on our itinerary. It also was a day with exceptional people we met.

Rivne – Great Synagogue

Rivne – Old Kloyz

Rivne – Herzberg’s Beit Midrash

Rivne – Talmud Torah

Rivne – former Mikvah

Ostroh – Jewish cemetery

Ostroh – Great Synagogue

Ostroh – memorial at mass killing site

Slavuta – synagogue

Slavuta – memorial for 300 murdered Jewish children

Slavuta – Jewish cemetery

Slavuta – mass killing site

Slavuta – Großlazaret 301

Shepetivka – Great Synagogue

Shepetivka – Jewish cemetery

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From Lviv to Rivne

Posted on November 20, 2017 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Volhynia (Volyn)

Marla, Jay, Vasyl and I are on the road again – the beginning of a four days trip to Jewish heritage sites, mainly in Volhynia. Today, we have been to Radekhiv, Lutsk, Klevan and Rivne.