Nothingness and a Ray of Hope

Posted on June 26, 2019 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Volhynia (Volyn)

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.

Trochenbrod – signpost

Trochenbrod – memorials at a mass killing site

Trochenbrod – former town center

Trochenbrod – view in the direction of one of the destroyed cemeteries

Lutsk – massgrave site

Lutsk – returned tombstones at the massgrave site

Stoyaniv – Jewish cemetery

Radekhiv – fragments of Jewish tombstones at the Christian cemetery

Radekhiv – former Jewish shops at the market

Radekhiv – synagogue

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Through the Rain

Posted on December 8, 2018 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues, Volhynia (Volyn)

A new Jewish heritage trip through western Ukraine has begun. For four days my friends and I will explore towns and villages in Galicia and Volhynia. Today, through constantly falling rain, we traveled from Lviv to Ternopil and had stops in Toporiv, Lopatyn, Berestechko, Demydivka, Mlyniv and Dubno.

Toporiv – territory of the destroyed Jewish cemetery

Toporiv synagogue

Lopatyn synagogue

Berestechko synagogue

Berestechko Jewish cemetery

Berestechko – territory of the destroyed Jewish cemetery

Demydivka – mass grave site at the destroyed Jewish cemeteryDemydivka – mass grave site at the destroyed Jewish cemetery

Demydivka – mass grave site at the destroyed Jewish cemetery

Mlyniv synagogue

Mlyniv Jewish cemetery

Dubno Great Synagogue

Dubno – former Beit Midrash

Dubno – destroyed 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.

Saved Jewish tombstones at Radekhiv Christian cemetery

Soviet memorial at Radekhiv Christian cemetery

Tetyana talking with Marla

Radekhiv – territory of the old Jewish cemetery

Radekhiv – old people remember

Radekhiv market

Trace of a mezuzah at Radekhiv market square

Radekhiv synagogue

Lutsk – Great Synagogue

Lutsk – Talmud Torah

Lutsk – remains of Beit Midrash of Olyka Hasidim with adjacent bus station

Klevan Jewish cemetery

Klevan – Great Synagogue

Rivne – Holocaust memorial

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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

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A Time Of Gifts: Calendar For Free Download

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Media, Northern Bukovina, Podolia, Synagogues, Volhynia (Volyn)

Hanukkah and Christmas are coming closer – a time of gifts in which I would like to give a present to all who accompanied my trips to Eastern Europe’s Jewish past and present via Facebook and my Vanished World blog: a calendar for 2016, which can be downloaded for free and be produced on your own printer or at an on-line print shop.

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Return to Trochenbrod

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Volhynia (Volyn)

Sylvia, Katharina, our wonderful driver Vasyl and I have just returned from Trochenbrod (Trachimbrod). It was a long day trip to a place that has completely disappeared. An all-Jewish town which was wiped out in the Holocaust and resurrected as literature in the novel “Everything Is Illuminated” by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Zhovkva – trace of a mezuzah

Zhovkva – former Jewish cemetery

Trochenbrod

Katharina

Sylvia

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A Winter Journey In Black And White

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Volhynia (Volyn)

At the turn of the year I traveled in Ukraine again. This time I was in Volhynia (Volhyn), a historical region between Galicia and Belarus. My trip took me to Trochenbrod, Lutsk, Rivne, Dubno and Ostroh. Back in Lviv, I made an excursion to Olesko and Busk in Galicia. Now I have completed a selection of black and white photos of the trip.