Traces of Jewish Life in Galicia and Bukovina
Galicia and Bukovina are not longer found on maps today. These landscapes in Eastern Europe were once sites of a diverse and colorful Jewish life. After the destruction of European Jewry during and through the German occupation the traces are still there: deserted cemeteries and the ruins of synagogues. This photo exhibition is documenting these traces.
The exhibition is a work in progress. Currently, it consists of black and white photograps in a size of 30 x 45 cm, which are available already framed. It is constantly expanded and modified by images from older and newer journeys. The exhibition can be lent for cultural and educational purposes. For further information, please contact the author.
Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg), view of the medievel Jewish district, August 2012
Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg), remains of the ‘Golden Rose’ Synagogue, January 2013
Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg), synagogue, October 2012
Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg), traces of a mezuzah, October 2012
Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg), territory of former concentration camp at Yanovska Road, now an Ukrainian state prison, August 2012
Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg), unmarked mass graves in the forest of Lysynychi, April 2013
Zhovkva, synagogue, October 2012
Busk, Jewish cemetery, April 2013
Brody, synagogue, October 2012
Brody, Jewish cemetery, October 2012
Stryi, synagogue, May 2013
Rohatyn, Jewish cemetery, April 2013
Drohobych, synagogue, October 2012
Berezhani, synagogue, April 2013
Chortkiv, synagogue of the Hasidic court, April 2013
Pidhaitsi, synagogue, April 2013
Pidhaitsi, Jewish cemetery, April 2013
Ivano-Frankivsk, Jewish cemetery, May 2013
Kalush, Jewish cemetery, May 2013
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), Temple Synagogue, now a movie theatre, May 2013
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), Jewish cemetery, October 2012
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), Jewish cemetery, August 2012
Vyzhnytsia (Wischnitz), Jewish cemetery, May 2013
Vyzhnytsia (Wischnitz), Jewish cemetery, May 2013
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Vanished World 
Goosebumps, thanks from Italy…
My grandparents were from Bircza and Narajow arriving about 1900. These photos hit hard. I am so pleased that you were willing to share with the world
Beautiful, compelling.
Thank you Christian, and may we meet in Czernowitz, if not before!
-Marla
we have just returned from visit to Bukaczowce, our Family’s home town. The Jewish cemetery is surrounded (mostly) by a wall, but inside the graveyard is covered by overgrown grasses and weeds, and rubbish. so sad to see. Ruth
Thes photos are amazing. My mother was born in Czernovitz but her family came from a small village called Dracinet in which all the Jews were murdered in one day by the Rumanians and Ukranians. Have you ever visited there?
Thank you David for your comment. No, I have not been to Dracinet yet. I prepare another trip to Ukraine in February. Maybe this will bring me to that place. What you describe about your mother’s hometown unfortunately happenend in many places in the region. A terrible tragedy.
Just magnificent, thank you for sharing, dear Christian! Personally, I love the “Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg), synagogue, October 2012” photo. See you soon!
Thank you Christian for these wonderful images, as well as the inspiration to continue on my own mission that involves Cz and the surrounding area. Your perseverance and sharp eye and skills are greatly admired and appreciated. Cora Schwartz
Christian:
Wonderful images that make me very sad. If this preview is any indication your final exhibition should be very very powerful.
Congratulations and best wishes.
Simon Kreindler
Outstanding. These are amazing photos, Christian. Thank you for sharing them here.
Shula
Christian,
Thank you for sharing these incredible photos!
Thank you for wonderful photos. I’ve just started researching my father in law’s background, but all we know is his father was born in Galicia. So far no luck in finding records for Josef Lester or Roza Kutcher.
go into jewishgen.org, and enter polish database, JFI, MAYBE YOU CAN FIND SOMETHING THERE.
Again Christian you excel. One could see that these Sinagogues were imposing buildings. One could almost feel the hustle & bustle of the local Jewish communities attending these on holidays. It is chilling to think of the fate of these
people. It is also an unforgiving indictment to the savagery. Your picture are excellent to view & to know about some of these places my father used to know from his travels, whence he used to bring some wonderful Yidish books. The Temple of Drohobych is very imposing. Thank you for sharing
My Dad is from Podbych, (not sure how to spell it!) which was near L’viv. He survived the war hiding in a bunker in Drohobych. These photographs are heartbreaking.
Was that Podhajce (Polish), Pidhaitsi (Ukrainian)?
Podbuzh, Ukraine, I believe.
http://data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/wc.dll?jg~jgsys~community~-1050848
Yup, that’s it, Christian! Thank you for finding it!
These are genuinely beautiful images. Very sad, all abandoned. But you’ve captured the soul of these places. I look forward to following your travels.
My grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin were murdered by the Rumanians on July 4, 1941 in Storozhnetz, a town 18km from Czernovitz. I believe that all the bodies were dumped in a river. Thank you for these pictures.
I have been to Storozhynets. At the cemetery is a memorial for those murdered in 1941.
https://vanishedworld.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/a-trip-through-bukovina/
Thank you for your work, sad, but history…my grandfather z’l was from lviv, and my grandmother form Jaroslav
Looking at these pictures makes me homesick for Czernowitz…..and some of them remind me of lost relaives. Thank you for the memories!!! Cornel
Thank you for the pictures that capture the spirit on what once was. I did not know there were any tombstones left in Wischnitz. I will continue searching now.
Jeanette, there are not just single tombstones, but a cemetery – and a cemetery in good condition!
https://vanishedworld.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/there-is-no-jewish-cemetery-in-vyzhnytsia/
What you are doing is not just work but a “MITZVÁ”. Dow
Your photographs are an inspiration of vibrant communities existing before the holocaust. Those who miraculously survived the holocaust, left their homes for other lands. I remember my grandfather saying that after he returned to Jaroslaw (from Siberia where he was sent by the soviet government), an acquaintance from Jaroslaw told him to leave that same day because his life was in danger if he remained in Jaroslaw. Your photographs show the decay of a destroyed and abandoned community everywhere in Poland and the Ukraine. The broken synagogues and cemetaries also reflect the many broken families that once thrived in these cities. Thank you for your work Christian.
I visited Viznitz (where my father was born), Kuty (relatives), Sadagora and Czernowitz in 1991. I have many pictures but not digital ones. I could scan some if anyone is interested.
Could we see your photos somewhere on-line, Sue?
Yes please
Impressive and chilling… Thank you for your great work.
Dear friends, we are glad to inform you about the new and innovative memorial project ‘Space of Synagogues’! Please learn more on http://Jewish.lviv.travel/
Thank you for these. These photos remind me so much of the Jewish cemetery in my hometown Shargorod in Ukraine.
Hi Christian,
Very appreciative of the work you do and your commitment to detail. My ancestry came from Dubăsari (Transnistria) before ww2 and they moved to Tiraspol(Transnistria) after ww2. I am looking in particular of any records relating to two family names Kiner & Berelekhis (spelling may vary)
The oldest known relative we know was my grandfather’s grandfather(father’s side) born in 1877 Shmil Berelekhis.
We also know Haim-Leib Kiner 1881-1960 (gradfather’s gradnfather ( mother’s side) and his father we only know by name Boruch Kiner.
If there are any known document records or gravestones that could yield some answers, or any information in general, it would be greatly appreciated.
We are happy to pay you or someone for the time spent or if a possible contact could be found residing in Moldova that could visiting Dubăsari cemetery and survey gravestones bearing the surnames Berelekhis or Kiner.
Thank you very much and looking forward to your reply.
Marc
Dear Marc, I will forward your request to a friend in Moldova.
Best wishes
Christian
Great, Thank you Christian. I have already found some information on JewishGen.org, but i believe there are other bits of information that could fill in the pieces and connect the JewishGen information.