Tag Archives: Chernivtsi (Czernowitz)

One has to imagine Sisyphus as a happy man

Posted on by under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

Since six years volunteers from all over the world work in the Jewish cemetery of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz). What do they experience and what is the progress in cleaning the cemetery from rampant vegetation?

How to start? Making a plan …
How to start? Making a plan …
Volunteers working
Volunteers working
Volunteers working
Volunteers working
Volunteers working
Mass grave in Storozhynets
Excursion to Kosiv
Excursion to Vyzhnytsia
Excursion to Vyzhnytsia
Excursion to Sadagora
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Farewell Czernowitz!

Posted on by 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)
The riddle of the flat house (for my friend Hardy Breier)
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A Church and a Synagogue come to Life again

Posted on by 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
Czernowitz – Herz Jesu Kiche
Sadagora – Jewish cemetery – Ohel of the Friedman family
Sadagora – Jewish cemetery – Ohel of the Friedman family
Sadagora – Jewish cemetery
Sadagora – Hasidic court

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

Posted on by 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 – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings
Czernowitz – Groisse Shil – wall paintings

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A walk through Czernowitz

Posted on by 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) – former Synagogengasse – Groisse Shil (Great Synagogue)
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Landhausgasse
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Synagogengasse
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Golovna Street
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – administration building from Austro-Hungarian periode
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Synagogengasse – Groisse Shil (Great Synagogue)
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – market
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Golovna Street
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Judengasse
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Golovna Street
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – townhall
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Golovna Street
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – market
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Golovna Street
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Golovna Street
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Synagogengasse
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – Golovna Street
Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) – former Synagogengasse

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Two Cemeteries and an Adventure

Posted on by 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
volunteers at the ceme
volunteers at the ceme
Czernowitz – old Jewish cemetery
Czernowitz – old Jewish cemetery
Czernowitz – old Jewish cemetery
Czernowitz – old Jewish cemetery

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Back in Ukraine

Posted on by under Eastern Galicia

Cologne – Vienna – Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg), Austrian Airlines brought me and my friends Ingo and Sabine safely to Ukraine today. It’s nice to be back, good to know that you will stay at the wonderful Hotel George, nice to know that you are welcome there. The first thing we tried to do: buy train tickets. Tomorrow afternoon we hopefully continue to Chernivtsi (Czernowitz). There are unforeseen problems with the train reservations, which we hope to solve tomorrow.

Galicia under our wings
Arrival in Lviv
on the roofs of Lviv
Rynok – market square
Golden Rose Synagogue
Golden Rose Synagogue
a wedding in preparation
Armenian church
sleeping cat
Boim chapel

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The Forgotten Cemetery of Czernowitz

Posted on by 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

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