Kos – a Jewish community in the Aegean Sea

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Christian Herrmann under Aegean Sea, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

The Corona pandemic has changed my life – like that of many others. I worked from home for over half a year. What hit me hardest: I couldn’t travel. In the first half of October, however, a time window opened up. I traveled to Greece with two friends – first to Athens, then on to the island of Nisyros. On the way back we had half a day to explore Kos – once the home of a Jewish community.

Kos – synagogue

Kos – new Jewish cemetery

Kos – old Jewish cemetery

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There is still a lot to tell

Posted on April 16, 2020 by Christian Herrmann under Central Ukraine, Eastern Galicia, Exhibition, Jewish Cemeteries

Galicia, Kyiv, Greece and some exhibitions. There is still a lot to tell about the past year. The forced break caused by the corona virus gives me the opportunity to do it.

Lviv – Tikvat Zion synagogue

Lviv – Yiddish shop sign

Lviv – trace of a mezuzah

Brody – mezuzah

Brody – trace of a mezuzah

Pomoriany – destroyed Jewish cemetery

Pomoriany – cold storage made from Jewish tombstones

Pomoriany – former collective farm

Vienna airport – traveling Hasidim

Kyiv – exhibition opening at Triptych: Global Arts Workshop – © Triptych: Global Arts Workshop

Kyiv – German Embassy – © Myroslava Hartmond

Kyiv – House with Chimaeras

Kyiv – Podil Synagogue and Community Centre

Ioannina – house decoration

Cologne – exhibition opening at Lew Kopelew Forum

Cologne – exhibition opening at Lew Kopelew Forum – © Lew Kopelew Forum

Cologne – exhibition flyer

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From Kolomyia eastwards and back to Lviv

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries

My friends and I continued our trip through Galicia in Ukraine on February 23. We started our day in Kolomyia and headed east to Horodenka and then towards Zolotyi Potik. Jewish heritage sites in Hvizdets, Chernelytsia, Zabolotiv and Obertyn were along the way.

Kolomyia – tombstones in a backyard

Kolomyia – trace of a mezuzah

Hvizdets – Jewish cemetery

Horodenka – old Jewish cemetery

Chernelytsia – Jewish cemetery

Zolotyi-Potik – Jewish cemetery

Zolotyi-Potik – tombstone fragments next to the palace

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Towards the Carpathian Mountains

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Christian Herrmann under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries

During the carnival, I fled my hometown Cologne for a week and traveled to Ukraine. For three days, I was on the road with friends. On February 20, our route led us to Medenychi, Opory, Rivne (Königsau), Skole, Lysiatychi, Lavochne and Rozhniativ.

Medenychi – mass grave site

Opory – mass grave site

Rivne (Königsau) – German cemetery

Verkhnie Synovydne – mass grave site

Skole – Jewish cemetery

Rozhniativ – Jewish cemetery

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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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From Nyasvizh back to Minsk

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Christian Herrmann under Belarus, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

April 27, nearly a month ago, was the last day of our road trip through the west of Belarus. With detours left and right of the Brest-Minsk highway we visited the towns of Nyasvizh, Garadeya, Mir, Turets, Stowbtsy, Novy Sverzhan, Rubezhevichy and Dzerzhinsk (formerly Koydanava). One place stands out: Mir with its synagogues and other former Jewish institutions in the town center.

Nyasvizh – memorial on a mass grave

Nyasvizh – destroyed Jewish cemetery

Nyasvizh – memorial on a mass grave

Garadeya -memorial on a mass grave

Mir – mass grave marker

Mir – Craftmen’s prayer school

Mir – former yeshiva

Mir – former cheder

Mir – former Great Synagogue

Mir – former synagogue

Mir – Jewish cemetery

Mir – mass killing site next to the castle

Mir – castle

Turets – Jewish cemetery

Stowbtsy – mass killing site

Stowbtsy – Jewish cemetery

Stowbtsy – former Great Synagogue

Stowbtsy – one of the many beautiful wooden houses we saw in Belarus

Novy Sverzhan – Jewish cemetery

Rubezhevichy – Jewish cemetery

Dzerzhinsk – former yeshiva

Dzerzhinsk – mass killing site

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From Slonim to Nyasvizh

Posted on May 22, 2019 by Christian Herrmann under Belarus, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

My friends and I continued our journey through the west of Belarus on 26 April. Again, this question came into our minds: what happens to Jewish heritage sites, when there is no or just a small Jewish community left? Others make use of these places and reshape them. We found such transformed landmarks in the towns of Molchad, Novaya Mysh, Baranavichy and Lyakhavichy. But we also found well preserved and maintained heritage sites and memorials in some of the mentioned towns and additionally in Kletsk and Kapyl.

Slonim – Great Synagogue

Molchad – former synagogue or beit midrash

Molchad – Soviet war memorial

Molchad – former Jewish bakery

Molchad – Jewish cemetery

Molchad – mass killing site

Novaya-Mysh – Jewish cemetery

Novaya-Mysh – former synagogue

Baranavichy – mass killing site and deportation point

Baranavichy – former Great Synagogue

Baranavichy – former yeshiva

Baranavichy – Jewish cemetery

Lyakhavichy – Jewish cemetery, now a motodrome

Kletsk – Jewish cemetery

Kletsk – former synagogue

Kletsk – mass killing site

Kapyl – Jewish cemetery

Kapyl – mass killing site

Kapyl – plaque for Menahem Mendel Sforim

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From Brest to Slonim

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Christian Herrmann under Belarus, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

Day 7 of our 9 days road trip through the west of Belarus brought us on 25 April finally to the town of Slonim. For all of us – Achim, Petra, Juliana and me – it was one of the highligts of the entire journey. Not much compares to the beauty of the Great Synagogue. En route were more heritage sites in Kobryn and Byten, but also sad places – mass killing sites – in Smolyarka and Bronnaya Gara.

Kobryn – Jewish cemetery

Kobryn – Great Synagogue

Kobryn – Holocaust memorial

Smolyarka – mass killing site

Bronnaya Gara – mass killing site

Bronnaya Gara – Holocaust memorial

Byten – Jewish cemetery

Byten – mass killing site

Slonim – Jewish cemetery

Slonim – former synagogue, now a furniture store

Slonim – Great Synagogue

Slonim – synagogue

Slonim – mass killing site

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From Pruzhany to Brest

Posted on May 14, 2019 by Christian Herrmann under Belarus, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

In the early afternoon of 24 April, my friends and I reached Brest, one of the biggest cities in Belarus and known for the peace negotiations at the end of World War I and its uncompromising resistance against the invading German forces in World War II. En route were Jewish heritage sites in Pruzhany, Sharashova and Kamienets.

Pruzhany – Jewish cemetery

Pruzhany – Holocaust memorial at the Jewish cemetery

On the road – Afghanistan war memorial

Pruzhany – former synagogue

Sharashova – Jewish cemetery

Kamienets – former yeshiva

Kamienets – former beit midrash

Kamienets – former synagogue

Brest – Jewish tombstones in the fortress

Brest fortress

Brest – former Great Synagogue

Brest – monument for Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin

Brest – functioning synagogue

Brest – Holocaust memorial

Brest – former synagogue

Brest – former Jewish hospital

In our hotel

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From Hrodna to Pruzhany

Posted on May 12, 2019 by Christian Herrmann under Belarus, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

Starting in the morning of April 23 in Hrodna, my friends and I turned south to continue our road trip through the west of Belarus. Join us to visit imposing synagogues, hidden Jewish cemeteries and a haunted house – a former beit midrash – in the towns of Indura, Lunno, Wolpa, Mstibovo, Svislach, Porazava, Lyskava and Ruzhany!