From Chişinău to Bălţi via Transnistria

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Christian Herrmann under Bessarabia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

On 2 March our little group continued the road trip through the Republic of Moldova. We headed east, crossed the Russian checkpoint near Dubăsari, and entered the internationally not recognized break away “republic” of Transnistria – rarely visited by western travelers. On our itinerary were Dubăsari and Raşcov before we crossed the “border” again to see the Jewish cemetery of Vadul Raşcov.

Dubăsari mass killing site – Soviet memorial

Dubăsari mass killing site – new memorial

Dubăsari Jewish cemetery

Dubăsari – former synagogue

Raşcov Hasidic court – former beit midrash

Raşcov Hasidic court – ruin of the synagogue

Raşcov Hasidic court – former Kloyz

Raşcov – new Jewish cemetery

Lenin is still up in Raşcov

Raşcov – old Jewish cemetery

Vadul Raşcov Jewish cemetery

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Some Summer Black and Whites

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Christian Herrmann under Bessarabia, Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

After working a lot on my colour photos I finally found time to return to the analogue black and whites. Here is a selection of images I took in August during the trip to Ukraine and Moldova. Represented are Jewish cemeteries in Chişinău (Kishinev), Orhei and Vadul-Raşcov (Vadul Rashkov) in Bessarabia/Moldova, cemeteries in Rîbniţa (Rybnitsa) and Raşcov (Rashkov) in the break away “state” of Transnistria, as well as the former synagogue of Sniatyn in Galicia, Ukraine.

Chişinău Jewish cemetery

Orhei Jewish cemetery

Rîbniţa Jewish cemetery

Orhei Jewish cemetery

Raşcov Jewish cemetery

Vadul-Raşcov Jewish cemetery

Sniatyn synagogue

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Return to Transnistria

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Christian Herrmann under Bessarabia, Jewish Cemeteries, Podolia, Synagogues

Our journey to Ukraine and Moldova goes on. The wish of my friend Sylvia to visit Bessarabia gave me a good pretext to return to Chişinău (Kishinev). While our friends Marla and Jay returned to Lviv yesterday, Sylvia and I took the bus to the Moldovan capital. Today we were out for a long day trip to Transnistria, a break-away ‘state’, only aknowledged by Russia. We visited Dubăsari (Dubasari), Raşcov (Rashkov) and Rîbniţa (Rybnitsa).

Dubăsari (Dubasari) mass grave

Raşcov (Rashkov) Jewish cemetery

Raşcov (Rashkov) – ruin of a Christian church

Lenin is still alive in Transnistria

Raşcov (Rashkov) – view towards river Dniester

Raşcov (Rashkov) synagogue

Rybnitsa Jewish cemetery

Our marshrutka from Chernivtsi (Czernoeitz) to Chişinău (Chisinau)

Chişinău (Chisinau) – view from Cosmos hotel

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Bessarabia in Black and White (Vol. 2)

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Christian Herrmann under Bessarabia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

I continued to work on the analog black and white images of the trip to Bessarabia/Moldova in March/April. Here is the result, including photos of Jewish heritage sites in Orhei, Otaci (Ataki), Prodănești (Prodaneshty), Raşcov (Rashkov), Rezina, Soroca and Zguriţa (Zguritsa). More is coming.

Rezina Jewish cemetery

Raşcov (Rashkov) synagogue

Orhei Jewish cemetery

Otaci (Ataki) Jewish cemetery

Prodănești (Prodaneshty) Jewish cemetery

Soroca Jewish cemetery

Zguriţa (Zguritsa) synagogue

Zguriţa (Zguritsa) Jewish cemetery

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Into Transnistria

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Christian Herrmann under Bessarabia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

To go from Rezina to Rîbniţa (Rybnitsa) and Raşcov (Rashkov) one has to cross the border from Moldova to “Transnistria”. The border is controlled only on the Transnistrian side, as Moldova considers the region as part of its national territory. The Jewish cemetery in Rîbniţa and the old synagogue in Raşcov were our destinations.