A new Experience

Today, a new journey to Jewish heritage sites has begun and it is different from all others before. I’m going to guide a group of 16 Germans through Galicia, Bukovina and Bessarabia in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. We started with day trips from Lviv – while one part of the group went to Drohobych and was guided there by the wonderful Tanya Firman, the other part went north to Zhovkva, Uhniv, Belz and Velyki Mosty.

Zhovkva – trace of a mezuzah

Zhovkva synagogue

Zhovkva synagogue

Uhniv – beit midrash and synagogue

At Uhniv synagogue

Catholic church in Uhniv

In Uhniv

Belz Jewish cemetery

Belz Jewish cemetery

To Zhovkva in Good Company

A new journey has begun. Over the next two weeks I will be traveling with my friend Sylvia de Swaan – a great photographer. The first week of our trip through Galicia, Bukovina and Bessarabia we will share with our friends and researchers Marla Raucher Osborn and Jay Osborn. Today we were in Zhovkva, about 30 kilometers north from Lviv.

Zhovkva synagogue

Zhovkva synagogue

Zhovkva synagogue

Jay Osborn

Zhovkva

Zhovkva

Zhovkva – trace of a mezuzah

Zhovkva – trace of a mezuzah

Zhovkva market – formerly the Jewish cemetery

Zhovkva market – ohel at the former Jewish cemetery

Return to Trochenbrod

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 – trace of a mezuzah

Zhovkva – former Jewish cemetery

Zhovkva – former Jewish cemetery

Trochenbrod

Trochenbrod

Trochenbrod

Katharina

Sylvia

Sylvia

A Journey in Black and White

My journey in February through Western Ukraine – through Galicia, Bukovina and Podolia – was another opportunity to take more photos for two exhibitions in autumn. Here is a first selection, including images from Lviv (Lemberg, Lwow), Sokal, Velyki Mosty, Zhovkva, Staryi Sambir, Ternopil, Sataniv and Chernivtsi (Czernowitz). What are your favorites?

Sokal, synagogue

Velyki Mosty, synagogue

Velyki Mosty, synagogue

Sokal, remains of the Jewish cemetery

Staryi Sambir, Jewish cemetery

Staryi Sambir, Jewish cemetery

Staryi Sambir, Jewish cemetery

Staryi Sambir, Jewish cemetery

Staryi Sambir, synagogue

Zhovkva, trace of a mezuzah

Lviv (Lemberg, Lwow), remains of the Jewish cemetery

Ternopil (Tarnopol), Jewish cemetery

Ternopil (Tarnopol), Jewish cemetery

Ternopil (Tarnopol), Jewish cemetery

Sataniv, Jewish cemetery

Sataniv, Jewish cemetery

Sataniv, Jewish cemetery

Sataniv, Jewish cemetery

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), Jewish cemetery

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), Jewish cemetery

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), Jewish cemetery

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), Jewish cemetery

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), Jewish cemetery

Chernivtsi (Czernowitz), Jewish cemetery

North of Lviv

A long day trip through Galicia – north of Lviv (Lemberg, Lwow) – to the towns of Sokal, Velyki Mosty and Zhovkva. Bright sunshine, the winter is coming to an end. We pass a down going industrial landscape, traces of the past and the dawn of a new, still undetermined Ukraine.

Sokal synagogue

Sokal – guards in front of an occupied public building

Sokal – older ladies in front of an occupied public building

Sokal – remains of Jewish headstones

Velyki Mosty – synagogue

Velyki Mosty – synagogue

Zhovkva – traces of a mezuzah at the market square

Zhovkva – remains of the Jewish cemetery

Zhovkva – remains of the Jewish cemetery

Zhovkva – remains of the Jewish cemetery

Zhovkva synagogue

In Zhovkva you can learn about Diversity

During my visit in October 2012, Zhovkva turns out to be an extraordinary beautiful place. As the nearby Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg), the town’s streets tell about the multiethnic past of Galicia – in a smaller scale than the imposing Lviv. The town has a touristic future. Jewish, Ukrainian and Polish heritage would be part of it. Including one of the most beautiful synagogues in Galicia.

Zhovkva synagogue

Zhovkva synagogue

Zhovkva synagogue and market

Zhovkva synagogue – Aron Hakodesh

Zhovkva synagogue

Zhovkva synagogue

Zhovkva – traces of a mezuzah

Zhovkva – traces of a mezuzah

Zhovkva – traces of a mezuzah

Zhovkva – market square

Zhovkva – market square

Zhovkva – Ukrainian wooden square