filming begins with Sylvie and Alex in the 'old town' of Lviv, on a tour of Jewish sites |
Alex points out former Jewish households... |
...their mezuzah marks visible in the door frames |
near the old synagogue square, some things are new... |
...including several information signs recently posted... |
...but some things are unchanged, like this Jewish headstone still being used as paving |
the ruin of the Golden Rose synagogue is still the same |
we make our first visit on the grounds of the ruin |
Vincent films the area as a popular sight for visitors... |
...while Alex explains some old and new details of the site's history |
the bricks here are like those all over the former Galicia |
now we are on the old town square to see some of the oldest parts of Lviv |
we say au revoir to Sylvie and then visit an apartment building... |
...where one of Marla's relatives lived while attending university |
then we're back at the Lviv oblast archives, where Marla found the record that listed that apartment |
Renaud interviews one of the archive directors about foreign Jews visiting to do family research |
there are interesting displays from the archive collections in the hallways |
at the central state archives building an hour later, the French TV crew interviews their expert on Jewish archive holdings |
finally the day's filming is over... |
...and we take a break by visiting the lovely Armenian cathedral in old town |
that night we relax at our hotel in town |
driving from Lviv the next morning, we find the road conditions poor |
but the countryside is green and lush as we approach Rohatyn this Spring |
we meet Mr. Vorobets, and give him a copy of the 1846 map on behalf of RSRG |
then we are off to Drahomanova street, where headstones have been found in the past |
there are two new ones by the river, and one by the roadside |
this woman tells us that once many stones were visible in this road |
these fragments are small enough we can carry them ourselves... |
...and place them in the van for transport to the new cemetery |
Jeremy explains what we are doing, to help spread the word in town |
now we return to a courtyard where several stones have been found in past years |
the "wall of stones" has been partially disassembled |
but this nearby garden still contains even more buried stones |
Marla relates her family's experiences in town to the French TV reporters... |
...then we go behind her family's buildings to see about getting inside |
Mr. Vorobets explains the background to one current resident |
part of Marla's family once lived in her house |
the current resident tells what she knows of Rohatyn history after the war |
now we head down to the lower apartment and basement |
|
Alex and Jeremy note many original details |
then a few houses away from the rynek is another house of Marla's family... |
...where several Jews from Rohatyn hid during the war |
this man lives there now, and gives us the recent house history |
the house is much changed, but it is good to trade stories |
now around at the streetfront, we try to get into the basement, another known hiding place |
the lock is rusted shut; we all try our hand |
finally Vitaly brings pliers and succeeds |
a rather chilling place, even without the history |
the basement has changed significantly since the war... |
...but it is still possible to appreciate what life may have been like down here |
we thank the shop owner for letting us see it... |
...and move on to the new cemetery |
glad to see others have been here to pay respect |
we place the three newest stones in the collection... |
...and with a little cleaning... |
...the second of the three stones reveals some lettering |
there are other stones newly recovered... |
...since we were last here in late 2012 |
but we see one old stone is now cracked |
how to best preserve all these stone fragments remains an important issue |
near the cemetery memorial, Marla notices a large granite stone under some bushes |
removing a thick carpet of moss, a name is revealed |
now we are at the southern mass grave, explaining what happened here for French TV |
Mr. Vorobets continues his ongoing care of the site |
Mr. Vorobets alerts us to some decay at the Soviet memorial to the victims |
the group offers the small funds necessary to make repairs |
Marla talks to the reporters about the motivations for may Rohatyn descendants to see where their families lived, and many died |
then we visit the old cemetery, just a quick look |
another memorial needs some light repair here |
a group picture at the end of the day... |
...and we wish our friend good health and goodbye |