Of Castles and Cemeteries

Yesterday was devoted to castles and yet one more cemetery, one of the most interesting ones to date. We began our day in Khotin, a city about 30 miles away from Kamenetz Podolsk in Bessarabia. My interest in this city is that my grandmother’s family originated there and several family members gave it as their most recent residence prior to immigrating. At that time it was located across the Dniester River in Roumania. Now it is part of the Ukraine.

We began our day with a visit to the fortress/castle that we had admired from Zhavnets on the other side of the river. Not quite as grand as that in Kamenetz, it made up for this by the striking views of its location. Located high above the river, it is surrounded by earthworks and fortifications.

We also drove around Khotin to the area where the Jewish homes and shops had been and identified buildings that would have existed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A synagogue still stands and is in use although there are not enough Jews to have a minyon. At one point we drove past a home that was abandoned and I viewed the inside which consisted of two rooms with what may have been a heating unit of green enamel. An outhouse stood in back and a wooden storage shed and root cellar adjoined the house.

After touring the town we drove to the cemetery. I had done a search on-line and found the tombstones had been photographed. One was of particular interest to me, Mariam daughter of Avrum was all that was recorded, no surname and no dates. My great-great grandmother was Mariam (Wasserman), daughter of Avrum so I was interested in locating that tombstone to see if it was possible to decipher more. We arrived at the cemetery in front of which stood a house with writing on it that indicated it was the Jewish cemetery. As no one appeared to be home except a small child, we began to explore. Once again we saw striking photo engravings and I quickly found a tombstone for a Wasserman, the maiden name of my great-great grandmother. My first thought was that this appeared to be an orderly cemetery with tombstones in rows. That belief was shattered as I got about three rows back and discovered that small saplings made many of those rows impassable.


First the cemetery manager’s wife appeared and then the manager himself. A burly man with a white beard, he was accompanied by his grandson, a small child who perched on a tombstone as Alex translated for us. The manager told us that he grew up in the cemetery and was the third generation to manage it. He reported that when a group tried to improve it they actually created problems. They cut trees down, but they dropped their seeds creating the saplings. They also tried to burn brush and it destroyed about 500 tombstones.

We asked him about my family names and the one he was able to offer information on was that of Wasserman. While two had been on the on-line site, he showed us several additional ones. He told us that a Wasserman came from Israel each year to visit the grave of a family member. I was interested in a Mariam Wasserman of a more recent generation as family names frequently are repeated within a family. He showed us a tombstone that had a scissors on it and no surname and indicated that it was for a Wasserman as it was one that the Israeli visited as well. He seemed to know all of the tombstones personally as well as their families reporting that one was the mother-in-law of another.

The cemetery has been in existence for 300 years. When I asked about my great-great grandmother he asked when she would have died and led us to the section that would be around 1900.

While I found Miriams and Abrams, I didn’t find them in the same tombstone. Realizing the futility of the search, I began to focus on the decorative details on the stones. The other cemeteries typically had a Star of David, but very little other ornamentation. The tombstones in Khotin were often multi-colored as well as ornamented with fish, birds, lions, griffons and ornate patterning. I inquired about an area that was particularly decorative and was told that it was 200 years old.

Upon returning to Kamenetz we visited the castle there. The prior day it was closed as they were filming a movie there. It is often used for such projects. Our final project was to attempt some videotaping. A test drive by auto quickly reminded me of the bumpiness of the roads and I walked across the bridge filming and down the street where my grandfather lived. Not quite ready for prime time, these videos will allow me to share the imagery with family.

This morning we began our journey back to Lviv. By now the horse drawn carts, storks and elderly women in head scarves looked much more familiar. The day was sunny and we chatted as we drove. By now we felt like old friends with Alex having discussed a wide variety of subjects spanning family, politics, history and literature. When we arrived in Lviv, Alex gave us a brief tour of the Jewish sites including what remains of a 16th century synagogue destroyed by the Nazis, the former Jewish district and ghetto area, traces of Yiddish writing which remain and a Holocaust memorial. We bid a fond good by to Alex. His assistance had allowed us to access sites which would otherwise have been inaccessible to us due to language barriers and a lack of knowledge. Our investment in his time had been well worth it. Tomorrow we fly back to Warsaw and meet up with Dora and her son for the next leg of our trip in Radom.

Gardens and Galleries

We actually don’t spend all of our time exploring the Jewish history of the cities we visit, that just seems to offer more background to write about. On our first full day in Prague we began our day with a walk to the Castle. Aharon had suggested the prior day that we take the funicular in Kinskie Gardens (across from our hotel) to the first stop and get off and wander through the park. As promised we found wonderful views of the city and a lovely park as well. We have noticed that there are quite a few large parks in Prague. They seem to value their greenery as the parks are actively used. Along the way we passed a memorial to the victims of Communism. The sculpture has several male figures, some partially disintegrating as they descend the steps. A metal line is inset into the steps with the numbers of victims shot, exiled, arrested, executed or who died in prison.

Ultimately we came to the Strahov Monastery. From there we walked down the hill to arrive at the castle complex. The castle was founded in the 9th century and has been the home of most Czech rulers since. As we entered the area we discovered a very striking building with interesting sgraffito on its walls. Sgraffito is a decorative technique that we see frequently in Prague. It is a mural technique from the Renaissance that creates a 3D effect. The building was the Schwarzenberg Palace which is part of the National Gallery and has a collection of Baroque work. We continued to the Sternberg Palace across from the Schwarzenberg which contains European art, largely Italian and Dutch. They had an extensive collection of Rubens as well as a Rembrandt, Goya, Titian and El Greco. We especially enjoyed a sculpture garden that was very peaceful and quiet after maneuvering through the throngs of tour groups.

We wandered down from the castle to the Charles Bridge. The Charles Bridge is a pedestrian bridge built in 1400. It has many religious statues on its sides and stalls selling tourist goods in the middle. Unfortunately it also has many tourists. My husband has perfected the technique of waving his hat when we get separated, a technique that we used several times just crossing the bridge. We walked across the bridge to the Old Town Square where the Astronomical Clock is located. The clock dates to 1490 and on the hour a skeleton representing death rings a bell and figures of the apostles move through the windows.

The following day we visited several gardens and museums. We found the Vrtbovska Garden tucked behind a small entry and then wandered over to the Wallenstein Gardens that are part of the Czech Senate. Filled with statues and frescos and an occasional peacock, the most unusual feature is a wall that creates a limestone grotto with artificial stalactites. We found faces and animals within the seemingly random forms.

We then caught the tram to the Veletrzni Palace, part of the National Gallery and with an amazing collection of both Czech and international art. We could have used a few more hours to do it justice. I discovered a fondness for Kupka abstracts, enjoyed the Muchas (which have their own Prague museum as well) and saw a cross section of cubist furniture in addition to paintings. We found several paintings which Kokoschika had done of Prague and the Charles Bridge and several Schiele paintings which he had done while staying in his mother’s hometown in the region. There were also many artists with whom we had not been familiar. In both Hungary and the Czech Republic we were struck by the many talented artists who are not known outside of the boundaries of their country. After the museum closed we met our friend who is also in Prague for dinner. Tomorrow we regroup with our guide Aharon and go to Terezin.