19 May 2022

Stand with Ukraine in Czernowitz (3,861 km)

(2022-05-15/19) Czernowitz in wartime, this is not the right place and time for tourist snapshots. On the one hand, it would be inappropriate, on the other hand, photos with location information in the social media can entail security risks. What has changed, what has remained? Nothing is the same as it used to be, even if it looks that way at first glance. At the border, a third checkpoint has been added to the previous passport and customs checks. Military personnel, mostly very young people, check vehicle and luggage, calmly and professionally. Gasoline is scarce and very expensive, long lines form at the few gas stations that have it. Many people ride bicycles, not for sporting reasons.



Public buildings are secured with sandbags, heavy and armed patrols are part of the street scene. Everywhere there are improvised bomb shelters and people have the Air Alarm Ukraine App on their cell phones, also in English, where they can enter their location. Several times a day, mostly at night, there are air alarms. Depending on where you live, you take the alarms more or less seriously. Those who live near the airport or the train station have a different awareness than I, staying at a hotel in the city center. The alarms are never unfounded, whenever (from Belarus) Russian planes or missiles take off in the direction of Czernowitz, the alarm is set off, but so far Lviv has always been the target of these attacks.






Except for numerous NGO volunteers, there are not many foreigners in the city. I am often asked: What are you doing here, aren't you afraid? My answer is always: You are here, too, and you live with the situation as I do (for a limited period of time).



As perceptible as the military, police and security forces are, the humanitarian aid is even greater; everyone here pitches in to unload the goods that come into the city here via Romania, store them at dozens of decentralized collection points and distribute them to the countless internally displaced persons (IDP‘s). Mykola Kuschnir, the Director of the Jewish Museum and I helped unload a truck with relief aid from Switzerland for the museums in Czernowitz; security goods for the exhibits, fire extinguishers, etc.





Mykola is also the one who gave me access to the „Beit Kadishin“ at the Jewish Cemetery. At financial expenditures of about € 300,000.00 = US$ 315,000.00, the former mortuary has been secured from decay. A Holocaust Museum will be built here in the future, but pandemic and war have brought the project to a halt for the time being. I am infinitely grateful to Mykola for his support, advice and tireless commitment.




I had the privilege to have a conversation of several hours with Dr. Oxana Matychuk at the University of Czernowitz. Her "Ukrainian Diary", published in the renowned Süddeutsche Zeitung, has received a great deal of media attention in Germany. However, people who have never heard of Czernowitz know Oxana. On 29.05.2022 Iris Berben will read from the diary at the Lustspielhaus in Munich and Oxana will be there:


As with every migration flow, in the beginning not those who were most in need of help came, but those who were mobile; they are often found in the hotels in the city center and in the cafes on Herrengasse. Only later it was possible to evacuate those, mostly from eastern Ukraine, who often lost everything there and are probably permanently dependent on support. That is why it is so important, more important than ever, that the first wave of helpfulness is followed by a second and third. Here on the ground, Oxana coordinates the great fundraising campaign for „Donations for Bukovina“ of the NGO „Gedankendach“ in cooperation with the IKGS at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich.


Until 17.05.2022 € 206.689 = US$ 217.023 have been collected. A big thank you to each of you who participated.


Please do not slacken in your willingness to help, because every euro, every dollar goes to a good cause! Stand with Ukraine!

6 comments:

Marla Raucher Osborn said...

Thank you dear Edgar, Christian shared this post with us (we are together now in Greece) and we feel re-connected with you. Jay and I hope to re-enter western Ukraine at the beginning of June and work our way home to Lviv. Sending love and kisses and hoping for peaceful skies.

Edgar Hauster said...

Thank you, dearest Marla, you must be following very closely how the situation wil be at the beginning of June. What unites all those who are on the ground is not so much the fear, but the uncertainty of what will happen the next day. Love & hugs to you, to Jay and Christian!

Leah Snider said...

Edgar,

Thank you for this newest update, and your comments on what is appropriate/or not, to photograph and post these days. Your thoughtfulness and respect for others is commendable.

Edgar Hauster said...

Thank you, dear Leah, your comment is very much appreciated.

Dr. Poras said...

Following your travels with eager eyes. Thx for the link to make a donation. My great grandfather is looking from 5 rows over and smiling at the renewal of the prayer house.

Safe Travels,
Joe

Edgar Hauster said...

Dear Joe,

Thank you so much for your dedication and generosity, it‘s needed and very much appreciated!

Hugs!