a group of researchers and students from Jerusalem university headed by doctor Goldin came to Galichina (Western Ukraine) to collect material on Jewish towns.
Dr. Goldin says most Jewish settlements in the region are practically ruined, and the expedition hopes to gather materials on their history, take pictures of Jewish cemeteries, synagogues, yeshivas before there’s no trace left of them.
Jewish presence in Galichina is recorded since XIth century, and big communities rose there by XIVth century. Mostly the towns and settlements were populated by Jews and up to 20% of Jews lived in villages.
Jewish heritage in Galichina is huge, a unique Jewish culture was created here but it’s mostly unknown. Many Galitsia Jews were killed by Holocaust, and the Soviets did their best to conceal Jewish role in the history of the region. In the independent Ukraine the big works on description of Jewish heritage and explanation of its scale and importance for public understanding is just at its very beginning.
For many years Israel showed little interest to the studies and preservation of the heritage of Ashkenazi Jews in general and Galitsia and Ukrainian Jewry in particular. We hope such expeditions will become regular, and after Galitsia researchers will describe and learn the wealth of Jewish heritage in other regions.