Ted Seymour - Explorations of Truth
They left Belarus in 1923 and the good life that they had created. Times had changed and the place of their home was no longer one in which they could remain. Just as I am departing now on this train to Minsk, my ancestors too left Vitebsk, six of them including my grandmother crammed into […]
All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. Martin Buber The Magic of travel is happening here for me in Belarus. I’m currently in Vitebsk, the childhood home of my grandmother and her family. After spending a few days in Minsk, I’ve been here for 7 days so far, mostly exploring and […]
I couldn’t quite find the heart of Minsk. Some places just feel heavier than others and Minsk seems to fall in to that heavy category for me. Life there feels burdensome rather than something to be celebrated and enjoyed. I know that is a broad brush stroke with which to paint a place, but it’s […]
Farewell Ukraine. On a plane on my way from Kiev towards a stop in London on my way back to the States. There was something special about Ukraine for me. Funny, though, I think I might be willing to say that about any place where I spend an extended period of time. I think one […]
I’m a little upset lately, in seeing life going on here in Ukraine without many Jews being present. This area used to have many, many Jews and now they are largely gone. As I mentioned in my last post, Khotyn used to have 24 synagogues and now there is barely one. 18,000 Jews reduced to […]
I returned again to Khotyn yesterday evening. I’m not exactly certain as to why, but perhaps that will unfold as I am here. The excuse I told myself in planning to come here was that I wanted to photograph more of the remaining Jewish people here in town. I’ve been itching to put together images […]
This morning I went to the Babi Yar ravine in Kiev, where a large massacre of Jews took place in September of 1941. I wasn’t quite sure why I was going, but I went anyway, open to whatever I might find. What I found profoundly surprised me. I found Beauty. The ravine is a lovely […]
Tomorrow, barring unforeseen emotional breakdowns or interventions, I am going to visit Babi Yar, a place in Kiev where over two days over 33,000 Jews were killed. Not gassed, but lined up in groups of 10 along the ravine to be shot, and then tumble in. Horrible, horrible, horrible event in human history, and somehow […]