Snapshots of history
International youth exchange
Chernivtsi, Ukraine, 5-18 of August 2013
Call for participants
About the project
“Snapshots of history” youth exchange will gather 26 participants from 5 countries (Ukraine,
Italy, Moldova, Estonia and Slovakia) in Chernivtsi, with aim to explore history of the city,
exchange about history and remembrance in European context, and discover multi-cultural
community of Chernivtsi.
Participants will study history of the city through replicating historic postcards and making
photos of modern look of same places, discovering stories and histories behind
photographed places, interaction of different minorities of this multi-cultural city, and making
a photo exhibition of historic postcards and their modern replicas. The exchange program
and exhibition will cover such places as Metropolitan residence becoming university and
UNESCO world heritage site, Jewish temple becoming cinema, national houses of ethnic
minorities, historic cemeteries, area which was Ghetto during WW2, town districts which
were populated by different ethnic groups etc. The program of the exchange, and the
exhibition will reflect special feature of the city - its multi-ethnic and multi-cultural history and
community: stories of Jewish, Polish, Romanian-Moldovan, German-Austrian, Ukrainian life
in Chernivtsi, as well as interaction between different ethnic groups (as Trayan Popovici case
when Romanian mayor saved almost 20 000 Jews, and Jewish girl Miriam Taylor surviving
ghetto in Chernivtsi, or Romanian and Turkish mass graves at the Jewish cemetery etc).
Below you can find more info, historic and cultural background of Chernivtsi, and
http://goo.gl/maps/r33Nx here you can find virtual tour around the city.
The project is organized with support of Youth in Action programme Executive Agency.
The program of the youth exchange will include following activities:
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workshops and discussions in the group on memory and remembrance, history,
multiculturalism
meeting representatives of different ethnic minorities, learning about their history
free time, excursions and study trips in Chernivtsi and around, research and learning
about historic buildings and areas of the city
photography work in the city to replicate historic postcards and prepare exhibition of
historic postcards and their modern replicas, promotion of exhibition in the city,
preparing workshops and discussions with guest speakers during the exhibition
photo exhibition “Snapshots of history”, collecting its materials and preparing possible
follow up (for instance photo blog with virtual exhibition)
Financial conditions
All costs concerning meals and accommodation, as well as the program and materials will be
fully covered for the whole duration of the youth exchange. Travel costs will be reimbursed
70% with the following maximum: 50 Euro for Moldova, 100 Euro for Ukraine, 350 Euro for
Estonia and 250 Euro for Slovakia.
We encourage you to consider environmental impact of the trip, and use environmentally
friendly transport means.
Participants profile:
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Able to work in English, knowledge of Russian would be an asset
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Interest and motivation to participate to the project and contribute to its
program with ideas, information, proposals for discussions etc. Interest in history,
multiculturalism and photography
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Between 18 and 25 years old
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Available to join for the whole duration of the project
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Resident in one of the 5 countries involved in the project
Application procedure
 Deadline for applications is July 5th, 2013
 A completed application form with any other relevant information shall be sent to:
Ukraine – incoming@svit-ukraine.org
Italy
Slovakia
Estonia
Moldova
 All candidates will be informed by email about the decision shortly after the deadline
Looking forward to welcome you in Chernivtsi!
Chernivtsi – historic and creative background for the project
Chernivtsi (Ukrainian:Чернівці́, Romanian: Cernăuți, Polish: Czerniowce, German and
Yiddish: Czernowitz) is a regional center in Western Ukraine, close to the Carpathians. Along
with Lviv, it is considered to be a cultural center of Western Ukraine. The city has a rich
history, architecture and cultural background (in different periods it was part of the Turkish
Empire, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, The Kingdom of Romania and The Soviet Union.
The city is called “little Vienna” or “European Alexandria” because of its rich cultural and
historic background and very multi-national community. According to the population census
in 2001, 65 different nationalities are living in the city, which has a total population of about
250 000 residents. One of the biggest ethnic groups is Jewish, and before the 2nd World
War, the Jewish minority was playing an important part in the life of the city. One of the
traces left by the Jewish community is a cemetery of the 19th and first half of the 20th
century, which has many tomb stones made by famous artists. During the 2nd World War the
Jewish population suffered terrible losses at the hands of the Nazis. Those who survived the
war mostly emigrated. Other bigger nationalities are: Romanians, Poles, Russians and
Ormanians. Romanian and Polish community the same as Ukrainian and Jewish are
organized within National Houses and publish their own newspapers. This multinational
history and culture is visible during two festivals, organized in the city: Folk Festival:
“Bukovinian Meetings’ and International Poetry Festival “Meridian Czernowitz”.
The name of the city, as one of the versions says, comes from Chorne misto (black town), as
people called a fortress built in that area around the 13th century, which was destroyed by
nomadic tribes and rebuilt on the right bank of the Prut river. The first time the town is
mentioned in written documents is October 8, 1408, in letters given to traders from Lviv. This
date is now considered as the “birthday of the city”. In the second half of 19th century many
buildings were built in the city, which made it famous: the University - former Residence of
Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans and Unesco World Heritage Site, Philharmonics
building, the Palace of Justice (now Regional administration), the Drama theater, city hall,
Polish, Ukrainian, Jewish and Romanian National Houses and many others. Among the
cultural and historic monuments of the city are two cemeteries, which are located close to
each other: the old Christian and the Jewish cemeteries, which are both part of one history
heritage site, since 2008 there are volunteer projects organized to clean Jewish cemetery
from weedy vegetation, and preserve it in order to revive the memory of the Jewish history of
the city and the contribution the Jewish community to its development.
The city, which used to have more book-stores than bakeries, and speaking 5 languages,
has a lot of stories to share – of its buildings, streets, and people. Some stories are well
known – former synagogue becoming cinema, Romanian city mayor Trayan Popovici
rescuing 20 000 Jews from deportation, Jewish girl Miriam Taylor surviving ghetto in
Chernivtsi, as well as stories of famous people from Chernivtsi – as Paul Celan, Rose
Auslaender, Mihai Eminescu, Olga Kobylyanska and many others – who created what we
know now as cultural mythos of Chernivtsi.