May 7.Day 6

Le temps a changé depuis hier.Le ciel est blanc et il faisait froid cette nuit.
The weather changed.White sky and it was cold tonight.

Элена,дай мне твой мэйл адрес.Он где то а его не нашла.Ты скоро уедешь во Францию.Удач желаю на пути.

J'ai rendez vous avec Jula a Daugavpils a 1 heures et nous revenons ici.Elle a vécu a Vishki apres la guerre et bien sur connait beaucoup de choses.Je pense qu'elle m'aidera dans mes recherches.
I have an appointment at 1PM with Jula in Daugavpils ,then we come back here.She lived in Vishki after the war and knows a lot.
La Lettonie a beaucoup changé depuis mon dernier sejour en 1994.A l'epoque elle sortait du communisme et il restait beaucoup de traces.Maintenant comme tous les pays d'Europe de l'Est elle s'uniformise sur le modele Europe de l'ouest.Batiments modernes,super marchés,voitures neuves etc etc...

All the houses in the village seem small but inside it's quite big and there are several rooms.I have a better idea of how my ancestors lived as I go in all the abandoned houses when they are not locked.My family during czarist government lived in the house of Danilievitcha on Peterburg st which is Aglonas st.


The pharmacy of Vishki(back of the house)




Inside










Before driving to Daugavpils to take Jula I went to Lizla Petrovna Borkevich to take pictures of the "pojarnaya kniga".

VIDEOS

Jula's mother's house in Vishki.The house has been bombed during the war as most of the houses of Vishki.





My fiancé,Nina,Dima and Jula



Izrael Dumesch's house





Bazarnaya Plochad


Appartement where Jula lived with her mother


This lady talks a little about the holocaust in Vishki

Vishki.Deuxieme jour.Second day.Suite

I talked with quite a lot of people today.When I say my name they say"A Jewish name.There were a lot of Jews here but they were all killed".All the people I talked with are russian.By the way I don't know if there is one Latvian in Vishki!Even in the supermarket,which is in Spogi and where I bought kwass you hear only russian.They remember the Pogil,Bor and Dumesch families(you're lucky Bruce).To morrow I'll meet a guy who has a good friend named Pogil and who emigrated to the USA fifteen years ago.May be we are related.My Great Grandmother's sister's daughter married a Pogil.
I took quite a lot a photos again .

The former schhol of Vishki(already existed in 1950)

To see the photos click here
Pour voir les photos cliquez ici

I saw the basement of the synagogue.Seems that the column which was still there in the 60 ies felt down and is still at the place.

The steps of the synagogue

In an abandoned old house in ruins I have been followed by a guy who wanted to marry me!


Handsome guy,isn't he?

I drove to the Memorial Stone to the Jewish Holocaust Victims.It's a very small one but it's better than nothing.The Jews of Vishki and Dagda were shot here on the way to Daugavpils.




I had lunch at The motelis Garden on the road to Daugavpils.(Помнишь Брюс?Очень хорошая кухня)Tres bonne cuisine.



Roasted pork with pineapple for 3.70 lats

This evening I drove to the Jewish cemetery again and took black and white pics that I'll put on line.





Tombstones of the cemetery of Vishki(black and white)
Pierres tombales du cimetiere de Vishki(noir et blanc)

Vishki.May 2

Vishki.22 heures 30.Cet apres midi j'ai fait la connaissance des proprietaires de la maison de Sonia.Des gens charmants,des Russes comme 70% des habitants de la region.Je me suis promenée a Vishki et ai pris quelques photos que l'on peut voir ici

Vishki.10 1/2PM.This afternoon I met the owners of Sonia's house.Very nice people,Russian people as 70% of the inhabitants of this area.I walked a little in Vishki and made some pics that can be seen here




Et puis je suis allée au cimetiere Juif.And then I went to the Jewish cemetery.



click here to see the photos
cliquez ici pour voir les photos

Le 2 mai.May2

Pour rassurer mes amis qui me suivent et mon cher oncle,je suis arrivée a Vishki apres 2800 kms et trois jours et demi de route!
I arrived in Vishki after 2800 kms and three days and a half.



Le 30 Avril.April 30

Quelle route pour aller de Prague a Auschwitz surtout en Pologne.Il n’y a pas d’autoroute et les routes sont en chantier.De plus il y avait un monde fou.J’ai fait 600 Kms en 9 heures si bien que je suis arrivée a Auschwitz a la fermeture,c’est-à-dire a 17 heures.Par contre Birkenau etait encore ouvert.No comment.Il y a trois ans j’avais filmé.Cette fois j’ai pris des photos;

What a road to go go from Prag to Auschwitz,above all in Poland.There is no highway and the roads are in repair.Even more, there are a lot of people.I made 600 Kms in 9 hours so I arrived in Auschwitz en they close at 5 PM.Birkenau was openNo comment.Three wear ago I made a movie.Today I took photos.

Click here if you wish to see the photos
Cliquez ici pour voir les photos

A une vingtaine de Kms d’Oschwiecim(Auschwitz)sur la route de Katowice a Bierun j’ai trouvé un hotel très sympathique a 40 euros la nuit avec le petit déjeuner.J’ai dîné au restaurant de l’hotel.Schnitzels/frites et coca pour 30 zlotis ce qui fait environ 7 euros.

At about 20 Kms of Oschwiecim(Auschwitz)on the way to Katowice in Bierun I found a very nice hotel for 40 euros/night,breakfast inclueI had dîner at the restaurant of the hotel.Schnitzels and a coke for 30 zlotis which is about 7 euros.

There is no internet in the room.Il n’y a pas internet dans la chambre.
I write with Works and shall place the text later.
J’ecris avec Works et je mettrai le texte en ligne plus tard.


J’ai encore environ 1000 kms pour atteindre la Lithuanie et a ce rythme je ne pense pas y etre demain soir.Je suis pressee d’arriver dans le shtetl de Bruce et surtout d’etre a Vishki.
There are still about 1000 Kms to reach Lithuania and I dont think that I’ll be there to morrow evening.I am in a hurry to be in Bruce’s shtetl and above all to be in Latvia.

Ce ecrits ne sont pas très intéressants mais la priorité de ce voyage est Vishki et la Russie.Je ne peux m’eterniser dans les pays traversés,d’autant plus que je les ai visités il y a trois ans ainsi qu’il y a longtemps a l’epoque soviétique.
It’ not very interesting but the priority is Vishki and Russia.I can’t stay a long time in the countries that I go through,considering that I visited them three wear ago and during the soviet time.

Le 1er mai.Mai 1st.

Quel est l’abruti qui m’a dit qu’il n’y avait pas d’autoroutes en Pologne?Katowice est relié a Varsovie par une autoroute(environ 250 Kms).La sortie de Varsovie a été épouvantable.Environ une heure trente pour faire 5 kms.J’ai passé la frontière lithuanienne vers 6 heures et je suis a Ladzijai,le shtetl de Bruce.La ville semble assez etendue mais il reste quelques vieilles maisons style datchas russes.Je suis dans un petit hotel a 70 lats la nuit.Toujours pas de connection internet.
Demain je vais essayer de trouver le cimetière juif.

Who is the fool who told me that there is no highway in Poland?There is one from. Katowice to Varshaw(about 250 Kms).To get out Varshaw has been quite horrible.About 1 hour and a half to drive 5 kms.I crossed the Lithanian border at 6PM and I am in Ladzijai,Bruce’s shtetl.The town seems quite big but there are still old houses,russian datchas style.I am in a little hotel.70 lats/night.No internet connection.To morrow I’ll try to find the old jewish cemetery.

Vishki-Viski-Вишки

I don't write a lot about Vishki,this former shtetl in Latvia where I'll spend about one week before Russia.Everything concerning Viski is on my site
The video below was made by Bruce from a film,that I made in Vishki in 1994.
The Vishki shtetl site

I'll sleep in Janis Kudins guest house "Priedes" ("Pine-trees")
Skolas iela 13B.Spogu ciem.