The Posthumous Landscape: Jewish Historical Sites in Western Ukraine

This photograph contains a vivid example of a “ghost” sign, the term used to describe old commercial signs hand painted on buildings that are still visible despite the passage of time and changes to the structures on which they appear. This sign is on Tyktora Street, in the heart of Lviv, just two blocks from the Opera House, and it attests to the historical prominence of Yiddish as a language of commerce in the city. There are a number of other preserved examples of ghost signs in Yiddish scattered around the city, one of the clearest indicators that the Jewish history of the city is a “ghostly” presence, unseen and of little interest to most of its citizens, but visible if one knows where to look.