About Simon

Simon, 10, is Jewish and lives in north London. He wanted to learn more about his grandfather's life, so he visited the city, Lviv, where he grew up. Lviv is in the Ukraine, a country in eastern Europe, near Russia.

Simon's diary

Thursday 27 March
We got up at 4.30am to go to Heathrow Airport. We got one plane to Warsaw and then we took a smaller plane to Lviv. The airport was beautiful. It had massive columns, paintings and marble.

Friday 28 March
Today we went to the Jewish memorial. I cried because the story was so sad. Many Jewish people were killed in Lviv during the Second World War.

After that we went to the Jewish community Seder and Shabbat. It was held early because they have no electricity or heating. It was very beautiful.

Check out the special meal we had.

Dad let me watch Argentina vs Cameroon on TV before I went to sleep!

Saturday 29 March
Rynok Square is a big beautiful square in the centre of Lviv. The town hall, where my great grandfather was a town councillor, is there. It was very sunny. Later, we went to see the remembrance stone of Grandad's old synagogue. It had been destroyed by Nazis in the war.

Then we drove to the big white house where Grandad used to live. Now it's a special hotel for government ministers. It is very beautiful with a lovely garden. Lastly, we went to the bazaar where they sold paintings and embroidery. I wanted to buy a wooden mace with big spikes but dad wouldn't let me! But he did let me watch the Paraguay vs Argentina match on TV that night!

Click here to find out what Simon did next

Jewish people celebrate their holy day, Shabbat, with a special meal on Friday evenings

The synogogue stood on this spot