 Like many other Jews then living in the Russian Empire , Lissitzky went to study in Germany . He left in 1909 to study architectural engineering at a Technische Hochschule in Darmstadt , Germany . During the summer of 1912 , Lissitzky , in his own words , " wandered through Europe " , spending time in Paris and covering 1 @,@ 200 kilometres ( 750 mi ) on foot in Italy , teaching himself about fine art and sketching architecture and landscapes that interested him . His interest in ancient Jewish culture had originated during the contacts with a Paris @-@ based group of Russian Jews led by sculptor Ossip Zadkine , a lifetime friend of Lissitzky since early childhood , who exposed Lissitzky to conflicts between different groups within the diaspora . Also in 1912 some of his pieces were included for the first time in an exhibit by the St. Petersburg Artists Union ; a notable first step . He remained in Germany until the outbreak of World War I , when he was forced to return home through Switzerland and the Balkans , along with many of his countrymen , including other expatriate artists born in the former Russian Empire , such as Wassily Kandinsky and Marc Chagall . 
