Josef Rosin's "Preserving Our Litvak Heritage-Volume II" is a monumental work documenting the history of 21 Jewish communities in Lithuanaia from their inception to their total destruction in 1941 at the hands of the Nazis and their Lithuania helpers. Rosin gathered his material from traditional sources, archives, public records, and remembrance books. He has enriched and enhanced the entry for each community with personal memoirs and contributions from widely dispersed survivors who opened family albums and shared treasured photographs of family and friends. He made use of sources originally written in Hebrew, Yiddish, Lithuanian, German and Russian. In over 300 pages, Rosin documents each community from its beginning until World War I, through the years of Independent Lithuania (1918-1940), and finally during the indescribable Nazi annihilation of nearly all of Lithuanian Jewry. Most impressive is the record of cultural richness, the important town personalities, the welfare institutions, the glorious Hebrew educational system of the Tarbuth elementary schools and the Yavneh high schools, the world famous Telz and Ponevezh Yeshivoth (in the towns of Telsiai and Panevezys), the Yiddish press and other significant events of the period. Rosin has provided a documentary and a testament to once vibrant communities almost totally destroyed but which come alive again in the pages of this book. This publication is by the "Yizkor Books in Print Project" of JewishGen, Inc., List of towns: Alsiad Antalept Balbirishok Dorbyan Gruzd Kelem Kovarsk Mazheik Payure Plungyan Rogeve Salok Salat Shirvint Shukyan Ushpol Vizhun Vorne Ezheremi Zhager Zhezhmer 332 pages with Illustrations. Hard Cover

Preserving Our Litvak Heritage- Volume II

History

Rosin, Josef

Europe

Jewishgen.Inc

Belzec was the prototype death camp and precursor of the killing centers of Sobibor and Treblinka. Secretly commissioned by the highest authority of the Nazi State, it acted outside the law of both civil and military conventions of the time. Under the code "Aktion Reinhardt", the death camp was organized, staffed and administered by a leadership of middle-ranking police officers and a specially selected civilian cadre who, in the first instance, had been initiated into group murder within the euthanasia program. Their expertise, under bogus SS insignia, was then transferred to the operational duties to the human factory abattoir of Belzec, where, on a conveyor belt system, thousands of Jews, from daily transports, entered the camp and after just two hours, they lay dead in the Belzec pits, their property sorted and the killing grounds tidied to await the next arrival. Over a period of just nine months, when Belzec was operational Galician Jewry was totally decimated: 500,000 lay buried in the 33 mass graves. The author takes the reader step by step into the background of the "Final Solution" and gives eyewitness testimony, as the mass graves were located and recorded. This is a publication of the "Yizkor Books in Print Project" of JewishGen, Inc 376 pages with Illustrations. Hard Cover

Belzec: Stepping Stone to Genocide

O'Neil, Robin

The Memorial Book of Brzeziny, Poland is the English translation of the Yizkor (Memorial) Book published in Yiddish in 1961 by survivors and former residents of the town. It details through personal accounts the town, its history, personalities, institutions and the ultimate destruction of the Jewish community by the Nazis and their Polish collaborators in World War II. This publication by the "Yizkor Books in Print Project" of JewishGen, Inc., serves to provide the English speaking community with these first-hand accounts in book format, so that researchers and descendants of Jewish emigrants from the town can learn this history. 468 pages with Illustrations. Hard Cover

Brzezin Memorial Book

Translation of the Destruction of Czenstochow (Czestochowa, Poland) is the English translation of the Yizkor (Memorial) Book published in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1949 in Yiddish by survivors and former residents of the town. It details through personal accounts the destruction of the Jewish community by the Nazis and their Polish collaborators in World War II. This publication by the "Yizkor Books in Print Project" of JewishGen, Inc., serves to provide the English speaking community with these first-hand accounts in book format, so that researchers and descendants of Jewish emigrants from the town can learn this history. 200 pages with Illustrations. Hard Cover Flight to Survival 1939-1945 by Peninah Cypkewicz-Rosin is an excellent companion book because it is a first-hand account of a young Jewish woman survivor of the ghetto and the Hasag Labor Camp both in Czestochowa.

Translation of the Destruction of Czenstochow (Czestochowa, Poland)

Waga, Shlomo

Orhei, Moldova (originally Orheyev, Bessarabia) has had a long history of a Jewish presence. Gravestones dating to the early 1700's have been found in the Jewish cemetery. This Memorial (Yizkor) book has numerous personal accounts of the Holocaust. However, it is much more than that. It contains detailed discussions of the history of the town and the area. Most importantly it discusses the social and political organizations in the town during the early 1900's, including the people involved in those organizations. This book was written by a committee of former Orhei residents with the hope that their town would not be forgotten. This English translation is an attempt to offer descendants of the inhabitants of Orhei information about all aspects of their ancestors and their ancestral town. Let us honor the memories and wishes of the Orhei victims and survivors by reading this wonderful testimony to the town and inhabitants of Orhei - our ancestors and our ancestral town. This publication by the "Yizkor Books in Print Project" of JewishGen, Inc., serves to provide the English speaking community with these first-hand accounts in book format, so that researchers and descendants of Jewish emigrants from the town can learn this history. 520 pages with illustrations, Hard Cover

Memorial Book of the Jewish Community of Orhei, Moldova

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

This book is a translation of the Ruzhany Memorial (Yizkor) Book that was published in 1957 in Hebrew and Yiddish; it is based upon the memoirs of former Jewish residents of the town who had left before the war. Ruzhany, called "Rozana" in Polish and "Ruzhnoy" in Yiddish, is now a small town in Belarus. It was part of Russia at the time of World War I and Poland afterwards for a short period, and then the Soviet Union. In 1939, the Jewish population was at its peak 3,500, comprising 78% of the town's population. In November 1942, every Jewish resident was murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. Founded in the mid-1500s, Jews were welcomed by the private owner, the Grand Chancellor, Duke Leu Sapeiha. He valued Jewish settlers who would create a variety of businesses that would produce profits and generate collectable taxes. They opened schools, built many small synagogues, and the "Great Synagogue" in the main square. In addition they established many social institutions. The market town thrived. Starting in the early 1900s, many young Jews immigrated to the United States so that the young men could avoid prolonged conscription into the Czar's army. Other young Jews studied farming and became "pioneers" (Halutzim) in Palestine, now Israel. Between the wars, the Jews slowly revived their businesses and social life. They formed the first all-Jewish volunteer fire department in the region. Many engaged in secular activities, political groups, youth groups, Zionist and Socialist, as well as religious life, all described in this book. The descriptions of the destruction of the community and their end in the Treblinka death camp are recorded in this book by survivors from other towns. No Jewish resident from Ruzhany survived. This translation of the 1957 Memorial (Yizkor) Book makes these first-hand accounts available to English- speaking researchers and Ruzhany descendants living all over the world.

Translation of Rozana - A Memorial to the Ruzhinoy Jewish Community

Sokolowsky, Meir

Abramovitsch, Joseph

Dzailoszyce in Polish is also known as Zaloshitz in Yiddish, Dzyaloshitse in Russian, and Dzialoshitz, Zalazhtsy, Zaleshits, Zaloshits and Salshits. Działoszyce is a small town in southeastern Poland, 27 miles northeast of Kraków, that sits on a fertile plain surrounded by mountains. The first Jews arrived there in the 16th century, attracted perhaps by the fact that Działoszyce was on the trade route from Kraków to the north. By 1820, 75 percent of the town's 1700 residents were Jews; in the late 1930s, more than 80 percent of its 8,000 residents were Jewish. Most Jews in Działoszyce made their living through trade or crafts. The town was surrounded by small villages inhabited by peasants. Jewish peddlers went from village to village selling merchandise and purchasing agricultural products. While most Jews in Działoszyce were not very prosperous, some owned large estates in the surrounding areas, and the proprietors of most flour and barley mills, the oil refinery, and the town power plant were Jews. Religious life centered around the beautiful town synagogue and the small Hasidic houses of prayer. Communal life was organized through the kahal [community council] and khevres [societies] with various functions. In the interwar period, theater productions and sports events were popular. Zionist organizations sprang up and trained young people to be pioneers; a sizeable number emigrated to Palestine. During the war, mass killings and deportations virtually destroyed the Jewish community. Some were sent to their deaths at the Bełżec camp, others to the Kraków ghetto and then to Płaszów. Today, the formerly Jewish town has no Jews and only 1200 inhabitants. This Yizkor book, written originally in Yiddish and Hebrew by former residents as a memorial to their beloved town, provides a vivid portrayal of what Jewish life was like in Działoszyce before and during the war.

Dzialoszyce Memorial Book - An English Translation of Sefer Yizkor Shel Kehilat Dzialoshitz Ve-Ha-Seviva

World

The noted historian and Litvak (Jews of Lithuanian heritage), Josef Rosin, presents the history of 50 Jewish towns in Lithuania. The book includes information about the founding of the settlements, their development into vibrant communities, and their ultimate destruction in the Shoah (Holocaust). This is Josef’s third book, which brings to 102, the number of communities that he has documented. The thorough coverage shows the rich culture from which many American, South African and Israeli Jews of Litvak heritage can trace their history. This book is a rich resource for Litvak genealogists to extend their knowledge to understand the communities from which their ancestors came. This book is a valuable resource for libraries, synagogues and Litvak homes. Below is the list of towns with the Yiddish name first, and the Lithuanian name in parenthesis: Akmyan (Akmenė), Anishok (Onuškis), Erzhvilik (Eržvilkas), Gelvan (Gelvonai), Girtegole (Girkalnis), Grinkishok (Grinkiškis), Grishkabud (Griškabūdis), Gudleve (Garliava), Kaltinan (Kaltinėnai), Kamai (Kamajai), Krakinove (Krekenava), Kruzh (Kražiai), Kurshan (Kuršėnai), Laizeve (Laižuva), Leipun (Leipalingis), Loikeve (Laukuva), Ludvinove (Liudvinavas), Luknik (Luokė), Maliat (Molėtai), Miroslav (Miroslavas), Nemoksht (Nemakščiai), Pashvitin (Pašvitinys), Pikeln (Pikeliai), Plotel (Plateliai), Pumpyan (Pumpėnai), Rasein (Raseiniai), Remigole (Ramygala), Riteve (Rietavas), Sapizishok (Zapyškis), Shadeve (Šeduva), Shidleve (Šiluva), Siad (Seda), Srednik (Seredžius), Survilishok (Surviliškis), Svadushch (Svedasai), Trashkun (Troškūnai), Trishik (Tryškiai), Tsaikishok (Čekiškė), Tsitevyan (Tytuvėnai), Vabolnik (Vabalninkas), Vaigeve (Vaiguva), Vainute (Vainutas), Vekshne (Viekšniai), Velon (Veliouna), Vidukle (Viduklė), Yelok (Ylakiai), Yezne (Jieznas), Zharan (Žarėnai), and Zhidik (Židikai).

Protecting Our Litvak Heritage

The history of Buczacz is a microcosm of the history of Galician shtetls and yet Buczacz was a more prominent shtetl than many in Galicia. As a spiritual center for Galician Jews, Buczacz produced a number of prominent rabbis, many of whom are named in the Yizkor Book. The town was a center for scholarship as can be seen in the long list of books by Buczacz authors. Buczacz produced prominent internationally known scholars including: Shmuel Yosef Agnon (winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966); Schlomo Freud (grandfather of Sigmund Freud) and several generations of the Freud ancestors; Emanuel Ringelblum (historian, politician, and Holocaust chronicler); Simon Wiesenthal (post-World War II Nazi hunter). The Jewish community of Buczacz was organized to produce a wide variety of social and religious services including, a hospital, an old-age home, an orphanage, as well as a synagogue, and a prayer house. The community contained a heterogeneous mix of orthodox, secular, and Zionist Jews. Despite its history of episodic ethnic and class violence, Buczacz remained a multi-cultural community in which the various ethnic groups lived in mostly harmonious interdependence until the ethnic cleansings of World War II and its aftermath. Today, Buchach (as it is now called) is inhabited largely by Ukrainians; there are no Jews left and few Poles. This Memioral (Yizkor) Book describes the history and geography of Buczacz, details the social and economic life of the town, names many of the prominent people, details the destruction of the Jewish community, and gives the Holocaust-era fates of many families. Today this book serves as a memorial to the Jewish Community that no longer exists there. The town is also know as Buchach [Russian, Ukrainian], Buczacz [Polish], Betshotsh [Yiddish], Butschatsch [German], Bucac [Czech], Butchatch, Bitshutsh. Buczacz is located at 49°05' North latitude, 25°24' East longitude. It is 246 miles WSW of Kiev.

Translation of the Memorial (Yizkor) Book of the Jewish Community of Buczacz, Galicia

Russia

This book is the translation of the Yizkor (Memorial) Book ( in Hebrew: Ayara be-lehavot; Pinkas Yampola, Pelekh Volyn- A City in Flames) of the destroyed Jewish Community of Yampol, Ukraine, written by the former residents who survived the Holocaust (Shoah) or emigrated before the war. It contains the history of the community in addition to descriptions of the institutions (synagogues, prayer houses), cultural activities, personalities (Rabbis, leaders, prominent people, characters) and other aspects of the town. It also describes the events of the Shoah in the town and lists the victims. All information is either first-hand accounts or based upon first-hand accounts and therefore serves as a primary resource for either research and to individuals seeking information about the town from which their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents had immigrated; this is their history! The book was originally written in Hebrew and Yiddish in 1963,translated into English by volunteers in the Yizkor Book Project of JewishGen, Inc. and then published by the Yizkor-Books-In-Print Project. The town is also known as: Yampol [Russian], Yampil [Ukrainian], Yampola [Yiddish], Jampol [Pololish], Yambol, Yampol (Wolyn), Iampol, Jampil Yampol, Ukraine, in the District of Volhyn. 49°58' N 26°15' E, 191 mi West of Kyyiv [Not to be confused with a larger Yampol, in Podolia, at 48°15' 28°17'].

A City in Flames - Yizkor (Memorial) Book of Yampol, Ukraine

Wolkovitch, Judy

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