Academic Consultative Panel
- preserving the words of our Holocaust Survivors for future generations
WHY DO WE HAVE AN ACADEMIC CONSULTATIVE PANEL?
In order to aid in the accuracy of the facts, contained in the texts of authors in the Yizkor Book translations within our Częstochowa Yizkor Book Project, we have formed an Academic Consultative Panel, comprising four outstanding Polish historians, who each have considerable knowledge and experience in the Jewish history of Poland.
The World Society is very fortunate to have found DAVE HOROWITZ-LAROCHETTE as our translator who, not only translates from Hebrew AND Yiddish, but is also pedantic as to the accuracy of his translations. He is also very aware of any historical anomalies that arise and he goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to explanations to help the reader more fully understand the text. This is attested to by the many footnotes which he adds to his translations.
When details of a particular incident, from before, during or after the War, differ in the account of one Yizkor Book article writer, from details about the SAME incident as written by another Yizkor Book article writer, these anomalies will be referred to the Academic Consultative Panel for their opinion. These anomalies usually relate to differences in dates, the names of the Nazis involved, the names and numbers of victims and even the names of streets and places which may have since changed. While the text of the article will be translated as written by the author, the Panel’s opinion will be included as a footnote on the appropriate page.
We believe that having this panel of experts will further our aim and obligation – to translate, into English, ACCURATELY AND COMPLETELY, the words of Holocaust Survivors speaking, from the “beyond the grave”, to us and to future generations.
THE ACADEMIC CONSULTATIVE PANEL
Professor Dr. hab. JERZY MIZGALSKI
Professor Mizgalski is a long-term friend of the World Society of Częstochowa Jews & Their Descendants, having been the creator and curator of “The Jews of Częstochowa” exhibition, which has now found a permanent home in the Częstochowa Jewish Museum. He has served the Pedagogical University in Częstochowa (now the Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa) as Deputy Dean for Student Affairs in the Faculty of Philology and History and as Deputy-Rector for Teaching and Student Affairs. One of his special academic achievements is the development of research into the history of the Jewish population in Częstochowa in the 20th century. Professor Mizgalski has written three monographs, forty-four chapters in monographs and academic articles and edited or co-edited thirteen collective works.
Professor Dr. hab. MAGDALENA RUTA
Professor Magdalena Ruta, a native of Częstochowa, is Associate Professor at the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where she teaches Yiddish language and literature. She has translated several prose works from Yiddish into Polish and published numerous articles on modern Yiddish literature and culture. She is the editor of several books, among them being Under the Red Banner: Yiddish Culture in the Communist Countries in the Post-war Era (co-edited with Elvira Groezinger, 2008), and a tri-lingual (Yiddish-Polish- English) anthology, Nisht bay di taykhn fun Bovl / Not on the Rivers of Babylon: An anthology of Yiddish Poetry in the post-WW2 Poland, (2012). Her monographs include Without Jews? Yiddish Literature in the People’s Republic of Poland on the Holocaust, Poland and Communism (2012).
Professor Dr. hab. JANUSZ SPYRA
Professor Janusz Spyra, a history graduate from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, is a professor at the Institute of History at the Jan Długosz University of Humanities and Sciences in Częstochowa. He is the author of nine monographs, incl. Rabbiner in der Provinz. Die Rolle des Rabbiners im Leben der jüdischen Gemeinschaft in Teschener und Troppauer Schlesien, Peter Lang Verlag, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warsaw, Vienna 2018 and over two hundred academic articles. He specialises in the history of Górny Śląsk (Upper Silesia) Jewry in modern times in Upper Silesia, especially in Cieszyn Silesia.
Professor Dr. hab. DARIUSZ STOLA
Professor Stola is former Director of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. He is a renowned historian and is currently a professor at the Institute for Political Studies in the Polish Academy of Sciences. He specialises in the history of the Holocaust, Polish-Jewish relations, human migrations and in the history of Poland’s post-War Communist regime. He has authored and edited numerous books, and over one hundred scholarly works. In recognition of his achievements, Professor Stola has received numerous scholarships, awards and accolades.
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The Częstochowa Yizkor Books Project has been made possible by the financial support of the
Wolf Rajcher z”l and Dora Rajcher z”l were both Holocaust survivors from Częstochowa.
They were prisoners in both the “Big Ghetto” and the “Small Ghetto” and, until liberation, were slave labourers in HASAG-Pelcery. Following the War, they emigrated to Melbourne Australia.
Upon the passing of both his parents, their son, Andrew Rajcher, established this charitable fund in their memory.