Unser Yuhrzeit (1948)

- published by the Central Administration of the Częstochower Landsmannschaft in the American Zone in Germany

For a long time, we have known about this booklet. Also, for a long time, we searched for  a scan or copy of it – but without success.
By sheer coincidence, we discovered that a copy of it was held by the U.S. Library of Congress, whom we thank for scanning it especially for this Project.

Following liberation at the end of World War II, many Holocaust survivors found themselves in the American Zone of Germany. Many Polish Jews stayed there while they awaited permits to emigrate to other countries.

This was not a speedy process and many of them waited for a few years until they could find a new home.

Just as they created or joined in their new home countries, landmannschaften were also formed in the German Displaced Persons camps and in other places.

Their purpose was to unite survivors from the same region, city or town. Through them, survivors could learn who had survived, what had happened to their hometown and, most importantly, find comfort, strength and support in mourning the loss of their loved ones.

In 1948, marking the sixth anniversary of the deportations of Jews from Częstochowa, the Central Administration of the Częstochower Landsmannschaft in the American Zone in Germany held a Yizkor ceremony, for which this booklet was published.

In translating this Yizkor Book, every effort has been made to translate, as accurately as possible, the Yiddish text and to transliterate (and double-check) the names of people and places as they would have been spelt in a historically, accurate manner (surnames may have been changed post-War). This includes the use of Polish diacritics where appropriate.
(Such care and research may not have been carried out in translations of this Yizkor Book appearing elsewhere.) 
PLEASE NOTE: A great number of people are mentioned in this book. If any of these landsleit have relatives, who were in the Landsmannschaften, please email us if the spelling of their name is incorrect.

This Yizkor book, in its entirety, is being professionally translated into English
for the FIRST time.

The professional English translation of this Yizkor book 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.

Chapters/articles are listed in the order in which they appear in the Yizkor Book.
(The numbers in brackets, after each article, correspond to the appropriate page numbers in the Yizkor Book.)

Introduction & Table of Contents (Front page)

Dr Benjamin Orenstein: Introduction (1-1)

Beno [Dr Benjamin Orenstein]: The Liquidation of the Częstochowa “Small Ghetto” (2-2)

Dr Cwi Kantor: My Birth Town Częstochowa is In Ruins (3-4)

Estera Epsztajn: My Last Meeting With the Jew-Murderer Degenhardt (5-5, continued on 18)

Dr Benjamin Orenstein: “Bread” – a poem (6-7)

Cwi Rozenwajn: The Last Session of the Arbeiterrat (8-9)

Dr Filip Friedman: The Book “Churban Czenstochow” (10-10)

B.O. : The Bygone Jewish Life in Częstochowa (11-11, continued on 14)

Remember What Amalek Did Unto Thee! (12-13, photographs)

B.O. : The Bygone Jewish Life in Częstochowa (14-15, continued from 11)

Dr Cwi Kantor: [The Book] “Churban Czenstochow” (16-16)

Tzrayn: The Last Night (17-18)

Estera Epsztajn: My Last Meeting With the Jew-Murderer Degenhardt (18-18, continued from 5)

Figures from the Częstochowa Underground Movement (19-21)

Production of Grenades in the Częstochowa “Small Ghetto” (22-23)

Cwi Rozenwajn: Czenstochover Yidn – a Review (24-25)

B.O.: A Town Goes Under (a polemic on Natan Ek.) (25-25)

Books by Benjamin Orenstein (26-26)

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Dave Horowitz-Larochette

IMPORTANT NOTICE

While the English translation is available for download, it may not, either in part or as a whole, be distributed or published without the prior written permission of Andrew Rajcher, the copyright-holder of this English-language version of the Yiddish Section of this Yizkor Book.