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

Click HERE to return to Częstochowa Yizkor Books Project main page.

This Yizkor Book was published in New York, in 1947, by the United Czenstochower Relief Committee & Ladies Auxiliary. In all probability, it is the second Yizkor Book, relating to Częstochowa, to be published after the War, second only to Adam Zilbersztajn’s “The Ghettoes – Warsaw, Częstochowa“. So that, to the book’s contributors, their memories would still be very fresh.

According to this Yizkor Book’s Editorial Committee:

The “Kehilla” of 30,000 Jewish souls in Częstochowa, with the exception of a small remnant, shared the fate of the 3,500,000 Polish Jews and of the six million Jewish victims of Nazism and Fascism in Europe. Yet our book, “Czenstochower Yidn”, was not created as a stone “matzevah” in the cemetery of Jewish Częstochowa, but as a “Book of Life”.

The writing of this “Book of Life”, about all of the generations and layers of Jewish population who struggled and who created our home city, was our duty. The memory of Jewish Częstochowa has been sanctified a thousand-fold by the martyred deaths of our brothers and sisters.

Our “Book of Life”, “Czenstochower Yidn” is also our “Book of Lineage”. The Częstochowa neighbourhood, which was built and inhabited by Jews, is now either utterly ruined or settled by non-Jews. A large number of institutions, which were the pride of the Jewish community, will most likely be taken over by strangers. All the Jewish streets, all the Jewish houses, all Jewish institutions belong to us. We will always take pride in them and honour those who created them.

This Yizkor book, in its entirety, has been professionally translated into English.

Click on SECTION HEADINGS to reveal chapters.
Chapters 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.)

This Yizkor Book, by Adam Zilbersztajn, was published in Israel in December 1945. Of all the Yizkor Books relating to Częstochowa, this must be the earliest or one of the earliest to be published after the War.

As such, the memories of the events, contained in this book, must have been very fresh in the author’s mind at the time of writing. This, according to Professor Dariusz Stola, former Director of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, makes this book “an historical treasure”.

We do not know whether the author wrote the book’s chapters near the dates to which he refers in chapter headings (e.g. “Warsaw 1941), or at War’s end. Either way, his memories give us yet another vision of the tragic events in both Częstochowa and Warsaw.

We have known about the existence of this book for a long time and, for a long time, we have endeavoured to obtain a copy or scan of the book for us to be able to translate it into English. Thanks mainly to the efforts of World Society Vice-President Alon Goldman, we were able to receive a clear scan of the book, thus enabling us to have it professionally translated into English.

[Webmaster: As far as we know, this is the first PROFESSIONAL, English-language translation of this book.]

This Yizkor book has been PROFESSIONALLY translated into English
– for the FIRST TIME in its entirety!

To view or download a PDF scan of this original Yizkor Book in HEBREW,
click HERE

English-translated chapters are listed below 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 book.)

This Yizkor Book was published, in Israel in 1959, by the Organisation of Żarki Jews in Israel. Its Editor is Yitzchak Lador. The majority of its articles were written in Hebrew, while the articles in the last section, “Żarki in Life and in Death” were written in Yiddish.

According to this Yizkor Book’s Organising Committee:

This book, which we have before us and which is dedicated to our ‘shtetl’, contains testimonies and memoirs near to the heart of all the Żarki landsleit, wherever they may be.

The book raises before our eyes Żarki’s distant and recent past, as well as the days of the Great Holocaust which passed over our town, until its bitter end, when all the people of the ‘shtetl’ were annihilated – and now only a few individuals are scattered throughout the globe, the majority in Israel.

It is our hope that this memorial endeavour will stand as a living monument for the younger generation and those of the future.

[Webmaster: As far as we know, this is the first COMPLETE, PROFESSIONAL, English-language translation of this book. To the best of our knowledge, prior to this, only the Table of Contents and Necrology seem to have ever been translated into English.]

This Yizkor book has been PROFESSIONALLY translated into English
– for the FIRST TIME in its entirety!

Click on SECTION HEADINGS to reveal chapters.
Chapters 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 book.)

THE TOWN IN THOSE DAYS

Moshe Dekel (Chaskelewicz) z”l was born in Munich to Krzepice Holocaust survivor parents. As a child, he tried asking his parents about their lives during the War years – and was met with silence. Dekel did not give up. As an adult, he tried to reveal the painful memories and secrets.

Having no one to ask, Dekel used radio programmes and newspaper articles to locate survivors, who knew a little about his parents. And so, from meeting to meeting, Moshe reveals a little more and another scrap of information from the past his parents had wished to conceal.

Dekel documents the exciting meetings and surprising stories he heard in his book “Beyond Silence” – a book which has turned into a sort of quest for roots, or a fascinating detective story, which traces the experiences of his family members and of Polish Jewry as a whole. Anyone who grew up in the home of Holocaust survivors can identify with it.

This quote comes from the book’s editor and publisher, Orly Amit. It is obviously the personal story of a man on a quest for his roots. However, it does contain a great deal of information about Krzepice and the vicinity, including Częstochowa.

In the absence of any formal Krzepice Yizkor Book, it has been decided to treat it as a “pseudo Yizkor Book”, to translate it into English and to publish it, here, on our website.

To this end, our translator, Dave Horowicz-Larochette, wrote to Orly Amit, seeking permission to do this.

Orly’s reply came prompty, stating:

Moshe Dekel z”l, to our great sorrow, passed away about a year and a half ago. I have approached his wife Zahava and she has given her permission to translate the book. She says that her husband, Moshe z”l, would have certainly agreed and would also have rejoiced in the initiative which originates from a desire to commemorate communities and to document the events of the Holocaust.

We sincerely thank Zahava Dekel for giving us permission to translate and publish her late husband’s book and Orly Amit for assisting us in this endeavour. We have made every effort to convey, in English, what her late husband expressed in Hebrew.

(The picture in the top left-hand corner is that of Moshe’s father, Majer Chaskelewicz z”l, in Polish Army uniform.)

This “pseudo Yizkor Book” has now been PROFESSIONALLY translated into English
– in its entirety – for the FIRST TIME!

Chapters 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 booklet.)

The town of Krzepice lies in the Kłobuck County of the Śłąsk Province of Poland – around 17.5 kilometres from Częstochowa. At the outbreak of World War II, the town’s population was approximately 5,000 – 45% of whom were Jews. 

In 1941 and at the start of 1942, skilled Jewish labourers were selected in the Krzepice ghetto and deported to the ghetto in Częstochowa. On 22nd June 1942, the majority of the Jews in Krzepice were deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. The remainder were deported to the Sosnowiec ghetto from where, later, they too were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Krzepice’s last remaining Jewish resident passed away in 1993.

In 1963, the Organisation of Krzepice and Vicinity Jews in Israel formed a Yizkor Book Committee and compiled this booklet, the main purpose of which was to appeal to Krzepice landsleit, around the world, to submit material for a proposed Krzepice Yizkor Book.

Included in the booklet is a chronological timeline of the history of the town of Krzepice, a brief history of the Kuźniczka Shule and an outline of the chapters to be included in the proposed Krzepice Yizkor Book.

However, there is no sign of any Krzepice Yizkor Book – either online or in any online library catalogues where it would be expected to have been included. We suspect that the proposed Yizkor Book may have never actually been written but, if anyone knows of its existence or can shed any light on why the project never actually went ahead – please contact our Webmaster. (Click on the envelope icon at the top of this page.)

[Webmaster: Much of this booklet is written in Yiddish and duplicated in Hebrew.]

This Yizkor booklet has now been PROFESSIONALLY translated into English in its entirety
– for the FIRST TIME!

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