Memorial Book of the Community of Chorzel

Project Synopsis

This project is being initiated to fund the translation to English of a 272-page memorial book (yizkor book) for Chorzel, Poland, aka Chorzele, that was edited by L. Losh and published in 1967 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Although an English translation of the Table of Contents exists on JewishGen, and the book is already translated into Hebrew and Yiddish, the goal is to provide a complete English translation to JewishGen.

Jewish genealogists seeking to trace their roots to Chorzel and its region constitute the primary audience for the material. However, the material has the potential to be of broader appeal to scholars interested in the region or specializing in Jewish history and society.

Yizkor books are unique sources of information on once vibrant towns, primarily in central and Eastern Europe, whose Jewish populations were destroyed in the Holocaust. Written after World War II by émigrés and Holocaust survivors, typically in Hebrew and Yiddish, yizkor books contain narratives of the history of the town, details of daily life, descriptions of religious and political figures and movements, religious and secular education, and stories of the major intellectual and Zionist movements of the 20th century.

The necrologies and lists of residents are of tremendous genealogical value, as often the names of individuals who were taken to extermination camps or died in the forests are not recorded elsewhere. The translation of yizkor books into English unlocks this information to many more researchers all over the world.

Prior to 1900, Chorzel was part of the Russian Empire. It became part of Poland after WWI. In 1897 the Jewish population of Chorzel was approximately 1500. During WWII that community was destroyed and has never returned. A monument recognizing the loss of Jewish life during the Holocaust was erected in 1991 where the cemetery was.

This Yizkor Book is a major formal source for documented history of the town, and will result in the creation of a primary English-language source of information for anyone doing research on the town and its Jewish community. "

Susan Kittner Huntting, a descendent of a Chorzel family, will pay for the translation of the Chorzel Yizkor Book into English. Lance Ackerfeld will arrange for a translator and will manage all payments through JewishGen and will be placed online at Memorial Book of the Community of Chorzel

Estimated Cost

A full translation is currently estimated to cost $8,000. This estimate will be revised and refined as the project progresses.