Project
Community of Suceava (Shotz) Yizkor Book

Project Name Translation of Yizkor book “The Book of the Jews from Suceava (Shotz) and the Surrounding Communities”

Project Leader
Dean Echenberg, M. D.


JewishGen Yizkor Book Project Manager: Lance Ackerfeld

Project Synopsis:

This project is being initiated in order to fund the translation of the 711 page Yizkor Book in 2 volumes for Suceava into English. The book is written in Hebrew. The goal is to provide a complete English translation of the book to JewishGen.

The books relates the story of the Jews from Suceava/Suczawa (Shotz) and surrounding communities: Arbore, Balaceana, Bosanci, Burdujeni, Cacica, Comăneşti, Costina, Dărmăneşti, Ilişeşti, Iţcani, Mărăţea, Mitoc, Pătrăuţi, Solca, Todireşti, Zahareşti.

A further description of the project can be found at: http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Suceava/Suceava.html

Note the Association of Former Residents of Suceava (Shotz) maintains a web site at http://shotzer.com/zope/home/en/1/homepage_en/

Project description

This project is being initiated in order to fund the translation of the Sefer Yehudei Suceava (Shotz) vekehilot hasviva (The Book of the Jews from Suceava (Shotz) and the Surrounding Communities), Edited and designed by Benzion Fuchs and the Editorial Board, Association of Former Residents of Suceava (Shotz) and Surroundings, Published: Israel 2007.

The Project Coordinator will direct a fundraising effort for the translation and secure the services of the professional translators. The Project Coordinator will select the order in which to translate the book text and will work closely with the translators to ensure a grammatically correct and accurate translation. Specific tasks the Project Coordinator will perform include proofreading, editing, and preparing the work for submission to the Yizkor Book Project. The resulting translations will be posted, as they are completed, on the JewishGen Yizkor Book Translations site.

Jews from Russia, Hungary and Galizia (Galicja) arrived in Suceava (Suczawa) as early as the 15th century and on. They settled there and lived in relative harmony with the other minorities in the region (Bucovina). In time and as their number kept growing, Jewish communities sprang up and developed dynamic religious, social and economic activities. In the 20th century, the Suceava Jewish community became one of the prominent communities in the region in terms of size, liveliness and cultural influence. It produced or hosted eminent Rabbis and scholars in ten synagogues, a Talmud-Torah and Kindergarten, Jewish social (WIZO, OSE, Hadassah, etc.) and Zionist organizations (Beitar, Hanoar Hazioni, Mizrachi, etc.) as well as secular intellectuals and politicians.

Before WWII and with the arrival of anti-Semitic regimes in Romania, however, the situation of the Jews deteriorated, from malicious imposition, through persecution, to murder and pogroms, culminating in the deportation of the Jews (of Bucovina) to Transnistria. The survivors returned and, while trying to rehabilitate their lives, forgetting the offense and suffering was too much for them and the majority decided to leave, in large part to the newly established homeland, Israel.

Project Importance

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 during or after World War II by émigrés and Holocaust survivors, yizkor books contain narratives of the history of the town, details of daily life, religious and political figures and movements, religious and secular education, and gripping 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 shot in the forest and cemeteries are not recorded elsewhere. Usually written in Hebrew or Yiddish, these important books are not accessible to most users, who are not fluent in these languages. Thus, the translation of these books into English unlocks this information to many more researchers all over the world. The JewishGen Yizkor Book Project received the award in 2002 for outstanding contribution to Jewish genealogy by the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.

Currently, there is little information available to the English-speaking world regarding the historical Jewish community of Suceava. With the destruction of the Jewish community of Suceava, the information in this yizkor book constitutes a significant portion of its documented history, and undoubtedly contains information that is not available anyplace else. This project will result in the creation of the primary English language source of information for anyone doing research on Suceava and its Jewish community.

This project will result in the creation of the primary English language source of information for anyone doing research on Suceava and its Jewish community. The necrology section contains pictures of former residents with captions. There is also a map of the town. Chapters contain information on such topics as: religious leaders, community life, youth organizations, JDC activities and personal remembrances.

Estimated Cost

The estimated cost of this project would be in the range of $18,000 JewishGen will be responsible for paying the translator, and donations to the fund will be tax-deductible for U.S. citizens.

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Updated 15 Nov 2013 by LA