Proposal
Rozhnyatov (Rozniatow), Ukraine Yizkor Book

Project Name. Translation of Rozhnyatov, Ukraine Yizkor Book

Project Leader
Thomas F. Weiss
tfweiss@mit.edu


JewishGen Yizkor Book Project Manager: Lance Ackerfeld

Project Synopsis

Rozhnyatov lies in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains between the Duba and Czeczwa rivers. The town was a feudal estate under Polish rule until annexed by Austria when Poland was partitioned in the 18th century. During the era of Austria rule, Rozhnyatov was owned by the Polish Skarbek family and was considered part of eastern Galicia. After World War I, eastern Galicia reverted to Polish rule. Before the outbreak of World War II, the town had a population of 8,000, including 2,000 Jews. Following World War II, Rozhnyatov became part of the Ukraine, ruled by the former USSR.

In 1974 former residents of the town published a 595-page yizkor book, Sefer zikaron le-kehilat Rozniatow, Perehinsko, Broszniow, Swaryczow ve-ha-seviva (Yizkor-book in memory of Rozniatow, Perehinsko, Broszniow, Swaryczow and environs,) Editors: Shimon Kanc, Tel Aviv, Rozniatow, Perehinsko, Broszniow and Environs Societies in Israel and the USA, 1974 (Hebrew,Yiddish,English). To date, 381 pages have been prepared and are online at http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Rozniatow/Rozhnyatov.html, including the necrology and photo captions. All 58 English pages, all 240 Hebrew pages, and 83 Yiddish pages are online. This project will support the translation of the remaining 214 Yiddish pages.

Key Audiences

Jewish genealogists seeking to trace their roots in this town constitute the primary audience for the material.  However, the material has the potential to be of broader interest to scholars specializing in Jewish history and society in this region.

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 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 forests are not recorded elsewhere. Usually written in Hebrew or Yiddish, these important books are not accessible to most users, who cannot read 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.

The yizkor book provides a detailed account, sometimes day by day, of the occurrences in the town from September 1, 1939 onwards, citing numerous names of the residents and their fate. Tales of Jews who left for Bolekhov, Dolina, Lviv, Stryj, and work camps are starkly written, providing invaluable historical and genealogical details of life during the Holocaust as well as the relationship of Rozhnyatov to neighboring towns.

Project Description

Approximately 214 pages of Yiddish remain to be translated and put online at http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Rozniatow/Rozhnyatov.html. To accomplish that JewishGen needs to raise additional funds for the excellent translator who started on this project. The project coordinator selects the order of the chapters to be translated. The translator and project coordinator work closely to ensure a grammatically correct and idiomatic translation. The project coordinator's tasks consist of proofreading, editing, and preparing the work for submission to the Yizkor Book Project.

Estimated Cost. $8,050


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Updated 14 Mar 2009 by LA