A voice calls to the Jews of Dąbrowa Górnicza,
wherever they may be!

Friends of Dąbrowa Górnicza and the whole world, Shalom!

20 years have already passed since the Jews of Dąbrowa Górnicza, holy martyrs, were murdered by the Nazis, may their names be blotted out. 20 years since the hearts of our dear ones stopped beating. Their voices are silenced forever, and we, unfortunately, have not yet memorialized their struggles, aspirations, and dreams in a book.

Day in, day out, through ceaseless striving to live, they shaped their characters on the town and on its jet-black future. Their spirits encircle Dąbrowa like a light, blooming, garland of flowers.

Businessmen, artisans, workers, teachers, Rabbis, yeshivas, Talmud Torahs, political parties, youth movements – every stream that was in Polish Jewry, was found in our town.

Jews of every type were joined together like links in a golden chain: dreamers; those who fought to refashion the Jewish people; simple, honest Jews, who, with their lifestyles, served as examples to others; Jews who lived with faith in eternity, who renounced this world, fasting day after day in order to atone for the sins of their generation; Jews who labored a whole week to earn a living so that they could attain the peace and rest of Shabes, in accordance with Jewish law.

The Zionist youth movements of all streams were especially distinguished for their slogans and understanding that they had to realize their goals themselves. The young Zionists often argued bitterly with their parents, who did not understand their ideals and aims, regarding them instead as destroyers of Jewish tradition.

Anti-Semitic Poland played a large role in the life of our town. The Jews were harassed and plagued in their struggle to survive economically. This is a heroic chapter in the history of a person's life, the battle for existence.

Friends!

Can we forget all this? Can we erase from our memory the town in which we were born, lived, and struggled? Will we sink so far in our present existence as to forget our mothers who provided a warm home for us, thus making it possible to withstand the difficult hours of wandering on roads until we reached our goal?

What will we answer tomorrow when someone will ask, where is your town, brothers? For what did you live and struggle? What will we answer?

Consequently, friends, time's bitter rush demands that we strenuously exert ourselves to embody all these memories, goals, and dreams of the Jews of our town in a book.

The Dąbrowa Yiddish Committee, at a meeting that took place 9.12.1965 at the home of Reb Chanoch Gershon Szpilberg, authorized the friends named below to devote themselves to organizing the materials for this book, dedicated to the Jews of Dąbrowa.

We plead with you, brothers of our town throughout the world! Help us publish this book. Send us memories, historical overviews, excerpts from newspapers, and photos that can illuminate the struggles, aspirations, and dreams of the Jews in our town.

Write clearly and in detail, in every language that is convenient for you, and help build a living monument to the town in which we were born and lived and were so tragically annihilated. Send materials to the addresses below.

Wishing a successful outcome, respectfully yours,

Reb Gershon Szpilberg
Tsvi Simchoni Frajlich
Efraim Lenczner
Pinchas Lustiger
Juda Londner
Iser Lavy (Lamkowicz)
Kalman Barkai (Swicerczyk)

Juda Londner, Givatayim, Berditzevsky 3
Kalman Barkai, Givatayim, Ofek 22

  Dabrowa Górnicza, Poland     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2009 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 24 May 2008 by OR