Translation of the
Ostrowiec Yizkor Book

Project Synopsis

This project is being initiated in order to fund the translation of major parts of the Yizkor Book - Sefer Ostrovtsah: le-zikaron ule-'edut (Ostrowiec; a monument on the ruins of an annihilated Jewish community). Editors: Gershon Silberberg, Meir Shimon Geshuri, together wih the the Society of Ostrovtser Jews in Israel and with the cooperation of the Ostrovtser Soc. in NY and Toronto, Tel Aviv 1971 (H, Y, E 800 pages) The goal is to eventually provide a complete translation of the most significant text of the major people, places and events of the community of Ostrowiec and making it available online to JewishGen.

Key Audiences

Descendants of Ostrowiec and Jewish genealogists who have ancestors from Ostrowiec will be interested in learning more of the community and lost relatives. The project will also be of interested by a growing amount of Ostrowiec non-Jewish residents that are learning and researching the history of the Jewish Community of Ostrowiec, Poland.

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.

The town of Ostrowiec was considered a very special community with important Rabbis and other community members. The Yizkor book was written mainly by the Holocaust survivors containing details of the town's daily life, Rabbis, Sabbath, community figures, batei midrash as well as important events of the Holocaust and the memoirs of the Holocaust survivors.

As funds become available, Yiddish and Hebrew pages will be translated into English according to importance, by a professional translator. The project coordinator will review the translation and work closely with the translators.

Estimated Cost

A full translation is currently estimated to cost $16,000, however with a budget of $3,000 the most important chapters can be translated.