Translation of
“Rypin; a memorial
to the Jewish Community of Rypin-Poland”

Project Synopsis

The larger of two memorial books for the town of Rypin was published in Israel in 1962 by the Former Residents of Rypin in Israel and in the Diaspora. The book is about 850 pages long and is written almost entirely in Hebrew and Yiddish. The only parts written in English are the Table of Contents and about 50 pages of text. The Hebrew and Yiddish parts, more than 90% of the book, have never been translated into English for publication. This project will translate all of the heretofore untranslated text as well as all images (graphics, photos, etc.) as permissions allow.

Key Audiences

Many individuals and many groups will wish to utilize the translated book, including

• Genealogists and family historians tracing their roots in Rypin and vicinity;
• Historians researching Polish, Jewish and Holocaust history;
• Social scientists researching inter-ethnic relations during peacetime and wartime;
• Fiction writers seeking first-person accounts of the experiences of people in Rypin and similar places during peacetime and wartime;
• Anyone interested in poetry and other creative responses to stress, crisis, and trauma.

The translated Yizkor book will document the familiar, vibrant Eastern European Ashkenazi culture of Rypin's Jewish community. Beyond that, it will reflect the many conflicting and interacting forces that affected Jewish life in what was, in some senses, a border town. During the 140 years of the Partition of Poland, Rypin lay “between [the] two mighty empires of the Czars and the Kaisers”^[1] though with a population that was almost entirely Polish at the beginning of the 19^th century and 40% Jewish by the end of the century. Jewish Rypiners therefore experienced both Prussianizing and Polonizing pressures, as well as the conflicting claims of “Haskalah, starting to arrive from the neighboring territories of Prussia”^[2] [and] Hasidism “arriving to the town from central and eastern Poland.”^[2] Rypin's Jewish community prospered economically by working with both Russian and Prussian political powers when each was in the ascendency, while also struggling to maintain a viable relationship with the town's Polish majority.

'.pdf' version of Sefer Rypin from the New York Public Library will be used as the source for text translations and for all images, depending on permissions required and secured. Hebrew and Yiddish translators will be chosen by the Project Coordinator from lists provided by the Yizkor Book Director. Translators will work under standard agreements also provided by the Yizkor Book Director.

Translators will translate all text, including captions, from Hebrew or Yiddish to American English. The text consists of introductory matter including an Introduction by the editors, followed by twelve contributed sections, nine in Hebrew, two in Yiddish, and one in English which will require no further translation.

Sections in Hebrew:	The City and Its History
		About Rabbis and Hasidim
		Jewish Education
		The Zionist Movement
		Rypin Halutzim in the Building of the County
		Those who fell on their guard for the sake of the people and the country
		Characters
		Chapters of the Way of Life
		Destruction
Sections in Yiddish:	History, Memories, Personalities
		Holocaust
Sections in English:	In the Pathway of Generations
		History of the Jews of Rypin
		Remembering Rypin
		Rypin in Bygone Days
		In Memoriam to Ch. & Sh. Posner
		Nathan Warsaw, in Appreciation
		Isidore Feld, in Appreciation
		Charles Cohn: The Man & His Activities
		Rypiner Relief Activities

The total number of untranslated contributions in all sections is approximately 166, occupying approximately 800 pages of text.

All translations will be reviewed by the Project Coordinator and sent, when approved, to the Yizkor Book Director or as he directs for posting online. High-resolution scans will be made of images from an original copy of the book for posting online. As the translation proceeds, approved sections will be posted on the JewishGen website at https://JewishGen.org/Yizkor/Rypin/Rypin.html. When the entire book has been translated and approved, Print on Demand copies will be made available by JewishGen.

Permissions

Permissions are being investigated and will be determined before any original material is posted online or published.

Estimated Cost

$26,000 (Yizkor Book Director's estimate). The Project Coordinator has made an initial pledge of $500, and evidence of interest in contributing has been demonstrated by users of the JewishGen website with ancestors from Rypin. Foundation grants will also be explored.

Timeline:

Fundraising will be ongoing until sufficient funds to complete the project have been accrued. Assuming no unanticipated delays, project completion around September 2026.

1. Sefer Rypin, 1962. “In the Pathway of Generations,” Prof. Y. Talmon, p. 6. Back
2. Website of Virtual Shtetl: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/r/298-rypin/99-history/137974-history-of-community Accessed 8/11/2025. Back