Project Name: Translation of the Jonava (Yonava), Lithuania Yizkor Book
Project Leader:
Susan M. Goldsmith
JewishGen Yizkor Book Project Manager: Lance Ackerfeld
In 1972 the yizkor book commemorating this town was published in Israel, edited by Shimeon Noy and Itzchak Burstein. Sefer Yanovah: le-hantsahat zikhram shel Yehude ha-ayarah she-neherevah ba-Sho'ah (Yizkor book in memory of the Jewish community of Yanova) contains 429 pages in Hebrew and Yiddish and 35 pages in English. A professional translator will be engaged to translate the Hebrew and Yiddish sections, starting with the table of contents and the necrology.
In Jonava Jews were shopkeepers and skilled craftspeople, providing virtually all supplies and services needed by the peasant farmers. Jews also participated in the timber industry and in furniture manufacture, for which Jonava was noted. Jonava was also distinguished by the fact that, in the 1920s, as many as two-thirds of the municipal council were Jewish, as were the Mayor and Deputy Mayor. By the 1930s, however, Lithuanians in Jonava boycotted Jewish businesses, leading to a stark economic decline. The Jewish population in 1940 fell to 3,000, 60% of the total. Many Jonava Jews emigrated to the United States, South Africa, and Palestine, while Jews fleeing Poland arrived in Jonava.
On June 22, 1941, the Nazis invaded Lithuania. On that day, the Deputy Mayor was killed by a Lithuanian. Starting June 29, 1941, 2,108 Jewish citizens of Jonava were shot in the Girelka Wood just outside the town.
To accomplish that JewishGen will hire a professional translator. The project coordinator will select the order in which to translate the chapters and will work closely with the translator to ensure a grammatically correct and idiomatic translation. Specific tasks the project coordinator will perform include proofreading, editing, and preparing the work for submission to the Yizkor Book Project.
Estimated Cost: $16,142
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Updated 5 Jul 2010 by LA