About This Project
This project aims to translate the 402-page Ostroh Yizkor Book from Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish to English. Currently, only 9 of 77 sections have been partially translated. The goal is to provide a complete English translation to JewishGen. We currently have a translator assigned to this project and expect it to be fully finished by late 2026.
Ostroh is a town in the Volynia Region of modern day Ukraine with a rich Jewish history, particularly significant in early Chassidism.
Published in Tel Aviv in 1987, the book covers:
- Jewish history in Ostroh
- Community life, education, and economy
- The Maharsha Synagogue
- Profiles of rabbis and notable figures
- The Holocaust and its aftermath
- Memorial list of Holocaust victims
This translation will preserve the history of Ostroh's Jewish community, offering valuable resources for researchers, descendants, and those interested in Jewish history and the Holocaust. Translated portions of the book are currently available online on JewishGen.
Historical Significance
Currently, there is little information available to the English-speaking world regarding the historical Jewish community of Ostroh. With the destruction of the Jewish community of Ostroh, the information in these yizkor books constitutes a significant portion of its documented history, and undoubtedly contains information that is not available anyplace else. This project will result in the creation of the primary English language source of information for anyone doing research on Ostroh and its Jewish community.
Project Details
This project is intended to result in the translation, from Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish to English, of the Ostroh Yizkor book. The Project Coordinator will direct a fundraising effort for the translation and secure the services of the professional translators. The Project Coordinator will select the order in which to translate the book text and will work closely with the translators to ensure a grammatically correct and accurate translation. Specific tasks the Project Coordinator will perform include proofreading, editing, and preparing the work for submission to the Yizkor Book Project. The resulting translations will be posted, as they are completed, on the JewishGen Yizkor Book Translations site.
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