About This Project
Rzeszow was a privately owned Polish town from the 13th century to the end of the 18th century. Although the exact date Jews settled in the town is unknown, evidence suggests it was at least as early as the 16th century. Under Austrian rule, Rzeszow became an economic center, particularly in the latter half of the 19th century after the railway from Vienna to Lvov began to pass through Rzeszow. Following World War I, Rzeszow reverted to Polish rule. Between 1880 and 1921, the Jewish population nearly doubled, from 5,820 to 11,361, but fell from a high of 52% of the total population to approximately 46%.
In 1967 the former residents of Rzeszow published a 762-page yizkor book: Rzeszow, Poland: Kehilat Raysha; sefer zikaron (Rzeszow community; memorial book), Editors: M. Yari-Wold, Tel Aviv, Former Residents of Rzeszow in Israel and the USA, 1967 (Hebrew, Yiddish, English). Of the 762 pages, 142 pages are in English, 372 in Hebrew, and 248 in Yiddish. To date, 395 pages have been translated and are online. An index of names in the book has been created, and additional names will be included as the translation proceeds.
Historical Significance
Rzeszow is located midway between Krakow and Lviv and was part of the former Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia. With a pre-World War II Jewish population of 12,000-14,000, it was the center for business, and drew Jews from the nearby towns of Czudec, Dynow, Glogow, Kanczuga, Kolbuszowa, Lancut, Ranizow, Sedziszow, Sokolow and Tyczyn, both for market days and general business, as well as for religious observance and family simchas.
Project Details
Approximately 367 pages, 194 in Hebrew and 173 in Yiddish, remain to be translated and placed online at the Yizkor Book Project. To accomplish that JewishGen will need to raise sufficient funds to continue with the excellent translator who started the translation. The project coordinator selects the order of the chapters to be translated. The translator and project coordinator work closely to ensure a grammatically correct and idiomatic translation. The project coordinator's tasks consist of proofreading, editing, and preparing the work for submission to the Yizkor Book Project.
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