[Not included in the original book]

In 2021, the Zychlin group of the Association of Descendants of Jewish Central Poland undertook the translation of the Zychlin Memorial Book into English as part of several initiatives to memorialize the Jewish community of Zychlin and preserve its cultural heritage. As coordinators of the translation project, we are pleased that we have been able to complete it in a relatively short time. For us, the opportunity to connect more deeply to our ancestors and help preserve their legacy for others has been a true privilege.

The original book was edited by Ami Shamir, supported by an editorial board that included Yaakov Ben-Binah, Rivka Kanarek and Moshe Zyger. It was published in Hebrew and Yiddish in 1974 by the Zychliner Organization in Israel and America, “on the 32^nd anniversary that bitter day when the town's ghetto inmates were deported to the extermination camp at Chelmno and the Jewish community of Zychlin was no more.” It was dedicated to the memory of “the martyrs of Zychlin, our brothers and sisters who were so tragically taken away from us. We can only hope that their sacred memory will remain an inspiration to posterity.”

Zychlin, a small town in the District of Kutno in central Poland, was home to a Jewish community for more than 400 years, until the last remaining Jews were deported and murdered at the Chelmno extermination camp by the German Nazis. Of the almost 3,000 Jews who lived in Zychlin on the eve of the Second World War, only 68 survived the Holocaust. Some of them had managed to escape across the Soviet border after the German invasion, and a few others spent the war in hiding. The majority of the Zychliner survivors, however, had to endure years of torture and terror in the Nazi camps.

The Zychlin Memorial Book contains much insight about the local community and its involvement in the processes and events that shaped the fate of the Polish Jews in different historical periods and especially during the 20th century. Through personal accounts, narratives, documents and photographs, the book tells the stories of the Zychliners' difficulties and successes in their individual and collective efforts to live their lives as Jews. It also gives us a somber sense of their helplessness and despair as the community faced persecution and destruction following the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany.

While this English edition preserves the original content of the book in its entirety, we considered that it was pertinent and justified to include some photographs and a few written materials and lists of Holocaust victims that only became available after the Hebrew and Yiddish original book was published in 1974. The new photographs have been inserted at appropriate points throughout the book, and the new written materials and lists have been placed together in a final section entitled “Additional Materials.” In both cases, we took special care to specify the source of the items and indicate that they had not been published as part of the original book.

We would like to express our appreciation to those who contributed to the success of this initiative: Janie Respitz (Yiddish translator), Lance Ackerfeld (Director, JewishGen Yizkor Book Project), Joel Alpert (Director, JewishGen Press), and Susan Rosin (Publications Manager, JewishGen Press).

Finally, the speedy translation of the Zychlin Memorial Book would not have been possible without the support of a grant from Lawrence Zlatkin, honoring the memory of his father, Holocaust survivor Rafael (Ralph) Zlatkin, and the donations of Arlene Beare, Fay Bussgang, David Goren, Tobias Kaye, Thomas Laichas, Ron Merkel, Rhea Siers, Judith Simon, Roslyn Tatarka, and Samuel Tatarka. We thank you all for your JewishGen-erosity.

We dedicate this English translation of the Zychlin Memorial Book to the more than 400 years of vibrant Jewish community and life of our ancestors in Zychlin.

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Updated 26 Aug 2022 by JH