The Book of Opoczno
Memorial for the Community that was Destroyed
(Opoczno, Poland)

51°22' / 20°17'

Translation of
Sefer Opotshnah
Yad Vashem E'Kehilah She'Harvah

Edited by:
Yitzhak Alfasi

Published in Tel Aviv, 1989

Acknowledgments

Project Coordinators

Debra J. Kay and Jonathan M. Kay

 

Our sincere appreciation to Mr. Aharon Carmi, of the Opoczno Landmanshaft in Israel,
for permission to put this material on the JewishGen web site.

Our sincere appreciation to Helen Rosenstein Wolf
for typing up the English text to facilitate its addition to this project.

This is a translation from: Sefer Opotshnah; yad vashem e-kehilah she-harvah;
The Book of Opoczno: memorial for the community that was destroyed;
ed. Yitzhak Alfasi. Tel Aviv, Association of Emigrants from Opoczno and Vicinity, 1989 (H,Y,E)

This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc. and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of
fulfilling our mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and destroyed Jewish communities.
This material may not be copied, sold or bartered without JewishGen, Inc.'s permission. Rights may be reserved by the copyright holder.

JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.

 

  

 


Translated by Sara Mages

 

Chapter 1
Yizkor, the synagogues, the memorial, the monument   1
Foreword Dr. Yitzchak Alfasi 11
Introduction to the book Pinchas Ayalon 13
To Remember and to know Professor Yigal Elas 17
 
Chapter 2
The history of Opoczno's Jews – Section A Dr. Y. Alfasi 21
Opoczno and its important people from ancient times to today – Section B Dr. Y. Alfasi 37
The will of Rabbi Moshe Simcha from Opoczno Dr. Y. Alfasi 38
Rabbi Yitzchak from Radzi³ów Opoczno   43
Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Grynwald   48
The communities in the Opoczno district   49
About the Jews of Opoczno (from the Polish Archive) Y. Koperkowicz Translated by: David Winogrod 63
Opoczno at the beginning of the Twentieth Century Avraham Rosenzweig 66
The city of my birth Opoczno Dr. Yosef Fuks 69
Queen Esterka from Opoczno   70
 
Chapter 3
Opoczno that was and no longer exist Chaim Frosz 73
Opoczno (translation to Yiddish) Chaim Frosz 91
My Rivkale' [poem in Yiddish] Chaim Frosz 107
Who is Who among Opoczno's Jews Chaim Frosz 109
 
Chapter 4
From Opoczno to Eretz Israel Zev Carmi–Chmielnicki 141
The days of my youth Tova Levin (Marmesztajn) 151
My city Opoczno Chaya Fleksar–Boksner 152
Opoczno's sons and daguthers in Kibbutz Tel Hai Elchanan Boksner 153
Opoczno's sons and daguthers in Kibbutz Tel Hai Arye Dovron 157
To Israel via Russia Yisrael Szmulowiz 160
From Opoczno to Beit HaShita Bela Adar–Wald 161
About my father Yitzchak Perel Penina Perel 163
From Opoczno to Ma'ale Hahamisha and to the Brigade[1] Yosef Najberger 165
From Holocaust to recovery Yoel Perel 171
In the pioneer training camp and in Israel Brukman 172
My family in Opoczno Meir Wimersberg 173
 
Chapter 5
Memories of a young girl Yael Levi–Gordon 177
Then and Now Yosef Carmi–Chmielnicki 183
Memories from the Ghetto Rachel Winogrod–Chmielnicki 187
How I survived Adza Chmielnick–Jerkiewicz 189
My experiences in the years of annihilation 1939–45 [Y] Sara Frenkel–Rosenberg 191
About the Rozenkranc family   199
About the Kacenelbogien family   200
I survived as an “Aryan” Sonya Herzog–Hazuni 201
I escaped from Narel[2] and from Belzec Yitzchak Bialorybski 205
Days of Terror M.B. Lipszyc 206
I experienced Treblinka Aharon Glajt 213
The district of my childhood Aharon Carmi–Chmielnicki 217
Germans Deceived Jews [Y] Aharon Carmi–Chmielnicki 278
Passover Haggadah 1943 Aharon Carmi–Chmielnicki 291
Eliezer the district commander in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising David Ron 295
 
Chapter 6
List of the organization's board members   313
A review of the organization's activities 1944–1988   315
In everlasting memory   339
The martyrs of Opoczno   341
Commemorations by relatives   363
[Rozenblum Family Tree]   394
 
The Journey to “Eretz Israel”
[English – from the back side]		 Aaron Carmi 2
Jewish business owners in Opoczno that are listed in the city's general list
[Polish – from the back side]		   17
 
Footnotes

  1. The Jewish Brigade was a military formation of the British Army that served in Europe during the Second World War. Return
  2. A labor camp near Belzec concentration camp. Return

 Yizkor Book Project    JewishGen Home Page  

Yizkor Book Director, Lance Ackerfeld
Emerita Yizkor Book Project Manager, Joyce Field z”l
Contact person for this translation Debra J. Kay and Jonathan M. Kay
This web page created by Max Heffler

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 9 Jul 2021 by LA