Frequently Asked Questions

Yizkor (memorial) books were written after the Holocaust as memorials to Jewish communities that were destroyed. They were usually compiled by survivors and former residents of those communities, and they contain histories and descriptions of the community, biographies of prominent people, lists of those who perished, and often photographs, maps, and other memorabilia.

They are valuable to genealogists, since a book may include biographies or photographs of relatives, or name family members among the community's victims. They are also valuable to anyone who wants to learn about Jewish life and culture in the communities that vanished in the Holocaust.

Possibly. If you are lucky, you may find stories or photographs of your relatives, or the names of family members who perished in the Holocaust. Even if you find no specific mention of your family, you can still learn a great deal about the community they came from.

Yizkor books are only one source among many. For other places to begin genealogical research, see the JewishGen research FAQ, or start from the JewishGen home page and explore its research divisions and databases.

Yizkor books are valuable for understanding the Holocaust as it affected a particular community. The accounts in them are often deeply personal and detailed, which can make that history feel immediate and real.

For broader research, the JewishGen Holocaust Database draws together millions of records from camps, ghettos, transport lists, and survivor registries. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is another major resource.

Search the Yizkor Book Database, which lists all known Yizkor books. You can search for a particular location to see whether a book exists for it.

Many communities — particularly in Lithuania and Latvia — do not have their own individual book but are described in a regional volume. Those are listed in the database under the region, such as Lithuania or Latvia.

The database tells you that a book exists; your next step is to find a copy or to view any translation. For each book, the database indicates whether the Yizkor Book Project has translated material on our website — if it does, you can follow the link to read it.

If possible, try to see the original book as well. Even if you cannot read the original language, it is often moving simply to see the book itself, with its list of victims, photographs, and documents. To find an original, see the questions below about libraries and purchasing.

When you search the Yizkor Book Database, each book lists the libraries known to hold it, along with the call number. Our records currently cover roughly sixteen libraries, including collections in New York, California, and Israel.

Many more libraries hold substantial Yizkor book collections. Our Links page points to sources listing holdings in New York, Boston, Detroit, Washington, and San Francisco, and our Libraries and Archives with Yizkor Books file is a broader directory. Some readers have also obtained books through Inter-Library Loan.

See our list of Retail Establishments with Yizkor Books. We cannot say which store stocks which title, since stores generally carry a single copy of any book and their inventory changes often, but many readers have had success contacting several stores on the list.

Search the Yizkor Book Database for your community. Where a translation exists on our site, the entry links directly to it; otherwise the database lists contact people who may have translated part of a book or be working on one.

Keep in mind that the database is only as complete as what people report to us. It is entirely possible that a translation exists that we have not been told about, so we encourage everyone to let us know about translations they find.

See How to set up a translation project, part of our guidance on donating translations.

The Yizkor Book Project maintains a list of people who translate Yizkor books for a fee: see Yizkor Book Translators. We cannot recommend particular translators, and any financial or other arrangements are strictly between the translator and the client.

See our guidance on the process for donating translations, which walks through preparing and submitting material for the site.

See our explanation of liability and copyright issues before publishing a translation. The Donating a Translation section below answers the most common questions in detail.

No. JewishGen, Inc. is a not-for-profit public service organization governed by Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. No individual profits from any JewishGen activity, and everything the organization does must further its non-profit educational goals.

The Yizkor Book Translations Manager will work with you through the process. To get started, give us the details of anyone involved in publishing the original book, and help us obtain permission for JewishGen to use the material. Our information packet includes a sample Permissions Letter to send to the copyright holder.

This is a collaborative effort — the Project cannot do it entirely on its own — and by policy JewishGen will not post material on the web until the appropriate steps are complete.

It depends on how the translation was funded.

If you finance the translation yourself (alone or with others), or translated the material yourself, the Donor Agreement is on a “non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual” basis. You keep every right you already have to use the material however and whenever you wish; the agreement simply gives JewishGen the right to use it too. Both of you can use it, even at the same time. This stands in lieu of monetary payment for the work JewishGen does to keep your translation freely accessible to all researchers.

If, instead, the funds to pay for the translation are donated to JewishGen and disbursed by JewishGen, then JewishGen owns the exclusive right to the material.

JewishGen has approved procedures that constitute a valid, concerted effort to locate copyright holders. As long as those procedures have been followed and documented, JewishGen will host the translation. As with everything here, it is a collaborative process between you and the Yizkor Book Project staff.

Our aim is to share Yizkor book material as widely as possible, and technology keeps changing. From time to time another non-profit or individual may want to help make the material available in additional forms — for example, in print for family members who don't use computers, perhaps alongside the original text.

The broad wording lets JewishGen use the material for purposes it judges worthy without having to track down every contributor again each time a new medium appears — a task that could otherwise leave material unavailable in the future. If you feel strongly about limiting this, we can modify the agreement to name the specific media in which the material may be published.

With rare exceptions, publishers have been unwilling to fund reprints of Yizkor books, in translation or in the original. If your town is large or historically significant you might persuade a publisher — usually with a substantial investment of your own — but even then profits are unlikely. You are welcome to pursue that first and come back to us afterward.

In the meantime, you might donate just the structural elements (table of contents, index, name lists, photo captions). Posting those on the web can actually boost sales of a printed edition, and we can add a link pointing readers to where they can buy it. Many of us feel this material should not be used commercially, out of respect for the lives honored in these books; the Project's goal is simply to make the information freely available.

No problem. If you paid for the translation, JewishGen's rights are non-exclusive, so you may publish the material in any form at any time.

If you translated or transliterated the material yourself, no — the agreement just lets JewishGen use it. If you obtained the translation from someone else, we need to be sure that translator won't object, and the safest protection is to have them sign a Work for Hire agreement.

In special cases where the translation was done long ago and the translator is no longer living, cannot be found, or was never named — and a Work for Hire agreement isn't practicable — we ask you to certify in the Donor Agreement that you will be responsible if that translator ever sues JewishGen. As a non-profit, JewishGen cannot absorb the cost of defending such a suit. Make sure your understanding with your translator is clear.

It is a legal term meaning you hired the translator to do the work, and the resulting translation is yours. Without such a contract, a translator could later claim you both understood that they owned the translation. Like any contract, it simply documents your actual understanding, for the record.

No. You are only responsible for the English translation or transliteration you provide. The Yizkor Book Project and the donor work together to decide whether copyright permission is needed for the original book and, if so, to follow all the appropriate steps.

JewishGen, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, so you will receive a receipt for your donation of the material, and it is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please consult your tax advisor.