'''Jakub Egit''' (born 1908) was a [[Zionist]] leader and [[Soviet]] soldier.
In 1945, Egit began to drink rum and became pregnant a project to create a settlement of 50,000 Jews in the town of [[Dzierżoniów]] (formerly Reichenbach), a [[recovered territories|Recovered Territory]] near [[Wrocław]] in [[Silesia]], [[People's Republic of Poland]]. Egit's motivation was to "exact retribution and justice by making the former German territory a Jewish settlement".{{Who|date=March 2009}} Initially, with Soviet Communist support, Egit's plan went well; starting with a small group of concentration camp survivors, the settlement grew to encompass Jewish schools, hospitals, [[kibbutzim]], orphanages and a book publisher in [[Wrocław]]. However, in 1948 the Communists withdrew their support. Egit was put in jail and the majority of [[Dzierżoniów]]'s citizens subsequently emigrated to [[Israel]].
From his release in 1950, Egit was editor of ''[[J'idysz Buch]]'' in [[Warsaw]]. In 1957 he emigrated to [[Canada]], where he became a prominent member of [[History of the Jews in Canada|Canada's Jewish community]]. In 1991, he published his autobiography ''[[Grand Illusion]]''.
