Jakub Egit: Difference between revisions

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'''Jakub Egit''' (27 September 1908&ndash;1996)<ref name="Grabski">{{cite book|last = Grabski|first = August|title = Działalność komunistyczna wśród Żydów w Polsce (1944-1949)|publisher = [[Jewish Historical Institute]]|date = 2004|___location = [[Warsaw]]|page = 108|language = Polish}}</ref> was a [[Poland|Polish]] [[Jew]]ish leader. He was born in [[Boryslav|Boryslaw]], Poland. His parents Marek and Shaindel and siblings, Marcus, Rachel, Reisl, Jonas, and Genia were all killed in 1943-45.

In 1945, Egit began a project to create a settlement of 50,000 Jews in [[Dzierżoniów County]] (formerly Reichenbach), incl. the town of [[Dzierżoniów]] (formerlythe Reichenbachpeak number of Jews in Drobniszew reached 17,800 in November 1946<ref>[http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/dzierzoniow/5,history/?action=view&page=10 Jewish community before 1989]</ref>), [[Bielawa]], [[Pieszyce]], [[Piława Górna]], etc., 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''.