THE MEMORIAL BOOK OF PÁPA JEWRY - JewishGen

FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
With a sense of accomplishment, we offer this translation of the Memorial Book of the
Pápa Jewry by Gyula Yehuda Láng. This book gives a unique picture of the life of the Jews of
Pápa through several generations. We felt that in order for our descendants to appreciate their
historical, religious, and cultural heritage, the book should be translated from the original
Hungarian into a language that the majority of future generations would be able to understand.
We express our appreciation to our translator, Rachel Ágnes Vázsonyi who, in addition to
her language skills, is well acquainted with Hungarian history and literature, and with Jewish
culture and tradition.
The translated text has undergone sequential proofreading coupled with editing by
Veronika Kardosh, Stephen Breuer, and Sharolyn Buxbaum. This was followed by repeated
checking and editing by Sharolyn Buxbaum and two of the undersigned (EB&AB), after which it
was returned to Stephen Breuer in the UK where it received its final book-like format.
We have adopted a number of guidelines regarding the translation. Generally, we have
transcribed the Hebrew texts using the modern, Sephardic pronunciation used in Israel, except for
cases of direct citation of prayers, or sayings attributed to specific persons in specific cases,
where the original Ashkenazi pronunciation used in Pápa is given. In many cases we chose not to
explain historic figures, when a quick search in the Internet can fulfill this need. The only place in
which we changed the original organisation was when we merged the two adjacent chapters,
entitled "Art" (Müvészet, p. 85) and "The Art of Music" (Zene müvészet, p. 86) into one chapter
entitled “Arts – Music – Sciences – Journalism”, while preserving their original content.
This edition does not include the list or martyrs as it already appears on the JewishGen
website: http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Papa/pap901.html Please check the glossary for the
martyrs’ list (p. 115) explaining the Hungarian expressions attached to some of the names.
We have not included the Hebrew section of the original edition in this version, as most of
it appeared in somewhat modified form also in Hungarian which was translated to English. An
exception is the story of Hashomer Hatzair in Pápa, which appeared only in Hebrew in the
original book and it now appears in English.
We thank the many contributors from all over the world who supported the translation
project. We were encouraged by the support and interest they expressed in our endeavour.
We hope this translation, which we will try to distribute worldwide to libraries and
organizations, will contribute to the commemoration of the Holocaust, and particularly help in
preserving the memory of the Jewish community of Pápa and its Martyrs.
Eli Breuer Asher Buxbaum Yehuda Krausz
Israel, August 2009
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