Remembering Rohatyn and Its Environs: 2nd Edition

On March 20, 1942, thousands of Jews were rounded up and brought to the Rohatyn train plaza. From there, the Jews were loaded onto trucks and sent off to be murdered and buried en masse. As they were being ushered forward, many saw a chance to save a child. That child was Donia. On that day, Donia promised to find a way to remember those people and to bring her town "back to life." She acquired the permission from the Rohatyn Society to have the town's Yizkor Book translated so that it maybe accessible to survivors, their families, and historians. Donia collected biographies of the contributors and new memoirs. She recorded speeches and photos from the Rohatyn Society's two visits to Rohatyn in the 1990's. Together, these form the contents of Remembering Rohatyn and its Environs; a testimony and commemoration for those who saved a grateful young girl.

About the Author :
Dora ("Donia") Gold Shwarzstein has been involved in Holocaust-oriented activities for most of her life. She was first inspired to become actively involved in organizing and speaking about the Holocaust when the Nazis threatened to march in Skokie Illinois in 1976. In 1981, Donia was a founding member of the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois and served as Chairman of Oral History and Documentarian. She set up two oral history projects; interviewing survivors and American liberators. In 1987, Donia organized the first Child Survivor Conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. From 1991 to 2009, Donia organized reunions for former Jewish refugees housed at the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration's Schlachtensee Displaced Persons camp in Berlin. Donia volunteered for the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and two memoirs in this volume first appeared in their publication, Together. Michael Berenbaum (born July 31, 1945 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American scholar, professor, rabbi, writer, and filmmaker, who specializes in the study of the Holocaust. He served as Deputy Director of the President's Commission on the Holocaust (1979-1980), Project Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) (1988-1993), and Director of the USHMM's Holocaust Research Institute (1993-1997). Berenbaum played a leading role in the creation of the USHMM and the content of its permanent exhibition. From 1997 to 1999 he served as President and CEO of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, and subsequently (and currently) as Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust, located at the American Jewish University (formerly known as the University of Judaism), in Los Angeles, CA.

Review :
"The voice of Donia Gold Shwarzstein is unique; she is like a light in a shadow of the world; 70 years after Holocaust, she turns our eyes to the future. The beautiful narrative of faces, souvenirs, family history of the Jews from Rohatyn are strong enough to keep their memory alive! To remember them, to read this book is definitively the best way to say no, they will neither be forgotten, they are our part of human family that we need to build for a brighter future!" Father Patrick Desbois, President and Founder of Yahad-In Unum, Professor, Georgetown University. "Generations of Jews from the community of Rohatyn and its environs will be grateful to Donia Gold Shwarzstein for her diligence and perseverance. Simply put, she brought it all together and thus enabled the descendants of Rohatyn and their children and children's children to know from whence they came, which is so important in deciding where one must go." Dr. Michael Berenbaum, Professor of Jewish Studies at the American Jewish University, Executive Editor of the New Encyclopedia Judaica. "Remembering Rohatyn is a reference I will continue to use again and again to support and illustrate the history of the once-vibrant Jewish community of my ancestral home of Rohatyn, and a reminder that life​ ​continues and that Rohatyn still exists, not only in memory, but also​ ​in our hearts." Marla Raucher Osborn, co-founder, Rohatyn Jewish Heritage "This book is a must have for those who are interested in the Jewish history of Rohatyn and its surrounding towns. It is a beautiful memorial to the Jewish community that lived, worked, socialized, and raised their families for hundreds of years in Rohatyn and tragically ended with the Holocaust." Alex Feller, Founder, Rohatyn Shtetl Research Group