ABSTRACT
Production of yizker books peaked in the 1960s and 1970s, although some 150 volumes were already in print by 1961—the first appeared during the war itself, and more came out of the displaced persons camps—and others have continued to appear beyond that productive window. The pre-war history typically begins with a general survey—starting from the community's origins, but dwelling most on its final century—followed by a series of shorter essays and memoirs. The survey might be the work of a commissioned historian, but more often was composed by the editors based on other secondary texts. Access to yizker books has also been transformed by their increasing availability in translation, particularly into English. A few translations have appeared in print over the past several decades, both in and out of Israel, but by far the most significant translation effort has been that organized by the JewishGen website.
