Jakub Egit 5389901 203294318 2008-04-04T14:37:08Z Jdcooper 202051 cleanup {{Refimprove|date=April 2007}} '''Jakub Egit''' (born 1908) was a [[Zionist]] leader and [[Soviet]] soldier. In 1945, Egit began a project to create a settlement of 50,000 Jews in the town of [[Dzierżoniów]] (formerly Reichenbach), a [[recovered territory]] near [[Wrocław]] in [[Silesia]], [[Poland]]. Egit's motivation was to "exact retribution and justice by making the former German territory a Jewish settlement".{{who}} Initially, with Soviet Communist support, Egit's plan went well; starting with a small group of concentration camp survivors, the settlement grew to encompass schools, hospitals, [[kibbutzim]], orphanages and a book publishers in [[Wrocław]]. However, in 1948 the Communists withdrew their support. Egit was put in jail and the majority of [[Dzierżoniów]]'s citizens emigrated to [[Israel]]. From 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]]''. ==Further reading== *''Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City'' Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse. *''Grand Illusion'', Jacob Egit {{DEFAULTSORT:Egit, Jakub}} [[Category:1908 births]] [[Category:Russian expatriates in Canada]] [[Category:Russian Jews]] [[Category:Zionists]]