Tomasz (Ma)ksymil(ian) Majtczak
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ksymil.bsky.social
Tomasz (Ma)ksymil(ian) Majtczak
@ksymil.bsky.social
160 followers 200 following 220 posts
Working on Old & Classical Japanese, historical grammar of Japanese, sometimes also Yiddish or Old Turkic; interested in historical linguistics and etymology.
📍 Kraków, Poland
🔗 https://sites.google.com/site/hublshpener
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ksymil.bsky.social
This is the reason why in old prints you can find German phrases like:
‹für und nach der Geburt Christi› (before [not: for!] and after the birth of Christ)

Modestin Fachs, Probier Büchlein…, Leipzig 1595
data.onb.ac.at/rep/10934315
🔚
A fragment of the title page of Modestin Fachs's Probier Büchlein of 1595, with the phrase: für und nach der Geburt Christi (before and after the birth of Christ) underlined in blue.
November 9, 2025 at 10:01 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
In the accompanying footnote it is already correct:
‹dzieci nie powinny umrzeć przed rodzicami› (children should not die before their parents)
Well, the editors did not acquit themselves very honourably here.
(I. L. Perec, Wybór opowiadań, Ossolineum 1958, Biblioteka Narodowa II 114)
❹
A footnote to Dresnerowa's translation, with the portion: dzieci nie powinny umrzeć przed rodzicami (children should not die before their parents) underlined in blue.
November 9, 2025 at 9:43 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
E.g., in the Polish translation of Peretz’s short story “Iber a shmek tabak” Anna Dresnerowa has:
‹i nie uśmierci się rodziców ᴘʀᴢᴇᴅ ich dziećmi› (and the parents shall not be put to death ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ their children).
❷
A fragment of the Polish translation of Peretz's short story by Anna Dresnerowa, with the portion ‹i nie uśmierci się rodziców przed ich dziećmi› (and the parents shall not be put to death before their children) underlined in blue.
November 9, 2025 at 9:40 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
Thank you! Here are some more pictures of what has been left from the wall inscriptions. Unfortunately, not much.
Wall paintings on the left side of the Torah ark. Decorations above the Torah ark. Wall inscription in the vestibule of the synagogue, showing the word שנת (the year of).
October 29, 2025 at 9:49 AM
ksymil.bsky.social
16th-century St Procopius church in Krzcięcice.
General view of the inside of the church. The altar and the ceiling above it. The choir with the pipe organ, and the ceiling above it. The oldest element of the church, 14th-century bell tower of larch wood.
October 29, 2025 at 9:11 AM
ksymil.bsky.social
Renovated synagogue in Chmielnik with a glass (!) reconstruction of the bimah.
Glass reconstruction of the original bimah. The location of the original Torah ark, with some remains of the wall paintings on both sides and above it. The ceiling over the women's section. Wall paintings showing the zodiac signs.
October 29, 2025 at 8:59 AM
ksymil.bsky.social
Colourful houses on Karaim Street (Karaimų gatvė). Restaurant serving kybyn, with its name on the wall written in Lithuanian and Karaim. Simon Firković (Szymon Firkowicz) Square, with its name in Lithuanian and Karaim. Firković's house with a commemorative plaque.
October 18, 2025 at 5:07 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
Visiting Karaims in Trakai.
Karaim Museum in Trakai. Karaim school with a plaque in Lithuanian and Karaim. Karaim kenesa behind the fence. Karaim kenesa in Trakai.
October 18, 2025 at 5:00 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
Yiddish traces in Vilnius.
Jewish Street: Žydų gatvė / Rekhov ha-Yehudim / Yidishe Gas Max Weinreich's high school (gimnazye). Plaque commemorating Max Weinreich on the wall of his former high school. Plaque commemorating YIVO on the wall of the building standing on the place of its pre-war seat.
October 18, 2025 at 4:54 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
Rasos Cemetery has inscriptions in variuos languages, mainly in Polish, but also in Lithuanian and Belarusian.
Gravestone inscription in Belarusian, but in Polish orthography. Gravestone inscription in Lithuanian, but in Polish orthography.
October 18, 2025 at 4:41 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
Vilnius today.
Inside of the church of St Peter and St Paul. Inside of the church of St Peter and St Paul. Gate of Dawn (Porta Acialis), known as Ostra Brama in Polish. The altar of the Orthodox church.
October 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
A new grave, with an inscription in Arabic and Polish. A new grave, with an inscription in Arabic and Polish. A new grave with an Arabic inscription.
October 18, 2025 at 6:08 AM
ksymil.bsky.social
Tatar cemetery in Kruszyniany.
General view of the cemetery in a forest. One of the oldest gravestones with an inscription in Arabic. A tombstone with a crescent on top. Two newer graves with inscriptions in Arabic and Polish.
October 18, 2025 at 6:05 AM
ksymil.bsky.social
Tatar mosque in Kruszyniany, North-Eastern Poland.
Green mosque with two towers and a triangular roof between them. Green mosque. Green minbar inside of the mosque, with crescents on its top. Minbar and mihrab inside of the mosque.
October 18, 2025 at 5:52 AM
ksymil.bsky.social
Orthodox church on Mt Grabarka in North-Eastern Poland.
Entrance to the church, with an inscription in Greek, paintings and an Orthodox cross on roof top. Inside of the church. Image of St Martha, with her name written in Church Slavonic. A black plaque with a golden inscription in Church Slavonic.
October 18, 2025 at 5:44 AM
ksymil.bsky.social
The same in Carlo Valenziani’s 1897 Italian translation of Kotowazagusa 諺草 by Kaibara Yoshifuru 貝原好古, following Severini (I have never seen it myself, so says its reviewer Giovanni Vacca).
The heading of the 1913 review by Giovanni Vacca, showing the peculiar spelling of voiced consonants in the Latin transcription. A footnote appended to the review, commenting on the peculiar transcription going back to Severini.
October 11, 2025 at 5:27 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
Arrived today.
Alain Kahn: 350 expressions judéo-alsaciennes traduites et commentées (2022)
The cover of the book "350 expressions judéo-alsaciennes traduites et commentées".
October 2, 2025 at 8:24 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
Ikh hob zeyer lib yidish
איך האָב זײער ליב ייִדיש

Badges, magnets and key rings.
Self-designed (all right, I took the golden peacock from WikiCommons), ordered – and here they are!
A badge, a magnet and a key ring, all black, with an image of the golden peacock and an inscription in Yiddish: Ikh hob lib yidish (I love Yiddish).
September 30, 2025 at 11:29 AM
ksymil.bsky.social
Trier.
Porta Nigra. Dom St. Peter. Dom St. Peter. Liebfrauenkirche.
September 4, 2025 at 12:40 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
An excellent event yesterday, and a wonderful yidish-tish afterwards. And another interesting book to read – with the translators' autographs!
Cover of the book "East End Jews. Sketches from the London Yiddish Press". Autographs in Yiddish from both translators of the book.
August 30, 2025 at 8:51 AM
ksymil.bsky.social
Author event in Cracow!
East End Jews: Sketches from the London Yiddish Press
29 August 2025 (Friday), 6 pm
Spółdzielnia Ogniwo, Smolki 11a, Kraków

wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814351345/

#cracow #yiddish #krakow #jidysz
Poster advertising the event.
August 18, 2025 at 8:54 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
And some more pictures from the same cemetery.
Classical gate entrance to the cemetery. A pillar-like tombstone. The grave of Bertha Pappenheim. A gazebo-like tomstone, decorated with colourful mosaics.
August 18, 2025 at 8:35 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
An interesting way to write ö: alef + segol.
Löwenstein לאֶווענשטיין

Jewish cemetery at Rat-Beil-Straße, Frankfurt.
Jewish tombstone.
August 18, 2025 at 8:26 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
I know it's absurd, but I cannot stop seeing the Japanese word コスト on the right side of this page. In Polish we call it: professional deviation (zboczenie zawodowe).
A part of the handwritten report on fire with some inscription resembling a Japanese word written in katakana.
August 17, 2025 at 9:23 PM
ksymil.bsky.social
There is also a handwritten report of an eyewitness on a fire that destroyed the Jewish street in Frankfurt.
A title page of a book and a handwritten report of the fire on the opposite page. A handwritten report of the fire.
August 17, 2025 at 9:16 PM