Memories Of Muizenberg Opens In Vancouver This Sunday

After successful runs in South Africa, Israel, the UK, Australia and Toronto, Canada and San Diego, USA, the Memories of Muizenberg Exhibition is coming to Vancouver to Beth Israel Synagogue from July 10 – 25.

The opening reception is this Sunday July 10 from 7 to 9 pm.

Save the date for South Africa’s most popular and travelled exhibition.

For more details and updates, visit the Muizenberg KehilaLink:

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/muizenberg/MOM.html

Enjoy!

Eli Rabinowitz
Perth, Australia
http://elirab.me/litvak-portal/

July 2, 2016October 16, 2019

Žemaičių Naumiestis

Žemaičių Naumiestis

Town in Lithuania

Žemaičių Naumiestis is a town in Klaipėda county, Šilutė district municipality. It is located in western Lithuania between Klaipėda and Kaliningrad Oblast. The rivers Šustis, Šelmuo and Lendra flow through the town. Wikipedia

Population: 1,716 (2001)

The Naumiestis Kehilalink – click on image

On the road to Žemaičių Naumiestis

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The Holocaust memorial

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The town

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Heiny Ellert’s Testimony

Sammy Marks

Click on image below

Other towns on the way to Marijampole

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My KehilaLinks in Lithuania

Alita (Alytus)

Aran (Varena)

Balbieriškis – coming soon

Birzh (Birzai)

Druskieniki (Druskininkai)

Keidan (Kedainiai)

Kibart (Kybartai)

Kopcheve (Kapciamiestis)

Koshedar (Kaisiadorys)

Mariampol (Marijampole)

Memel (Klaipeda)

Meretch (Merkine)

Naishtot (Kudirkos Naumiestis)

Neishtot-Tavrig

Plungyan (Plunge)

Pilvsk (Pilviskiai)

Plateliai – coming soon

Ponievez (Panevezys)

Pren (Prienai)

Salant (Salantai)

Serey (Seirijai)

Shaki (Sakai)

Stokishok (Stakliskes)

Sudarg (Sudargas)

Tavrig (Taurage)

Telz (Telsiai)

Ukmerge (Vilkomir) beta

Utena

Vabalninkas – coming soon

Vikovishk (Vilkaviskis)

Virbain (Verbalis)

Vishey (Veisiejai)

Žiežmariai (Zhezmir)

July 1, 2016

Memories of Muizenberg Exhibition in Vancouver

From Stephen Rom:

Lauren Kramer, writing today’s Jewish Independent has a connection to Muizenberg as her late Mom was from there.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Canada Day

South African memories come to Beth Israel exhibit July

By Lauren Kramer

For Vancouverites who hail from South Africa, the name Muizenberg carries significant resonance. The small seaside town was a hub for Jewish families from the 1900s onward, a place where children played on the long stretch of white-sand beach, young people fell in love, business deals were discussed, family relationships deepened and friendships nourished.

So when the Memories of Muizenberg exhibit opens for its 15-day span at Beth Israel Synagogue July 10-25, there’s an excellent chance of hearing South African accents in the voices of attendees. The exhibit was created in 2009, when it debuted in Cape Town, chronicling the Jewish presence in Muizenberg between 1900 and the early 1960s. After that it began a whirlwind tour to Johannesburg, London, Israel, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Toronto and San Diego before it finally landed in Vancouver. For each of its moves an ex-South African Jew adopted the exhibition, gathering fundraisers, assistants and exhibit spaces in their respective cities.

In Vancouver that man is Stephen Rom, an ex-South African from Cape Town who immigrated to Canada in 1986 and moved to Vancouver in 1992. “I’m just a schlepper that was interested in the exhibit,” he said with a laugh. “When a friend told me the exhibit was in San Diego, I thought we needed to get it trucked up to Vancouver. I think it’s important to keep Memories of Muizenberg circulated – a hell of a lot of research went into it and it’s beautifully put together.”

Rom arranged for the crate containing the 40-panel exhibit to be stored in the warehouse of fellow ex-South African Lexie Bernstein and solicited donors to cover the costs associated with transportation and opening night festivities. Muizenberg has a special place in his heart and memories, he confided.

“It was a place my family and extended family spent every Sunday – you loaded the car, took the food and you didn’t need to look for friends – they were always there,” he reflected. “No-one phoned to say, are you going to Muizenberg? You just knew, everyone in your community was going to be there. You’d go swimming, get attacked by bluebottles, get knocked over and soaked by a wave from the creeping high tide, have the wind blowing in your hair and eat homemade rusks (cookies) mixed with sand. It was part of our DNA.”

Bernstein, who moved from Cape Town to Vancouver in 1987, recalls catching the train with his friends in the summer months to get to Muizenberg. “When the train pulled into the station, the conductor would shout out ‘Jerusalem!’” he recalled. “I think ex-South Africans in Vancouver will love this exhibition, and other Jews in the community will be fascinated about where we come from.”

Rom’s only regret about the exhibit is that it ends in 1962 instead of continuing. He’s asking ex-South Africans in Vancouver to email photographs that pertain to their history in Muizenberg and that might be shown as a slide show at the exhibit’s opening night, July 10. To submit your memories email Stephen at srom@shaw.ca

For the Muizenberg KehilaLink, click here

June 30, 2016July 1, 2016

Doornfontein Shtetl Walking Tour

Again on this weekend, Sunday the 3rd July 2016

Check with Ishvara ancientsecrets@absamail.co.za for details!

You will walk through the old Jewish neighbourhood of Doornfontein Johannesburg.

Some of the highlights include :
* the Lion Shul : 1906
* Yiddishe Arbeiter Klub : the Jewish Workers Club : 1928
* the Alhambra Theatre
* the Yiddishe Altesheim : Jewish Old Age Home
* Beit Hamedrash Hagodel : the Sherwell St Shul
* the first Greek Orthodox Church in Joburg : 1913
* the Beit St shops – Wachenheimers , Nussbaums etc
* the Ottoman Embassy : home of Henri Bettelheim
* the University of Johannesburg Campus
* the Jewish Govt School : IH Harris Primary
* the Hebrew High School : Talmud Torah
* the old Victorian homes on Sivewright St
* the Great Synagogue on Wolmarans St : 1914

If you wish to attend, please confirm that there is available space by sending an email to :

ancientsecrets@absamail.co.za for banking details and further instructions

Space is limited – so confirmation is essential

Please note : men please bring a yarmulke for entering the synagogues and women please dress modestly.

To see my previous posts on the Doornfontein Walking Tour, visit:

Doornfontein Walking Tour – Part 1

There are 4 parts! Use this search engine to access all 4:
http://elirab.me/?s=doornfontein

Also visit the Lion’s Shul on the Johannesburg KehilaLink

Cheers

Eli

June 18, 2016October 15, 2019

Vabalninkas

My friend, Owen Ogince, was born in Johannesburg, but lived in Theunissen in the Orange Free State in South Africa. He went to boarding school in a larger city, such as Bloemfontein, typical of the many first generation of South African born Jews who lived in the country areas. Their parents often spoke only Yiddish and Afrikaans, creating an interesting sub culture which in many ways reflected their previous lives in the shtetls of Lithuania. They were often referred to as boerejode. For more information on boerejode, see the end of this post.

I took the opportunity to visit the shtetl of Vabalninkis in Lithuania, where Owen’s family came from.

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The Jewish Cemetery and the memorial to the Resistance.

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The Former Synagogue

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The Boerejode of the Boland

June 10, 2016

Rietavas

My first visit to Rietavas, Lithuania.

My lucky break was meeting Egidijus and Antonius at the Rietavas municipal offices.

They kindly showed me around the town.

The former synagogue and memorial to Mendel Kaplan by the Jakovas Bunka Fund

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A memorial Antonius arranged when he was mayor

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The Jewish cemetery

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Click here

Other images of Rietavas

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Rietavas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rietavas

City

Coat of arms

Rietavas

Location of Rietavas

Coordinates:

55°43′0″N 21°56′0″ECoordinates:

Rietavas municipality

Eldership

Rietavas city eldership

Capital of

Rietavas municipality
Rietavas city eldership
Rietavas rural eldership

First mentioned

1253

Granted city rights

1792

Population (2010)

• Total

3,824

Time zone

EET (UTC+2)

• Summer (DST)

EEST (UTC+3)

Website

http://www.rietavas.lt

Rietavas ( pronunciation (help·info), Samogitian: Rėitavs) is a city in Lithuania on the Jūra River. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 3,979. It is the capital of Rietavas municipality.

The city is famous for building the first power station to produce electricity in Lithuania in 1892. The first telephone line in Lithuania was also built here.

History

Church of Rietavas

Rietavas was first mentioned in written sources around 1253. During the Middle Ages it belonged to Ceklis land. Rietavas’ eldership was mentioned in 1527. Since 1533 Rietavas was known as a city however the city rights were not granted until 1792. In the 14th and 15th centuries Rietavas was one of the most important defence centres in Samogitia and also a crossing of commercial roads.

In the 19th century Rietavas was an important educational centre whereas in 1812–1909 it belonged to Ogiński family who loved culture and education. In 1835 there was established a hospital and four year later school of parish. In 1859 the school of agriculture was established in Rietavas which was closed in 1863. Lithuanian was the official language of this school (there were any other such schools where Lithuanian would be an official language at that time). In 1873 current Catholic Church reflecting features of Romanesque Revival architecture was built.

Rietavas also became an important centre of progressive technologios of that time. In 1882 the first telephone line in Lithuania was built. It connected Rietavas and Plungė cities. In 1892 started to produce electricity the first power station in Lithuania. On 17 April 1892 in Easter the first street lights were turned on in Rietavas manor, park and church.

In 1915 Rietavas was the centre of the county and later on centre of the eldership. During the Inter-war period there were established a public library in 1928, a cinema in 1931. After the World War II Rietavas became the centre of district municipality however in 1963 it was merged with Plungė district municipality. Nevertheless Rietavas retrieved its municipality in 2000.^[1]

The coat of arms of Rietavas was approved by the decree of the President in 1996.^[2]

Notable people

Laurynas Ivinskis – Lithuanian teacher, publisher, translator and lexicographer.
Diana Žiliūtė – Lithuanian racing cyclist, olympic medalist.
Susman Brothers – businessmen in Rhodesia

The Cafe Riteve in Cape Town

May 18, 2016May 23, 2016

Global Shtetlnet Project – An Update

Our goal is to connect teachers and students at:

Jewish Day Schools
Tolerance Education Centre Schools (TEC) in Lithuania
ORT schools in the FSU
other similar educational institutions in the Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe

How:

by sharing stories of Jewish life both past and present
focus on the shtetl and kehilla
exchange of ideas and projects
small peer groups of students
extending to a wider group
no extra resources required by schools

Our list of participating schools:

Australia:
Moriah College, Sydney

Lithuania:
Atzalynas High School in Kedainiai
Kalvarijos High School in Kalvarija
Solomo Aleichemo ORT School in Vilnius

Moldova:
Technological Lycee ORT. BZ Herzl, Kishinev

South Africa:
United Herzlia Schools

King David Victory Park

Ukraine:
NVK #141 ORT Kiev

Technical assistance is provided by Steve Sherman of Living Maths in Cape Town: http://www.livingmaths.com

If you would like to join our group and for further information, contact

Eli Rabinowitz

Some videos from the students:

Two animated videos on the topic of the Holocaust, made by ORT high school students in Kiev.

Every year they discuss this topic using creative works of the students.

The film “Butterflies do not live in ghetto” based on the poem, written in 1942 by one of the Shoah’s victims – Paul Friedman.

The film “The dream about the theatre” is the project work in the preparation for the trip “Masa Shorashim” in Poland this year.

Journey To The Roots 2015 Маса Шорашим 2015

A video of the Kishinev ORT school students Masa Shorashim visit to Lithuania and Poland in 2015.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pLXdbW8fUQc

Join 752 other subscribers.

May 11, 2016

SOAP TO SENATE: A GERMAN JEW AT THE DAWN OF APARTHEID

Adam Yamey’s new book review summary:

“When the 18 year old Franz Ginsberg (1862-1936) arrived in King Williams Town from Beuthen (in Prussian Silesia) in 1880, he would never have dreamt that many years later, his widow would be receiving a message of condolence from no lesser man than General Jan Smuts.

Within 5 years after his arrival in South Africa, Franz began his first factory in King Williams Town, and within a few years he was running several factories that made a variety of domestic necessities such as matches, soap, and candles. By 1890, he had entered local politics, and within a few years he became a Member of the Cape Parliament. After the Act of Union in 1910, Franz became a Member of the Cape Provincial Council, where he remained until 1927. During all of this time, his industries flourished and he continued to play an active role in the development of his adopted home town. In 1927, Franz became the first elected Jewish member of the Senate of South Africa. He remained a Senator until his death.

In his various political roles, as a Town Councillor, as a Member of the Cape Parliament and then the Provincial Council, and as a Senator, Franz stood up for the underdog whether he or she be a native African, an Indian, or even a Jew.

Adam Yamey writes about the life and times of his great-grandfather Franz Ginsberg in his latest book “SOAP TO SENATE: A GERMAN JEW AT THE DAWN OF APARTHEID”.

This is more than a biography; it is also an insight into the early decades of the 20th century in South Africa, which might well be called the ‘gestation period of apartheid’.

Available on Amazon (Kindle)

http://www.amazon.com/Adam-YAMEY/e/B0046DCK7S/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

and from www.lulu.com (Paperback).”

READ interesting books [& Kindles] written by ADAM YAMEY!

Visit http://www.adamyamey.com

With thanks to Adam Yamey

April 28, 2016April 28, 2016

The Boerejode of the Boland

A visit to Cape Town is not complete without a drive to one of the towns in the Boland.

From Wikipedia:

Boland, Western Cape

The Boland (Afrikaans for “top country” or “land above”^[1]) is a region of the Western Cape province of South Africa, situated to the northeast of Cape Town in the middle and upper courses of the Berg and Breede Rivers, around the mountains of the central Cape Fold Belt. It is sometimes also referred to as the Cape Winelands because it is the primary region for the making of Western Cape wine.

Although the Boland does not have defined boundaries, its core lies around the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Worcester. It may be understood to extend as far as Malmesbury, Tulbagh, Swellendam and Somerset West. This is approximately the area included in the Cape Winelands District Municipality, which was formerly called the Boland District Municipality. To the southwest lies the Cape Town metropolitan area, to the northwest the Swartland and West Coast, to the northeast the Great Karoo, to the east the Little Karoo, and to the south the Overberg.

The “Boland” name is given to a number of sports teams from the region, including the Boland cricket team and the Boland Cavaliers rugby union team.

Many of the Jews who came to Africa from Europe settled in rural areas and small dorps. They formed a subculture within the Afrikaner environment of these towns and many were known as Boerejode, Afrikaner Jews or more literally “farmer Jews”.

These towns could be regarded as Africa’s version of the shtetl back in Eastern Europe.

In the earlier years of settlement, there was the Jewish pedlar or smous, who travelled from town to town, farm to farm, selling his wares. Here is a memorial to the smous or pedlar on my new Graaff Reinet KehilaLink:

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/graaff_reinet/Smouse.html

Below you will find a selection of my images of Stellenbosch, one of the main towns of the Boland with its striking mountains, rich winelands and outstanding Cape Dutch architecture.

I have also included some interesting articles which I found at the Kaplan Centre archives at UCT, the Univeristy of Cape Town, my alma mater!

A big thank you to Juan-Paul Burke, the librarian at the Kaplan Centre, always so obliging and helpful, for allowing me to use them.

And on a tangent – on campus there was no sign of Cecil John Rhodes, except for the old signs!

Boerejood

in Wikipedia, die vrye ensiklopedie

Afrikaner-Jews

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Afrikaner-Jews or Boere-Jode as they are sometimes known, are an offshoot of Afrikanerdom and Judaism. At the beginning of the 19th century, when greater freedom of religious practice was introduced in South Africa, small numbers of Ashkenazi Jews arrived from Britain and Germany. They established the first Ashkenazi Hebrew congregation in 1841. Between the end of the 19th century and 1930, large numbers of Jews began to arrive from Lithuania and Latvia. Their culture and contribution changed the character of the South African community.

According to the South African Jewish Museum, “Many of the later immigrants arrived with no resources other than their wits and experience. Most could not speak English when they arrived. Often they would learn Afrikaans before English. Their households were often multi-lingual, with parents speaking Yiddish and Afrikaans, and the children learning English at school.”^{[citation needed]}

The University of Cape Town Jewish Studies library has a comprehensive collection of South African Yiddish books. Its collection of Yiddish periodicals is, however, not as comprehensive.

Famous Afrikaner-Jews

Olga Kirsch was a noted Afrikaans author and poet.
Rabbi M. Romm translated and published the Siddur (Hebrew prayer book) into Afrikaans, which was widely distributed.^{[citation needed]}
Pieter-Dirk Uys is a South African satirist, active as a performer, author, and social activist.
David Kramer is a South African singer, songwriter, playwright and director.
Siegfried Fraenkel is widely regarded as the founder of Judaism in South Africa.