Where’s Wally (and Bernice)!

With Jill, and our visitors, Bernice & Wally Kegel, from Seattle

A tourist drive around Perth and Fremantle

Fremantle

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Old Synagogue, Fremantle

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Notre Dame University – Manjaree Place

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STUNNING ABORIGINAL MURAL AT NOTRE DAME UNI

It was full house at Fremantle Notre Dame University’s Manjaree Place this morning for the unveiling of the major 5.5 x 2.2 metre Manjaree Mia Kaart Aboriginal painting. The wo…

Source: freoview.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/stunning-aboriginal-mural-at-notre-dame-uni/

Cottesloe

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Trigg Beach

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Hillarys Boat Harbour

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March 5, 2017

Workshop at the Holocaust & Genocide Centre

On 15 February I gave a couple of workshops at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre.

One session was for survivors and the other for staff and members.

(L-R). Eli Rabinowitz & Don Krausz

This was the first time I had presented specifically to a group of survivors, although I had filmed several survivors’ testimonies in the past.

I showed photos from my trips to the Baltics & Eastern Europe as well as some videos from my Zog Nit Keynmol project for King David & Herzlia Schools.

The most noticeable outcome was the positive reaction to my initiative to get our youth learning and singing Zog Nit Keynmol, the Partisan Song.

(L-R). Eli, Veronica Phillips, Barbara Berman

For more details on Zog Nit Keynmol, please visit:

http://elirab.me

The two key videos to watch are:

the Phillip Maisel Interview

Herzlia’s Vocal Ensemble Sings:

Below is a video of Freidi Mrocki reciting the poem in English. Freidi is the teacher at Sholem Aleichem College in Melbourne, who recorded the interview with Phillip Maisel in 2015.

IMG_5500.MOV

(L-R). Shirley Sapire, Betty Slowatek, Eli, Margaret Hoffman

Slideshow:

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January 27, 2017January 27, 2017

Talks in South Africa

In Johannesburg

RCHCC
RABBI CYRIL HARRIS COMMUNITY CENTRE

Sunday 5 February at 7.30pm

Please join us for a presentation by

ELI RABINOWITZ

Traces and Memories of Jewish Life
Connecting to our Litvak Shtetls

Eli Rabinowitz’s presentation has been compiled from six visits to Litvak lands.
His collection of photos and stories showcases:
– the shtetl, where most South Africans originated
– the people on the ground memorialising the shtetl
– the Tolerance Education Centres in schools
– the use of online resources to advance your own heritage research

“How will our children know who they are, if they don’t know where they came from?” —John Steinbeck

Eli Rabinowitz (ex- South Africa) is involved in Jewish community activities, filming events, photographing, researching, lecturing internationally and blogging on Jewish life and heritage. He presented at the IAJGS 2015 conference in Jerusalem. He manages 76 KehilaLinks websites for JewishGen. He led the first JewishGen Virtual Heritage Tour of Europe. Eli lives in Perth, Australia.

WHEN: Sunday 5 February at 7.30pm
DONATION: R90.00 (including refreshments)
VENUE: Clive M Beck Auditorium
Rabbi Cyril Harris Community Centre (RCHCC)
cnr Glenhove Rd & 4th Street Houghton, East of the M1
BOOKING: Hazel or René (011 728 8088/8378) After Hours (011 728 8378)
email: rchcc@telkomsa.net or rene.s@telkomsa.net
www.greatpark.co.za

Bank details:
Nedbank Norwood Code: 191905
Account name: RCHCC
Account number: 1920 116 699

Please put your name as reference

In Cape Town

Traces and Memories of Jewish Life

Connecting to our Litvak shtetls

Eli Rabinowitz’s presentation has been compiled from six visits to Litvak lands

His collection of photos and stories showcases:

– the shtetl, where most South Africans originated

– the people on the ground memorialising the shtetl

– the Tolerance Education Centres in schools

– the use of online resources to advance your own heritage research

Gardens Synagogue – Nelson Mandela Auditorium

8 February 2017 at 7:30 pm

My Upcoming Talks at the Great Park & Gardens Shuls

Traces and Memories of Jewish Life Connecting to our Litvak shtetls The Great Park Synagogue RCHCC, Johannesburg 5 February 2017 at 7:30pm and The Nelson Mandela Auditorium at the Gardens Shul, C…

Source: elirab.me/my-upcoming-talk-at-the-great-park/

September 8, 2016September 8, 2016

Useful Resources by Edward David Luft – A New Website

A New Website

This website contains links to two separate databases. The first one is a listing of the third class railway fare from all of the train stations in Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Switzerland to le Havre and Hamburg when paid in U. S. dollars in New York or Chicago. The second database is a gazetteer of all of the locations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1905.

Further resources will be added to this website from time to time.

To view, click on Useful Resources by Edward David Luft. The site is managed by Eli Rabinowitz

About Edward David Luft

Edward David Luft is a regular contributor to the hard copy periodical, Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy and to Gen Dobry!, available only online. A complete list of his publications appears at https://sites.google.com/site/edwarddavidluftbibliography/home/edward-david-luft-bibliography

To view Edward’s talk on his book: The Jews of Posen Province in the Nineteenth Century, click here

Here are more resources from Edward David Luft on two of my JewishGen KehilaLinks:

Dresden

Poznan

About Eli Rabinowitz

Eli Rabinowitz is involved in Jewish community activities, filming events, photographing, researching, lecturing internationally and blogging on Jewish life and heritage; he presented a talk at the IAJGS 2015 conference in Jerusalem. Rabinowitz manages over 70 KehilaLinks for JewishGen. and led the first JewishGen Virtual Heritage Tour of Europe. He lives in Perth, Australia.

about.me

Eli and Edward David Luft at the Library Of Congress – August 2016.

We have been corresponding since October 2013 and met last month for the first time in Washington DC.

July 3, 2016October 16, 2019

Marijampole 2016

Marijampolė

City in Lithuania

Marijampolė is an industrial city and the capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The population of Marijampolė is 48,700. Wikipedia

Area: 21 km²

Municipality: Marijampolė Municipality

Population: 54,131 (Jan 20, 2016)

The Marijampole KehilaLink, Click on image

For my 2015 images of Marijampole, click on this image:

My Jewish Virtual Heritage Travel post from 2015

The cemetery

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The former synagogue

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Around the town

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June 21, 2016

Seta – Jonava – Vandziogala – Kedainiai

I travelled with my friend, Laima Ardaviciene, the English teacher at Kedainiai High School, to Seta, Jonava, Vandizogala and back to Kedainiai

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Jonava

Municipality:
- Jonava District Municipality
Area:
- 13.67 km²

Jewish buildings, including the former synagogue. Information posters on the buildings.

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Former synagogue Former synagogue

The Jewish Cemetery

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The amphitheatre and holiday entertainment

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Vandžiogala

Population:
- 946 (2001)

The Holocaust site on the outskirts of the town.

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With Rimantas & Laima

A walk around Kedainiai

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June 20, 2016June 21, 2016

Limmud Oz in Melbourne

Protecting our heritage: a call for action

Eli’s entertaining and informative presentation takes us on a pictorial journey of his research activities and his numerous visits to Poland and the Baltics. This leads to a discussion of the demographic changes in the Australian Jewish community. Eli calls for a re-evaluation in the way Australians connect to our shtetls and educate about Jewish family and cultural history. Eli proposes some ideas on how to do this. It’s about the legacy we can leave!

Presenters

Eli Rabinowitz

Eli is involved in many Jewish community activities. He films, photographs, researches and lectures internationally on Jewish heritage and cultural history. He brought the memories of Muizenberg exhibition to Australia, manages 60 websites for JewishGen.org and arranges Litvak heritage tours.

June 19, 2016June 20, 2016

Pakruojis & Siaulenai

Screen Shot 2016-06-18 at 11.23.53 AM

I visited Pakruojis to see the wooden synagogue in the city.

As you can see from the images, it is currently being restored. We previously saw that the wooden synagogue in Ziezmariai is also under restoration.

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Other views of the town

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Screen Shot 2016-06-18 at 11.24.38 AM

My visit to my wife’s family town of Shavlan or Siaulenai was not so successful.

Her maternal grandfather’s family name was Saevitzon, in Israel, Shavei Zion.

I searched for the Jewish cemetery, asked at the Christian cemetery and was told by locals that there was a Jewish cemetery on the other side of town. I couldn’t find it and I ran out of time.

I later emailed Sandra Petrukonyte of Maceva, who kindly replied:

Dear Eli,

It is so pity that you could not find. I tried to search for exact location. The map is attached (for your future journey!).
It is seems that the way to the cemetery is not marked by any sign, the path is not paved and the cemetery itself is in a small distant forest. Not surprising that you got lost.

MACEVA does not have own photos, therefore I am adding links to another websites with general view of the cemetery:

http://kvr.kpd.lt/#/static-heritage-detail/0fb28967-e816-4101-9930-978e9dc5588a . Photos were taken almost 2 years ago. According to their data, about 40 tombstones remained. Judging from my experiecne, usually amount of tombstones is bigger than Lithuanian Culture Department claims…
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Siaulenai/Cemetery%20pictures.html Several pretty old photos. Probably you have seen this.

Siaulenai_jewish_cemetery

So, I will a revisit next time.

Here are some images of the town:

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IMG_8518a

I’m still on the long flight home to Perth. Great to have access to the Internet!

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.