* * * * *
Almost as soon as the British took
over the Cape Colony from the Dutch at the beginning of the 19th
century, practising Jews began arriving there. At first, most of them were
occupied in trade although at least one was a medical practitioner. Amongst the
earliest traders were well-known names such as Bergtheil, Norden, Solomon, Thalwitzer,
and the Mosenthals. The latter were responsible for opening up the interior of
the Cape to trade, as well as bringing out more Jewish men from Germany
(mainly) to work in their network of trading stores.
Until the discovery of first
diamonds and then gold in what is now South Africa, most Jews leaving Europe
tended to head westwards to the USA. After the valuable products started being
unearthed, the number of Jews heading towards South Africa rose sharply. Both the
increasing prosperity of the 4 constituent territories (that were to unify in
1910 to become South Africa) and also the pogroms in Tsarist Russia led to Eastern
European Jews, especially from Lithuania and its neighbours, flowing into the
country in ever increasing numbers.
Despite the Jewish people always
being a small proportion of the European population of South Africa, they ‘punched
above their weight’ – they made a disproportionately large contribution to its
development, economically, politically, and in many other ways. This has been described
masterfully and in great detail in “The
Jews of South Africa” edited by Saron & Hotz, which was published in
the 1950s.
My book “Exodus to Africa” approaches the story of Jewish migration from
Europe to South Africa from a different angle. I have used the stories of some
members of my large South African family to exemplify and illustrate a range of
aspects of this movement of Jews out of the lands where they were subject to
oppression to a place where they were largely respected and allowed to lead
their lives without undue hindrance. My story begins with the earliest member
of my family to arrive in the Cape (in 1849), the German Heinrich Bergmann, and
it ends with the last person to arrive from Europe, Hendrik Jami. He arrived in
the Cape in 1949, having travelled from Lithuania via Shanghai.
“Exodus to Africa” - a study of mass movement of an oppressed people - describes why Jewish people left Europe; how they
got to South Africa; what they and their descendants did there; and how some of
them influenced the history of the country. My stories include those who witnessed,
or were in some way directly involved in: the Cape Convict Crisis of 1849; the
Anglo-Boer War; the Union of South Africa; railway building in the Eastern
Cape; diamond ‘mining’ in South West Africa; Jewish Territorial Organization; the
Grey Shirts; building ‘locations’; fighting in both World Wars; municipal
government; and opposing apartheid. My book adds a personal flavour to spice
the general history. The examples chosen from my family all illustrate general
points relevant to the history of the Jews in South Africa. My story might well
be subtitled ‘From Mosenthal to Mandela’
The book is available in paperback
( from www.lulu.com) and also in the Amazon Kindle format.
PAPERBACK: click HERE
KINDLE: click HERE
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