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OUR LITVAK INHERITANCE Volume One of Our Litvak and South African Jewish Inheritance The book is of the history, life and times of the Jews in Lithuania. Section one commences with a timeline of Jewish History, leading on to a detailed history of the Jewish settlement of Keidan and of Lithuania. It reports on the migration of the Jews from the east to the west and discusses origins, philosophies and values of South African Litvak Jews. Section two tells of the horrors of WWI and its aftermath through reports in the foreign press and from the American Joint Distribution Committee. It also tells of the displacement of Jews from Lithuania and Latvia in 1915. The third section tells of life in the shtetl through family histories and photographs and also articles and photographs from the Yizkor book of Rakishok and Environs and The Keidan Yizkor book. The forth section tells of the massacre of the Jews in the second half of 1941. It includes the Jäger Report detailing Jews murdered and documents the murder of the Jews in 21 Lithuanian towns The fifth section consists of reports of visits back to Lithuania after Lithuanian independence in 1990. Also included is a history of Latvia, Riga and Libau and visits after independence The sixth section discusses the reasons for immigration, problems encountered along the way and why Lithuanian Jews chose South Africa. Also included are memories of early immigration to South Africa Volume two of this book - South African Jewish History - will be published PG by the end of the year.

The book tells of the history, life and times of the Jews in South Africa. It is the matching volume to OUR LITVAK INHERITANCE published in March 2016 These two volumes tell of the history, life and times of South African Jews originating in Eastern Europe Like most South African Jews, my ancestors emigrated from Lithuania to South Africa between 1880 and 1920. We were the lucky ones escaping the horrors of the Holocaust and most of us have relatives left behind in Lithuania who perished in the Holocaust. For about 100 years we generally prospered and multiplied in South Africa and then in the early 1970s, seeking more secure futures for our families, we commenced immigrating to Israel, the UK, the USA, Canada and Australia and by the year 2000 about 50,000 of the 120,000 South African Jews had emigrated. Like my other books this is a compilation and not a single narrative. It is a gathering of articles, stories and histories that tell us of life and history and Jewish life and history in South Africa from 1880 to 1990. As it is a gathering of articles, stories and histories in some cases we will have two or more different views of the same event. The purpose of this book is to tell the history of South Africa and our Jewish contribution, with its rich Litvak culture, and to share it with our children and grandchildren. Another purpose of the book is to raise funds for Arcadia and Oranjia, formerly the two Jewish Orphanages in South Africa which still exist, and also for the JDC. All the proceeds from the sale of this book/compilation and my previous compilations will be donated to these three institutions which take care of Jewish children in need. As at the end of July 2016 over R1,200,000 had been raised for Arcadia and R60,000 for Oranjia from book sales This 511 paged soft covered book is made up of the following sections 1 The early history of South Africa in the Western and Eastern Cape Province. 2 Kimberley and the discovery of Diamonds (Northern Cape) 3 The Establishment of Natal, The Orange Free State and The Transvaal Boer Republics 4 The discovery of Gold in the Witwatersrand and the founding of Johannesburg 5 The Anglo Boer War 1899-1902 6 Immigration, Yiddish, Zionism and Jewish Culture 7 World War One 8 The Generosity of the S A Jewish Community 9 Landsmanschaften Mutual Aid Societies 10 World War Two 11 Jewish Life in Country Communities (1947 & 1948) 12 Jewish Communities and Personalities 13 Support for Israel during the Israeli War of Independence (1948 & 1949) 14 The Struggle from Apartheid to Multi-racial elections Books sourced include Birth of a Community by Chief Rabbi professor Israel Abrahams, South Africa's 800 - The Story of South African Volunteers in Israel's War of Birth by Henry Katzew, The Fordsburg-Mayfair Hebrew Congregation 1893-1964 by Bernard Sachs, The Jews in South Africa, Edited by Gustav Saron and Louis Hotz, The Nationwide Survey of the South African Jewish Community by Arthur Markowitz, The Pretoria Jewish Community up to 1930 by Mrs Myrtle Todes, Mr Selwyn Zwick, Mrs Naomi Nowosenetz, Dr Rayme Rabinowitz, Mrs Avril Cohen, Mrs Jill Katz (editor), Mrs Mary Kropman and and Mr Ralph Lanesman, The Vision Amazing by Marcia Gitlin, The War Report by J E H Groble and Worlds Apart by Colin Tatz, Peter Arnold and Gillian Heller.