Category Archives: South Africa

The Life and Times of Solly Chesler

Posted on April 12, 2022 by Andrew

By Jennifer Chesler Rubin, Ramat Efal, Israel (Adapted from an essay by Muriel Chesler on the occasion of Solly Chesler’s 75th birthday.) This is the story of my father, the late Solly (Sholem) Chesler, a self-made man, who arrived in … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Israel, Memoir, South Africa | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Life and Times of Solly Chesler

A Golden Jubilee in Johannesburg

Posted on March 11, 2020 by ACassel

Published in the 50th anniversary booklet of the Keidan Sick Benefit and Benevolent Society. Jewish emigration from Keidan to South Africa began as far back as before the Boer War, and at the turn of the century several immigrants from … Continue reading →

Posted in Emigrants, History, Landsmanshaft, South Africa | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Family Dispersed

Posted on March 10, 2020 by ACassel

By Sonja Shacknofsky-Setting My father, Joseph Setting, was born in Keidan in 1910. He arrived in Cape Town on Christmas morning, 1927, then went on to Johannesburg, where he found work with relatives. My grandparents likely sent him to South … Continue reading →

Posted in Emigrants, Interwar, South Africa, Zionism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Keidan’s Mutual Aid Societies

Posted on March 7, 2020 by ACassel

By Aryeh Leonard Shcherbakov and Andrew Cassel Jews have always been absorbed with problems of ethics and morality. Both before and during the diaspora, proper behavior and relations within the family and community have been major concerns, particularly concerning treatment … Continue reading →

Posted in Emigrants, Israel, Landsmanshaft, South Africa, USA, Zionism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Keidaner Association in South Africa

Posted on March 7, 2020 by ACassel

Published, in English, in the 1977 Keidan “Sefer Zikaron” (memorial or yizkor book) By Max Rochin After World War I, immediately after the liberation of Lithuania, the Lithuanian government granted the Jews a certain autonomy. A Jewish National Council was … Continue reading →

Posted in Emigrants, Interwar, Landsmanshaft, Memoir, South Africa, UK, Yizkor Book | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Road of Suffering

Posted on February 27, 2020 by ACassel

By Rachel Shlapobersky-Ratner (Kiryat Chaim, Israel) Based on testimony from Yad VaShem, IX – 2939 / 252.  I was born in Keidan in December 1912. My father, Yudel Shlapobersky, owned a flour mill. My mother was Chasya Rivka Shlapobersky, neè … Continue reading →

Posted in Holocaust, Israel, Memoir, Personalities, South Africa, Soviet Union, Yizkor Book | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Destruction of Keidan

Posted on February 27, 2020 by ACassel

By David Wolpe (Johannesburg) Originally published in the Yiddish journal, “Fun Letstn Khurbn” in Munich, 1948; and in English in 1950 by the Keidaner Sick Benefit and Benevolent Society of Johannesburg. By June 24, within days after Germany launched its … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Holocaust, Memoir, South Africa, Yizkor Book | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Zvi Lipschitz, Zionist Martyr

Posted on February 27, 2020 by ACassel

By Ben-Moshe (Johannesburg) Originally published in the Keidaner Sick Benefit & Benevolent Society jubilee book, 1950.  Young Zvi Lipschitz hy’d [1], from Kfar Etzion, was a Keidaner landsman. He was born in 1919 in the town of Yasven (Josvainiai), near … Continue reading →

Posted in Interwar, Israel, Personalities, South Africa, Yizkor Book, Zionism | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Looking Back

Posted on February 27, 2020 by ACassel

By Sholem Dat (Johannesburg) First published in “Lita,” (p. 1475) by the Jewish-Lithuanian Cultural Society Inc. 1951.  Keidan is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania, and her Jewish community was also one of the first. Keidan was originally a … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Memoir, Pre-WWI, South Africa, Yizkor Book | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment