(Reviewer: Naomi Musiker, Vol. 70, No. 1, Pesach 2015)
Although there are in existence a great many books on the history of Namibia, formerly South West Africa, the book under review is the first to comprehensively outline the history of the Jewish community in that country, specifically the Windhoek Hebrew Congregation.P
rior to the appearance of this volume, Nissen and Sam Davis had contributed articles on the subject of South West African Jewry in the Southern African Times of 2 January 1959 and September 1973 respectively. Olga Levinson, a prominent resident of South West Africa, was responsible for a well-known article, first published in the South West Africa Annual of 1982, which provided a valuable summary of the Jewish pioneers of SWA and their contribution to the development of the territory.
The present volume fills a major gap in the historical records of Jewry in the African Diaspora. It is extremely interesting that the historical material was compiled over a period of time by five separate researchers including Pearle and June Horowitz, Rabbi Richard Newman, Joachim Putz and Perri Caplan before being finally edited and completed by David Saks, an experienced and prolific author of many articles and works of South African Jewish, military and political history. The most important factor in its production was the active support and encouragement of Harold Pupkewitz, Honorary Life President of the Windhoek Congregation and his team of administrative assistants, Candy Müller and Heidi Müller. Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, Country Communities Rabbi of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and CEO and Spiritual Leader to the African Jewish Congress, provided useful information and guidance on the book’s content. Tribute is also paid to the book committee of the Windhoek Hebrew Congregation under the chairmanship of Nahum Gorelick.
The book is arranged into five broad sections: General History of the Jews of Namibia; The Jewish Contribution to the Development of SWA/Namibia; Family Histories; Appendices (of which there are eleven) and Indexes. There is a wealth of valuable and fascinating material in these sections, but the reviewer does not always agree with the arrangement of the contents. For example, there are scattered throughout the various chapters of the General History section separate descriptions of the founding and development of early Jewish communities in towns such as Windhoek. It might have been preferable to edit some of the general background information and consolidate the information on the first Jewish settlements in the territory and the subsequent growth of the various Jewish congregations.
In the section on ‘The War Years: Tragedy in Europe (1933-1945)’, the statement is rather surprising that there was relatively little experience of Nazi style antisemitism towards Jewish inhabitants of SWA. There was substantial evidence of a Nazi propaganda network established in this former German colony. A South West African Commission set up in 1935 reported evidence of the penetration of the Nazi movement, particularly the so-called ‘Grey Shirts’. A Jewish witness in Luderitz complained before the Commission of the persecution of Jews in the territory after the commencement of the Nazi movement, covertly financed and supported by the German Nazi regime. The chapters entitled ‘The Road to Independence’ and ‘Namibian Jewry in the Independence Era’ contain much new material and form an excellent summary which rounds off events of the present era.
Section II, on the Jewish contribution to the development of South West Africa-Namibia, is one of the highlights of the volume. Its title is based on the seminal article by Olga Levinson noted above. It covers information on areas including farming and farm product trading, commerce, trade and industry, transport and related services, mining and prospecting, fishing and shipping, medicine and health care, politics and civic administration, education and culture, sports, hospitality services and civil society organizations. These entries are complemented by fascinating anecdotes and summarized in an eight page table.
Section III is entitled Family Histories and forms the heart of the entire volume (pp113-364). There is considerable overlap between it and Section II on the Jewish Contribution to the Development of SWA-Namibia.
Most of the family histories were compiled by Pearle Horwitz and Richard Newman, with assistance from June Horwitz. A number were compiled by Perri Caplan and a handful by family members themselves. The entries are arranged alphabetically by name of pioneer and contain information on the achievements of the individual, including the names of his or her spouse and descendants. The editor admits that no attempt was made to achieve consistency of content and length and there is inconsistency in the style of writing as the authors included any and all information provided. It is possible that a certain amount of judicious editing would have enhanced this section. There is also a dearth of photographs illustrating these histories and many reproductions are of poor quality. Photo sources are specified if known. All other photos come from Pearle Horwitz’s collection.
Numerous families and individuals are not covered in this section because information was too limited to justify a full entry. They are listed in Appendix A.
Despite these drawbacks, the section is invaluable for genealogical research and for providing insight into the lives and achievements of the Jewish pioneers of SWA-Namibia. The compilers are to be congratulated for the amount of dedicated research and work which went into tracing the descendants of families, many of whom are scattered throughout the world.
There are an unusual number of appendices in the book, many of which are in tabular form. Possibly most of these could have been included in the main body of the book in relevant sections. For example, ‘Appendix B: Newer members and associates of the Windhoek Hebrew Congregation’ could have appeared in the main section on the Windhoek Congregation. Likewise, the cemetery lists could have appeared under the names of individual congregations discussed earlier in the book.
One could also argue about the necessity of reprinting the articles of Nissen Davis, Sam Davis and Olga Levinson in full (Appendices E-G). Most of the information in these articles is embodied in the text of the book. Their contribution could be acknowledged by a few excerpts in the text and suitable entries in the bibliography. Similarly, Harold Pupekewitz’s speech to the African Jewish Congress could have appeared in the early part of the book where tribute is paid in a memoriam to Harold Pupkewitz and his contribution to the Namibian community.
My main concern is the inclusion of the Bibliography as Appendix J. This is highly unusual. The Bibliography should be a section on its own, placed just before the Index. There are two indexes at the end of the volume, one of women and one of families. I could not find the topical index mentioned in the table of contents. These two indexes are in tabular form and are of great importance. However, the reviewer does not agree that page numbers are not necessary because the family histories provided in the text are alphabetical. The fact is that family and individual names are scattered throughout the text and do not only appear in the family histories. Reference to these names is lost without a linking page index. It would also have greatly assisted the researcher if a subject and place name index had been included as information to place names is likewise dispersed throughout the text.
These minor quibbles apart, the book remains a milestone in Jewish Southern African history and will be treasured by all who wish to know more about the fast disappearing communities of Southern Africa.
- Copies of the book can be obtained through the African Jewish Congress. Contact: Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft (moshe@beyachad.co.za/thetravellingrabbi@gmail.com)
Jewish Life in South West Africa/Namibia: A History, Windhoek Hebrew Congregation, 2014.
Naomi Musiker, a veteran contributor to Jewish Affairs and long-serving member of its Editorial Board, has contributed numerous biographical articles for the Dictionary of SA Biography and the Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa and, as an indexer, has worked for some of South Africa’s leading publishers and indexed many important reference works. She has held the position of archivist at the SA Jewish Board of Deputies since 1992.
