“Rhodesian Jewry and its Story” by Eric Rosenthal
a unique and never-before published document
Page updated November 2023
To download and view the entire 275-page manuscript click on this link or the parts below:
Part One (PDF file 418k) 65 pages
Part Two (PDF file file 385 k) 68 pages
Part Three(PDF file file 311 k) 48 pages
Part Four (PDF file file 306 k) 51 pages
Part Five (PDF file file 285 k) 43 pages
[Note from the Hon A E Abrahamson explaining the background to the manuscript.] The Rhodesia Board of Deputies established a Historical and Archives Committee in 1949/50 which was chaired by myself. Eric Rosenthal was commissioned to write a history of Rhodesian Jews. There was a long delay before we received it and the consensus was that to a great extend it lacked accuracy and it required a tremendous effort of correction. It was, therefore, decided to pend and shelve the manuscript. There were some copies sent to members of the Board in order to arrive at our decision. Copyright of the document remains with the Zimbabwe Jewish Board of Deputies and the ZJC Website.
[Website editor] – This manuscript has never been published and in the interests of posterity ZJC feels it is important to make it available to the public. Its detailed accounts indicate a great deal of research that went into producing the 275 page document. There are some real gems of information. This website does not endorse the manuscript’s accuracy and welcomes feedback and input from the public. It appears that although there are no dates on the work, most of the research was done in the late 1950s/early 1960s and the copies were first made available in the early 1960s – some 45 years ago. This leaves a huge gap in the story which was partially filled by the book “Majuta” by Barry Kosmin but that too was published in 1980 and yet again leaves nearly 25 years of the story – still to be told.
ZJC wishes to thank David Gelfand (formerly of Harare) for his invaluable help in re-typing the text.
