Keywords: South Africa, litvaki, photography, Nelson Mandela, Eli Weinberg The wave of emigration of Litvaks 1 to South Africa (now South Africa) began at the end of the 19th century, for several reasons. First, there were Jewish pogroms in Russia, and although there were no pogroms in Lithuania, local Jews were increasingly concerned. Second, at the end of the 19th century, huge gold deposits were found in South Africa. News of this also reached Lithuania. Then the wave of migration began. By the beginning of the First World War, out of 800,000 Jews living in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, about 40,000 had left for South Africa.2 Having arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they were not yet engaged in entrepreneurship, because they did not have the necessary capital for this. The migrants did not know the local languages and found themselves relatively isolated from all other groups and subcultures. Even though they were racially white, Jews suffered from social exclusion and sometimes severe Boer anti-Semitism. In the 1930s, mass emigration to South Africa practically stopped due to the quota Law passed in 1930. This law banned Jews from Eastern Europe from entering the country, as they allegedly did not assimilate into the white culture in this country. The law did not apply to emigration from Germany, in connection with which 6 thousand people left the country. German Jews managed to escape from Nazi persecution. But in 1937, another law - "On foreigners" - closed the door to Jews from Western Europe. Fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe, Jews migrated to South Africa. They had no illusions about successful integration into the society of their host country. Therefore, they began to form a separate Jewish community of their own, creating a network of schools, youth movements, cultural organizations, press agencies, and charitable organizations. By the beginning of this century, "approximately 80-90 thousand Jews lived in South Africa, and ap ... Read more