The South African Jewish Museum's archives (SAJM) Jewish Digital Archive Project is the digital component of the SAJM archive. It aims to maintain a record of Southern Africa's social, economic and political history. JDAP comprises personal narratives and special collections linked to organizations, local communities, and cultural events.
Photograph of 102 attendees of the 5th Conference of the Yiddish Folks Bank in Lithuania, which took place from the 24th to the 26th of May, 1925, in Kaunas. There are a few people visible in the doorway and windows of the unidentified building behind the members of the photograph.
Photograph of 12 members of the soccer 1st team, who fell under the Jewish Athletics/Sports Club, taken in Kaunas in 1925. This photograph includes Mr B. Levenberg in the back row, second from the right hand side. These athletics and sports organisations were often points of social integration between and across Jewish communities in Europe, due to the widespread Antisemitic exclusion of Jews from mainstream sports clubs.
Photograph of some Jewish Athletics/Sports Club members performing calisthenics in Kaunas, taken in 1925. This is a synchronised performance that has a collection of spectators visible in the background. Calisthenics is an exercise approach that was popularized in the early 20th century. It refers to a form of exercise that focuses on building strength and muscle through movements that are often performed rhythmically, and use of one's own bodyweight as an alternative to using equipment. This format of exercise is often done in groups, with a synchronised routine, which is thought to promote group cohesion. [Source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43609537]. These athletics and sports organisations were often points of social integration between and across Jewish communities in Europe, due to the widespread Antisemitic exclusion of Jews from mainstream sports clubs.
Photograph of some students and staff from the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at the ORT school in Kaunas. This photograph includes an intructor on the left hand side, and a student named Sieff. The ORT (Obchestvo Remeslenogo Truda - Association for the Promotion of Skilled Trades) refers to an organisation created by Russian Jews in 1880, in response to a government-mandated relocation of Jews to the Pale of Settlement. Conditions in the Pale were poor, with widespread lack of education, poverty, pervasive Antisemitism, and lack of economic opportunity due to legal exclusion of Jews as well as the borderzone location of the Pale that disadvantaged Jews. As a result, Jews established a trade school to educate themselves in vocational training for skilled trades. This organization was later expanded to Eastern European territories (including Lithuania), and continued in ghettoes until their liquidation. [Source: https://tinyurl.com/y7garhud].
Photograph of 159 members of the Jewish Athletics/Sports Club at a picnic in Kaunas, taken in 1925. The organisation includes men and women. These athletics and sports organisations were often points of social integration between and across Jewish communities in Europe, due to the widespread Antisemitic exclusion of Jews from mainstream sports clubs.
Photograph of 51 members of the Jewish Workers Club in Kaunas, taken in 1925. The organisation includes men and women. This organisation served as a point of connectivity and community for Jewish workers, with a primary appeal for the more left-winged workers. This appeal was due to the ideologically socialist tendencies of the Club, which championed the rights of workers, acknowledged class divides within the Jewish population, and maintained traditionally proletariat use of Yiddish despite the increasingly popular use of Hebrew among so-called 'Jewish capitalists'. [Source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2636772].
Photograph of some students at the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at the ORT school in Kaunas. This photograph includes three students, named from left to right: Shapiro, Korn, Sieff. The ORT (Obchestvo Remeslenogo Truda - Association for the Promotion of Skilled Trades) refers to an organisation created by Russian Jews in 1880, in response to a government-mandated relocation of Jews to the Pale of Settlement. Conditions in the Pale were poor, with widespread lack of education, poverty, pervasive Antisemitism, and lack of economic opportunity due to legal exclusion of Jews as well as the borderzone location of the Pale that disadvantaged Jews. As a result, Jews established a trade school to educate themselves in vocational training for skilled trades. This organization was later expanded to Eastern European territories (including Lithuania), and continued in ghettoes until their liquidation. [Source: https://tinyurl.com/y7garhud].