A booklet produced by a Zionist youth movement in Rhodesia reflects a rich and vibrant community that lasted less than a century. Its young authors had no idea civil war was about to change their world forever

Very little has been published about the Jewish community in Rhodesia, today Zimbabwe. Jews came – and went – with colonial rule in the region, starting with traders arriving from western Europe (particularly England) over the course of the 19th century. When Britain conquered Rhodesia at the end of that century, Jews were among the first settlers in the town of Bulawayo, and the first white baby born there was a Jewish girl. A tent was erected to serve as a synagogue for the High Holy Days of 1894, and the few Jews who used it bickered constantly in the years that followed. The first organized community was set up in Rhodesia a few months later, when the need arose for a Jewish cemetery. Two more Jewish centers were established that same year, one in Salisbury (now Harare), the other in Gwelo.

By 1900, there were three hundred Jews in Bulawayo, with a full range of communal organizations and a busy cultural schedule. The community was extremely pro-Zionist, with 170 of its 220 members registered with the local branch of Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion), one of the earliest Zionist organizations, originating in eastern Europe.