Translated by Gloria Berkenstat Freund (Photo, caption: H. Y.
Monti) Our landsmanschaftn [organization of people from the same
city or town] consists of a small Chelemer colony because few
Jews emigrated from faraway Poland to South Africa. The first
emigrants from Chelm to South Africa were Dovid Alter, may he
rest in peace, and Hersh Dreksler, who left Eretz-Yisroel and
wandered away to Africa. This was a bold objective on their
part. At first these emigrants could not acclimate themselves
and quickly went back. However, a few years later they returned
to South Africa and began to adapt to their new home. It was
difficult for the Jewish emigrants to adapt as citizens of South
Africa, to anchor themselves and establish roots in the country
because the language was strange for them. The emigrants from
Poland and from Chelm had to apply themselves until they
established their economic positions. It was a long evolutionary
process. The Jewish immigrants in South Africa, as in other
countries, created unions for