New
Shepparton Jewish Agricultural Settlement Migrant Stories
Regular price
- Unit price
- / per
New
Shepparton Jewish Agricultural Settlement Migrant Stories
Regular price
- Unit price
- / per
Not so long ago there was a thriving group of Jewish farmers here in Victoria. Around 60 or 80 Jewish families grew fruit for Australian tables and lunchboxes.
Devorah Zmood’s new book “Shepparton Jewish Agricultural Settlement – Migrant Stories”. recounts the story of a strong Jewish agricultural community in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley from the early 20th century till the 1960s. It is a story close to Devorah’s heart, she lived in Shepparton herself!
Zmood said the book had not been planned and that she had never set out to become an author but was encouraged to record the community’s history by people at the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia.
“They sat me down and said, ‘You’ve got too much material for an exhibition. Put it in a book”, she said.
Zmood grew up in Shepparton, attended Shepparton High School and left the town at the age of 17. She said she wanted to preserve the stories of a community that had largely disappeared.
Zmood said the book was intended to preserve and share the stories of those who built new lives in regional Victoria.
“It’s a personal story to celebrate the people who started their journeys here as migrants,” she said.
This volume celebrates the unique and only Jewish agricultural settlement in the Goulburn Valley, established near Shepparton, Victoria, in 1913, and which continued to function until the mid-1960s. The story began in 1904 with the Victorian Closer Settlement Land Act legislation followed a year later by the State Rivers Water Supply Commission legislation.
The primary focus of this book is on the families – who came to the community in the 1930s and stayed on until the 1960s. It covers their social connectedness through the synagogue, the community hall and its associated activities, the library, and the Hebrew and Yiddish classes held onsite. Additionally, it explores the connection with the Aboriginal families living in the Shepparton area, the ‘Dunera Boys’, and the Hebrew Training Farm in Toolamba. Apart from the orchardists it discusses the schools attended by the children, and the few community members who became shopkeepers or set up commercial factories.
The book also includes a collection of essays by mainly former community children reminiscing about their experiences of growing up in this community during this period. These essays give a unique insight into these experiences while their parents worked
slavishly to establish themselves in this new land. It is hoped that this book will be a lasting memorial to this Jewish farming community which now no longer exists.
Quantity selected exceeds current stock
Tax included.Shipping calculated at checkout.
Post
Share
Pin it
Adding product to your cart
Related Products
By completing this form, you are signing up to receive our emails and can unsubscribe at any time.