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'''Simon Zukas''' (born 1925) is | '''Simon Zukas''' (born 1925) is one of [[Zambia]]’s veteran politicians and freedom fighters. | ||
==Early life== | ==Early life== | ||
Zukas was born in Lithuania in 1925.<ref name="biography"/> His father emigrated from Lithuania to southern Africa in 1936 in search of work, as the shadow of Nazism was descending on Europe. He settled in [[Northern Rhodesia]], opening a shop in the town of [[Ndola]], and his family joined him in 1938. | Zukas was born in Lithuania in 1925.<ref name="biography"/> His father emigrated from Lithuania to southern Africa in 1936 in search of work, as the shadow of Nazism was descending on Europe. He settled in [[Northern Rhodesia]], opening a shop in the town of [[Ndola]], and his family joined him in 1938. | ||
Zukas arrived as a 13 year old who spoke only a little English, struggling to adapt to a country where black people were treated as second-class citizens under British colonial rule. | |||
By the early 1960s, around 1,000 Jews lived in Northern Rhodesia. But after Zambia's independence in 1964, numbers began to dwindle, part of a larger exodus of whites from the country. There are now fewer than 50 Jews left in Zambia.<ref name="cnn"/> | By the early 1960s, around 1,000 Jews lived in Northern Rhodesia. But after Zambia's independence in 1964, numbers began to dwindle, part of a larger exodus of whites from the country. There are now fewer than 50 Jews left in Zambia.<ref name="cnn"/> | ||
== | ==Personal life== | ||
Simon Zukas is married to Cynthia, a visual artist and arts promoter. | |||
== Activism and political career == | |||
As a soldier in East Africa during World War II, he had acquired a profound distance for racism and the assumptions of white superiority that seemed to him part and parcel of the colonial enterprise. Overcoming African suspicions, he helped organise opposition to Federation, one of the few whites to work with African groups. It cost him most of his white friends at the time when it was difficult to be accepted on familiar terms by Africans.<ref name="biography"/> | As a soldier in East Africa during World War II, he had acquired a profound distance for racism and the assumptions of white superiority that seemed to him part and parcel of the colonial enterprise. Overcoming African suspicions, he helped organise opposition to Federation, one of the few whites to work with African groups. It cost him most of his white friends at the time when it was difficult to be accepted on familiar terms by Africans.<ref name="biography"/> | ||
