Changed His Name

Nehemiah Levinsky

ca. 1935

Johannes pushed his cart laden with fruit and vegetables. He pushed with difficulty for his route lay uphill. Automobiles rushed past him, hooting insolently, demanding the road. Awkwardly he turned his cart aside to allow the empty cars to travel up the hill. They flew wildly past, leaving clouds of yellow dust behind them.

Johannes had chosen a…

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Creator Bio

Nehemiah Levinsky

1901–1957

Not much is known about the South African Yiddish writer Nehemiah Levinsky. He lived in Bloemfontein and participated in the Yiddish cultural life of the town, even attempting to publish a Yiddish journal there in the 1930s. He was not a prolific writer. His stories were collected in a posthumously published volume Der regn hot farshpetikt (1959). The focus of his writing was the interplay between immigrant Jews and South African blacks and the poisonous impact of segregation on everyone.

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