Journal of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
No.16, Spring  2008


 

DR. RUTH-CERNEA SPEECH

 

Dr. R. Fredman-Cernea

Thank you for welcoming me so warmly to the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center to discuss my book, Almost Englishmen: Baghdadi Jews in British Burma.  I greatly appreciate the kind words of Prof. Shmuel Moreh and of Dr. Zvi Yehuda. I have followed with great interest the discussions by Ambassador Zvi Gabay, who reviewed the book from the perspective of the Israeli Foreign Service, and of Mr. Solomon Twena, who recalled what the wartime refugees from Burma remember with abiding gratitude: the lifesaving generosity of the Calcutta community, who met them, desperate and starving, in the mountains and on the docks, and brought them with kindness and compassion into the security of their homes.

Your welcome is especially gratifying to me because Almost Englishmen is very dear to my heart.  During the long research, I came to know, with great affection, many of the individuals whose heritage and experience I detail. And my personal relationships and respect for their experiences have influenced the presentation of the information I so gathered.

One of my primary goals has been to place this fascinating section of Jewish history within both the general and Jewish historical records—not as a tale of exotica, but as an historical experience that is unfamiliar to most Jews and others interested in Southeast Asia.  As an Ashkenazi, I am well aware of how the subject of Jews in Burma is usually perceived—as curious, extraordinary.  And yet everyone here knows the obvious truth: that for the Baghdadi and other Jews of Burma, it was no more curious than any story of Jewish residence anywhere in the world.  The Jews of Burma formed a comprehensive, well-functioning community, within Burma and within the broader setting of India and Southeast Asia, just as Jews in a town of Poland created a community that related to Jewish settlements throughout Europe.  Both in Burma and in Poland, as elsewhere in the world, Jews have always conceived of themselves on at least three planes: as a local community; as part of the Jewish people in a general geographic area; and as part of an extended, worldwide family adhering to the same religious tradition and ideology, and sharing a common history and prophetic future. At the same time, each community is strongly influenced by the immediate context in which they live. In Burma, Jews were affected by British rule; by the accepting Buddhist environment; by the sights, sounds, smells, and people of beautiful Burma; and ultimately by the political, economic and social upheaval that resulted from the Second World War.

In addition to showing how the Jews of Burma interacted and were influenced by the society in which they lived, and I had another goal in writing the book: to make this Jewish experience attractive and accessible to people interested in British Imperial history. Jews were only one minority among many who lived under the shelter of the British Raj; their story also illuminates the hopes, trials, joys and frustrations of such similarly positioned groups. Such groups were poised between their desire to retain their own religious and ethnic integrity and the often contradictory attractions of British political and cultural identity.  Almost Englishmen provides insights about how such opposing influences affected and determined the ideology and daily life of such minority groups.

As an anthropologist, I always have another desire: to illuminate the reality, the perspective on life, the ethos and world view of the people I present.  To this end, I interviewed in person, by phone, or through correspondence many individuals throughout the world, in America, the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Germany and elsewhere.  Each memory is a partial, subjective piece of the grand puzzle, and each piece is corroborated and validated by similar testimonies.  I believe that the stories we recall, that we tell ourselves, define our understanding of life and guide our existence. For instance, long after he left Burma for England, and after he was old enough and wise enough to understand Britain’s faults as well as its triumphs, Ellis Sofaer recalled how his childhood experience forever determined some of his views of life: “We were taught English as if it was our mother tongue, irrespective of our (Middle Eastern) origins. The teachers were English, and the lessons were based on the lessons taught in schools in England. We played cricket and football…We were shown proof of Britain’s greatness on world maps…The effect of an upbringing in the glow of the effulgent glory remains with me today, undiminished by Britain’s adumbration. It has made England in my eyes a better country than any other in the world.”

And then, finally, the book was written to fulfill a moral obligation to the wonderful, warm people who welcomed me into their homes and shared their lives with me.  Over a cup of tea, memories poured out, many unspoken for years. And out of drawers came long-forgotten photographs, which I treasure and will use well in the future.  For several reasons, it took longer than I had planned to write the book, and during this time several very dear people passed away.  I look upon the book as their memorial, a testament to their lives and good will, one that will preserve their personal as well as the collective history for their grandchildren and for others’ grandchildren.

Even after all this time, close to twenty years of research and writing, I do not consider the book closed.  While in Israel, I have already collected additional, fascinating tales of Burma long ago, and have also broadened my understanding of the continuing influence of the Jewish stay in Burma on individuals today.  I hope that others whose memories are provoked by the book will contact me, via e-mail, at rcernea@comcast.net.

Again, thank you for your hospitality, and for your interest in Almost Englishmen.