The Snowball Rolled South

Almost all Jews in South Africa are Litvaks - originally from Lithuania, a country in Eastern Europe whose capital was once dubbed “Jerusalem of the North” due to its thriving Jewish community and culture. As early as the 19th century, a handful of Lithuanian Jews crossed half of the world to reach the mystified shores of South Africa. Those who travelled became the privileged white, meanwhile, those who stayed back were massacred by the Nazis and gentile Lithuanians. The film explores how these bittersweet and contradictory circumstances have constructed the identities of South African Litvaks. Personal recounts and anecdotes, told in the film, paint the tragedy of the Holocaust and war, the hope of a new life in South Africa, as well as unique bonds for the future.