Hylton & Veronique Jonas
Veronique's parents both came from the island of Rhodes in Greece, Sephardic Jews whose ancestry traced back to the expulsion from Spain during the Inquisition. The family spoke Ladino at home and lived in the Congo until 1967, when the revolution there prompted them to emigrate to South Africa. Hylton's paternal grandparents came from England in the late 1800s, and his maternal grandparents came from Lithuania in the early 1900s, driven out by pogroms. Hylton grew up in a quaint village near Cape Town called Muizenberg, remembering a simple life where everyone walked or rode bikes and his parents were active in the synagogue and Hebrew school.
Hylton and Veronique met at a synagogue when a friend brought Veronique to see her boyfriend, and Veronique ended up seated next to him. They dated for about five years, married in 1972, and were both active in the community, including the Young Lions, where Hylton served as president. Over a ten-year span they grew concerned about the future for their children in South Africa and decided to emigrate. Hylton went to work for Rueben Rosenblum, and the families decided to leave together. They toured several American cities before choosing Dallas, drawn by its Jewish community, the Solomon Schechter (later Levine Academy) day school, affordability, and a welcoming South African community.
In Dallas the Jonases acquired a food service equipment manufacturer in 1983 and remained in business together until selling the company in 2007. They were fortunate to bring their parents to the United States, and Veronique's brother later immigrated as well. The couple became deeply involved in Jewish communal and philanthropic life, serving with Levine Academy, the JCC, the Jewish Federation, the community foundation, and the Holocaust Museum, where Hylton served as immediate past chairman. Veronique pursued art. They maintained Sephardic culinary and cultural traditions, kept Friday night Shabbat as sacrosanct, and remained strongly connected to Israel. With children and grandchildren nearby and family on the same continent, they express no regrets about their journey.
Full Transcript
okay good evening I'm here with the Jonases did in fact I think in the early 1900s okay yeah see if it catches this time okay let's I'm so sorry tell me your names again and we'll go from there I'm a journalist and Veronique tell us again where your family came from originally and why they ended up in South Africa I'm sorry about my family both my mother and my father came from the island you know what it's saying which it's charged but it's saying that it's not charged enough and it's on and everything everything so I don't learn a minute I'm not everything's good yeah
mystery war all right okay go ahead they'll edit it don't worry so no no that's okay so you came from Rhodes so my parents came from the island of Rhodes in Greece there was Sephardic Jews originally from the Inquisition came in coming from Spain we spoke Ladino at home my parents were 13 at home and I wrote and we lived in the Congo till 1967 at which time we emigrated to South Africa we left the Congo because of the revolution in the Congo we established ourselves in South Africa and that is we are metal - okay and to become away from the pen and you
said it from the pan into the fire going to South Africa but none of this so as I my paternal grandparents came from England and they emigrated in the late 1800s that there was a lot of emigration South Africa at that time and my father was infected born in South Africa my maternal grandparents came from Lithuania in the early 1900s and obviously the pogroms and things that drove them out of the fight a lot of family came at that time and my mom it was about three years old so she was actually born in with the way in here and at the age of three
they went to South Africa and for the for some of the reasons I mean that's what Jews do we just sort of we travel with like a little bags and we travel for an experience we're fortunate to get out of out of roads and start a new life in the condo and then when problems came in the Congo they then went to South Africa in the same way my mom's family lived and they went to South Africa and they live the good life for many many years so basically you're a mixed marriage party or an astronaut Joseph are very good and they still remind me
of that every talk about this Sephardic Korean trust me I think it's great great can you each tell us a little bit about a couple of memorable moments in your lives when you were young living and growing up in South Africa anything at all so your teen years I knew yeah [Music] that's cheating we lived in a lovely little quaint village in Cape Town Muizenberg and just really special because it was a one synagogue how many people maybe small town so we knew everybody and that was pretty special wonderful Hilton mi obviously grew up there Africa from the early days and the thing that I
the thing that I've always remember about that is that we lived in a in a town or any accessory who walked everywhere or you rode your bike everywhere and it was just such a very simplistic life it was actually wonderful and the other thing that that I remember that I think is always played an important part in my life is the fact that my parents were always involved in the community my dad was the president of the Hebrew school who's the coordinator and then became president of the synagogue they were always involved in fundraising and helping to raise funds and so it was something that
I began to do even as even as a teenager and the other thing that sort of sort of aligned with that is that when Bernie came from the Congo we met up we became involved together in the community we went and we joined the Young Lions in fact I became the president of Young Lions while we were married which was most unusual we just got married what is Young Lions black tights the Lions Club you know you have the young okay and so this was young lions there's a little younger younger generation like ourselves with 20 20 years old and in fact we used to
do camps for children you know you know in a home and once we got married they set up a special place for the two of us so that we could be a married couple than studying the camp together so now back up a little bit and tell us how and when did you meet I read a real fast at the synagogue yes yeah a friend of his a friend of his brought to the synagogue to show the boyfriend and I happened to be sitting next to her boyfriend and so that night she had a little party at her house in front of the party for
everybody and that's we mate and I didn't let it go once I'm here - that's me I think I was marrying out before if I was going to do that we actually dated for five years or so I assumed soon after that you started thinking about possibly integrating elsewhere so how and why and how did that decision come about well not sooner no we had and when Gary was - I am this was - that's when we moved so which shall we go we did plan before bed so we got married in 1972 and we emigrated in 1961 1982 said it was a ten-year span
and in that 10 years I think we realized that there were things that ultimately we felt if you looked at the rest of Africa he looked at with ronique was coming from we know we felt that there was ultimately going to be an issue that we felt that we wanted to go out and take our children out ronique was also by the way very liberal as she is now and we were I was quite concerned that she'd be arrested and we threatened a couple more but at the end of the day we always felt that there was a country that we couldn't spend our lives
in anything without children with the kids and we were very fortunate I went to work for a guy by the name of Rueben Rosenblum and we formed a great alliance I was roughly the same age as his children and we just started talking about the fact that he wanted his kids to leave and so he said you know we'd like you all to go together and so for us that's how they're involved because we've all reckoned that it was you know was time to leave the country and if we were young we might as well put our efforts in somewhere else and build for the
future for us kids what was your immediate family's reaction to your decision to go well my my family my mother was supportive I had actually just not father but she was very supportive she always said to me I had to leave my family in Rhodes and now you're gonna have to leave your family and so there was really no no hold back Lee it was hard to leave for us to leave them my my mother was my mom was very upset and for her this was going to be a big transition in her life she never never anticipated you know how much would she travel
or afford to travel to come to the United States to visit us was losing her grandchildren and I have a brother I had a brother it was in South Africa not even forgive me we're having a farewell Shabbat dinner and I said to them I said look I know this is hard for all of us but I will tell you that one day God willing we'll all be together again in the United States and it was a dream that there was a dream that ultimately we did become a reality and we were very fortunate one of those very fortunate few that were able to bring
our parents out here to us my brother now is also in United States I was just gonna say what about siblings and or good friends did did some of them come over do they come on their own do they come a lot later or how is that well from from our perspective you know I came over here as I said to you we came on the same on the same boat on the same plane basically and then know the rest of their family came out over a period of time but really some of our friends emigrated to other parts of the world to be in
Australia Canada in other parts of the United States my brother immigrated to he came a couple of years later I think 1984 he came a new in so first to Washington and then to environment they they live in Irvine now for a nice brother he'd always lived in Brussels in Belgium and it's funny enough for a number of years they always sent these kids here to the United States we went through so educated yeah he was also that's right he was educated here so he knew the United States and if it weren't for companies yeah and so they effectively they should be immigrated here themselves
and they live in Florida had you considered other countries and was it always going to be the United States it wasn't a serious consideration but it was a a conversation left or should we turn right - and it just made more sense to turn later and Bernie kept saying that it kept saying to me you know here we were fortunate because we were coming with son with with something but for any who has felt we should have gone to Israel or we should go to Israel so you're here and how in the world my favorite question is how did you pick Dallas Texas in the
United States to come we did a breakup reconnaissance tour of the United States we lift our children behind for six weeks which in my daughter still blames us for leaving her with him six weeks she was a little six-month-old baby but anyway we did do a tour we looked at several towns that were under consideration Atlanta Houston California specifically Irvine duration and started meeting people when we were in Dallas we met we actually tell me no not really then we can use that you didn't come again I kept coming a number of times and we went to Houston and Dallas when we looked at Dallas
and we said this is great but we did realize that there were a lot of South Africans in Dallas and so we felt that if we're going to make this immigration in my goodness you might as well emigrate to me there are other South Africans the other thing was that California was much too expensive for us at the time we couldn't take out much money and so therefore we felt could we really do something and remember we were coming without a business without an income so we had to kind of be sort of attuned to what we could do once we were here what we
see is that there was a good Jewish community and you know and and it was the Jewish day school Solomon Schechter was getting off the ground it's starting they're starting so for us it just sort of makes sense this was a nice town you said you came with the rose and blooms with that in mind too I guess to be in business with my business like do you end up feeling here so in 1983 we actually acquired a food service equipment manufacturer and in brothers etc and we were in business together from 1983 and remember I was with there before in South Africa we in
business in fact from 1976 we were in business together and then we saw the company in 2007 mmm and very nique your calling is an artist where did that come in it was it started here or was it stop speaking of classes did either of you well you said you took classes here how did that compare do you think two classes in South Africa what what was good orange not success any anything that you were enrolled in what I mean okay coming here how did you find the community of Dallas secular end or religious as far as welcoming you and helping you out with things
you needed how was it in general well obviously okay because we've lived out of a very eminent and really very funny thing what really made us decide on Dallas was that we Beverly Lewin was already was her child Danny who was the same age as our other son our daughter Colette was at Solomon Schechter and they needed most unity he was in the top class that kept moving up right so she kept on calling us when she heard there was a South African that was thinking of coming to Dallas she kept on calling her she didn't know what she do we have never met but
she kept calling us and telling us how great it is and that we should come and just really because of their I mean that every Sunday we got a call from Beverly from Beverly lured but you know but there are other factors and how we looked at some you know business potential but but Beverly many was that there is a true story about that and she was she was welcome and as far as the community is concerned I mean the South African community has always been extremely welcoming obviously it was very difficult to adjust if you think about it when you walked into a supermarket
in South Africa it's like we do now today you bumped into people that you know and it was you just felt good coming here there was a lot more difficult because you just didn't know that many people they'll say South Africans were great but it was hard to integrate into general society yeah we were basically welcomed but but I think that one of the things that we were fortunate about is that we we got involved immediately in the community just gonna ask you that yeah in the Jewish day school you know Solomon Schechter was part of Sheriff and so we immediately were actually drawn in
and such and Selectric ins maybe introduce us but we ourselves were fortunate that our temperament and our personality was that we said we're gonna volunteer you know I remember wonderful events in Yamaha Omaha's Willard you know we got involved and so we were fortunate that people started to to recognize and accept us as part of his community and and to this day we have a wonderful life how would you compare if you can in a nutshell Jewish synagogue life here versus what you were used to back home well it was either Orthodox or reformed and sincerely joined sheriff because of the school but we adapted
very quickly and we we confused it very quickly the the challenge was later on when his parents came because they emigrated later when his parents came it was harder for them to death but we never the listed know so that's the story the funny story about that is that you know South African Jews are really more traditional then I would say orthodoxy in terms of where the orthodoxies yeah so that was so conservative was different and my parents came here the first Rosh Hashanah that we were here our parents caring for us Hashanah and we went to the topless menu that shared Israel and we
were sitting there and they came up to my mom and dad and they said we'd like you to come and open or encourage the ark and my mom looked at my dad and said talk to both of us and so we said yes and she went up with him to the bar in college and she came back and she said that was the most uplifting experience I've ever had and we warned them and said you know there's no walking too sure that we used to do in South Africa now we drive we have too far and the truth is they adapted immediately they became you
know committed members and sure go as a church yeah I mean I think it's easier for us it was easier for us young people and for the people turn end can you think of some other things that you got involved in whether Jewish or general community wise besides synagogue life anything else you decided to go for it well you know we've been involved we were involved with with Solomon Schechter Levine Academy for many years from very beginning ronique and myself in fact after a little absence or absence I'm now back on the board at Levine Academy and on the executive committee and now on the
ground better and not have not a parent obviously share at Israel we've been involved in the JCC never said on the JCC board but being involved in Phoenix been very involved in the the art they want shows that they used to have and helping Judy Cohen there I was on the board of feda Federation I've also been on the board of trustee of the devastation unity foundation and both of us are very active in the Holocaust Museum running is now a dose of their immediate past chairman and involved in hopefully the living you new museum day so quite a lot our focus has been on
the Jewish community and we were fortunate that we've been able to give something back to great that has accepted us Bernie did your mom ever move here no no she died so how often had you gone back to visit when she got ill you yeah when she got it when she became not everyone that I've spoken to has gone back to visit or even quite that often but how did you feel each time when you went back to your homeland to that land and when you went was it what were your feelings like going back there enjoyment being appreciating and realizing that we live in
a town that really has no beauty you know but never with any regret and always you know trying to keep up with people we left behind us was a challenge and we still see certain cousins and that's about it you do move away from people now you mentioned Israel before and I just want to ask how important was Israel to both of you growing up and how important is that now living here okay I came for the family right and in the Congo he was very active in the community and raising money for Israel and he even brought me nothing Bank made him just to
the condo so it is an important a very important part of my life and it was very important even today even today Arabic is very important for me there wasn't not as it wasn't sort of a it wasn't something that was as passionate from our family as it was for for Veronique's parents and family many of whom other way went to fighting the various Wars in Israel yeah lost quite a few cousins yeah that's there's any things like that so for me it wasn't that but I was always involved in things like you know I was involved in bnei akiva which is for the religious
side then when I met for Anika her father you know it was obviously part of the enough and bacon revisionist movement I got involved in betar and and you became very active and that's where else would have started to become a more important part of my life and Israelis today a very important part of our lives and have you passed that on think to your children fortunately I don't think that they have the same I don't know why I think maybe things are just growing up they didn't have the challenges that we did maybe you know once removed from the Holocaust the immigration process you
kind of take things for well I mean they're always on Team tour for sure and enjoyed every minute of it but I think that they're not as passionate as we were and they don't see the vulnerability perhaps as we do yeah there are see the vulnerability on Israel and the Jewish people as we do maybe when we gone there and the truth is that there was this period where I don't think that the education about Israel in this country was actually a big focus and again there are a lot of young people my children that you are involved involved in APEC involved in ADL so
I'm not saying that I'm not saying that that they didn't for some reason our children I would say they don't have that same passion and second concern but again it's not as if they're not aware of it so yeah that's all you can do now back to South Africa for a moment can you think of some cultural traditions that you've maintained here that you brought with you for example things that you used to do well first of what I think you need to talk about the fact that you've kicked so many of the Sephardic traditions tradition the foods you know expressions I guess how many
just just the way when our children no I mean there's the cookbook Sephardic cookbook it just becomes attention company products varieties so holidays and such did you do both did you combine did you take one on one day and the other another time interesting because I think we've basically observed holidays in Canarsie way we do but the foods are accommodation we do a combination of foods you know the traditions that we keep here I mean I think are just traditions that we would have done anywhere I mean you keep Shabbat all the Jewish holidays change traditional well well I have to say though that we
were always observed Friday night we've always thought dragon that was important and we do make sure that it continued yeah even though the kids you know growing up becoming teenagers there was the pool of going out on Friday night but they knew that Friday night was sacrosanct where are your children now what is here in Dallas one in New York and well and we have to expect typical us family yes right out that's the one one for them that we didn't keep here is the factory in South Africa it was far more you stayed where your parents were we both got married from our poems
and here on it's very night I was having that discussion with somebody today what if anything can you pinpoint that you miss about South Africa besides people anything else longer than we were two years what was the ritual like of I assume becoming a u.s. citizen so the last thing I'm gonna ask you is each of you tell us are you glad you came here and why here here it's either or or both yeah Dennis really good for us has been really good financially it's been really good bringing up our children the community is stable I think unfortunately I think we did not it did not never draw for our kids growing up you know they moved away they went to college out of state and two of them never wanted to come back so in that way I'm kind of a little regretful that we didn't choose a more I don't
know what what could we have chosen that would have been better but they're both in winter climates and I'm not absolutely I'm gonna head over to climate Texas soon to say no new generals for liberals which should burn that children are Texas has got a very you know bad reputation good that's the only thing right and I don't I don't have my cleats no I also I personally don't have regrets I think that we have a very full life we really enjoyed being part of the community my involvement or in our involvement in in philanthropy and charitable organizations and by the way I forgot to
mention I'm on the board of the devas Jewish Historical Society also something new but the the rewarding thing and I've always said this both in public is the fact that the most rewarding thing for all of us is the people that you meet along the way these various committees people that I would never have got to know closely and I think that there has been such a rewarding part of our lives yeah we have no regrets and even my kids the fact that they didn't want to live in Dallas know as Monique said her parents live their parents we lived at some point our parents
and we just thank God that they're all of the same continent and we get on a plane for three and a half hours and and we can see and we have a daughter and son-in-law and my right hand three grandchildren here so we just got realize we are beginning we could have a story of a traveling right now that's that's what does it boil down to all right well I thank you very much it's been wonderful and we look forward to playing this back and seeing everything so thank you very much