Ronnie Kahn
Ronnie Kahn's late father, Isaac Kahn, was brought to South Africa from Russia at the age of two, the eldest of six children and the only one born abroad. The family, including his father's brother Benjamin (Benny) and four sisters, grew up in Johannesburg. His late mother, Rachel, was born in South Africa. The Kahns were a close, observant family who gathered for large Shabbat dinners every Friday night and adhered to Jewish traditions. Ronnie was adopted about seven years after his older brother Stanley, and was raised as a proud Jew. He attended a private Catholic school where the Jewish boys, 72 among nearly 800 students, took Hebrew lessons twice a week while the Catholic students went to catechism.
Kahn decided to leave South Africa amid the violence and instability of the era, unable to accept the existing system yet fearing what the future might hold. Having lost both adoptive parents young and his brother the year before he emigrated, he weighed Israel, Australia, England, Canada, and the United States. Although Australia was his first choice, its financial and academic requirements led him elsewhere. He arrived in the United States in 1985 with about 8,000 dollars and no credit. Familiar with Texas through his father's earlier business dealings, and finding Dallas people warm and the cost of living manageable, he chose to settle there and make his own way.
Trained in the clothing trade in South Africa, Kahn first tried to import guava juice and other juices to America, securing strong interest from a major buyer before sanctions against South Africa abruptly canceled the deal weeks after his arrival. He then worked for two years managing a clothing factory in downtown Dallas. He married a Jewish woman whose maiden name was Corey Brock, and they had a son, Trent, named after Ronnie's late father Isaac. Though not religious and no longer attending synagogue, Kahn holds an unwavering love and admiration for Israel and the Jewish people. He never returned to South Africa but treasures his memories of it, while proudly considering himself a fully committed American citizen.
Full Transcript
Rani Khan since february2014 I would like to ask you some questions about the license of Africa your immigration to the United States and your life in Dallas let's start with where your family originally emigrated from to South Africa and what can you share about their lives and their early years in South Africa my late father is he known as Isaac Khan was brought to South Africa from Russia when he was two years old his parents obviously Russian he came from the fury Nia and he grew up in South Africa was the first all he was the only child of six children that was born in
Russia and he was the oldest and he had a brother a younger brother Benjamin Benny and four sisters and they all grew up in chance but they were all born in johannesburg in my father and my late mother rachel ray corn was born in South Africa and she had two other sisters surely an end they came from atomic family and basically we all lived in Johannesburg except for one enter lived in Durban and one in captain so we're very closest in terms of cousins we were very very close we're very close family and every show but we were all together one another's house and they
were big Shabbat dinners every single friday night and it was after sure my father's agrees and disciplined in in terms of adhering to all the regulations of Judaism and the India traditions and cultures and and make sure that I was always really got a shoe and there was most importantly and that he's sunset with him in sure I was adopted seven years after my older brother was adopted I was about to seven years later he's there with Stanley Walter corn and I was named Ronald Sydney corn and I went to my late brother Nabih to MERIS brother school and observatory and bad weapons and georges
road which was also sort of observatory two streets from the school it was a private catholic school although it was a private catholic school we had Hebrew lessons twice a week when the Catholics went to catechism the Jewish boys went to Hebrew lessons there were 72 of us in the school in the NL over 790 kids and the Jewish mothers at that responds will be actively involved in the school and made a very nice environment for everybody and contributed a tremendous amount to marist brothers for the Jewish community and it was a wonderful offering a wonderful school and a great great education so what made
you make the decision to leave South Africa and what influenced your decision to you what influenced my decision to leave South Africa was the fact that our experienced living through a time of writing where the various groups of Africans were writing and in a very violent way I didn't believe in you it's system at the same time I couldn't live in a system and a black rule simply because I looked at the rest of africa and nothing seemed to work well for people there were of European descent and I didn't want to have children grow up in that environment that it would be two more
possibly pilot of the rest of africa with it was muslim people uganda or other countries like Angola we might people were basically massive or they just left so once you've made that decision to leave what was your family's reaction will you the first in the family to leave South Africa I lost my parents I was very young I am now 60 years old was born in September 27 1953 I'm now 60 years old and I lived south africa was 31 my late mother that adopted me died when i was nine and my late father died 10 16 and my brother fortunately stand he committed suicide
the year before I came to live here in 1985 and and what choices did you make about where you wanted to come and live in the United States and why the United States at all I considered Israel I'd also consider Australia England had a small part canada had a small part in America feeling major part Australia was my main choice however in those days in 1985 you had to bring a lot of money with you or have some kind of academic credentials which were I didn't have at the time and some kind of specialization and I really want to go to Australia because of from
what a study in school and understood it was Greece is the most similar country Africa and I wanted to obviously go to an english-speaking country which would make it a lot easier because of his hot enough immigrating to emigrate to a country we are didn't speak the language would have made it more difficult so um what brought you to Dallas wasn't a job loss of friends it was a question of finances I decided I wasn't allowed to take out much money of the country at the time and I wanted that my first choice was urban in California because I know the loss of evidence would
be and be like we were close community and but then I realized after doing some research that was very expensive and so was the east coast and so the west coast expensive him I've been to dallas before on two occasions and found the people very very nice very very warm and kind of cost of living a whole lot destinies and west coast my late father they've done business with a company in san antonio called the do eat casing company where he imported sausage skins to south african supplied the big meat factories in south africa this morn escort and so I was familiar with a company
that my father did business with invisible in a couple of times so I've been to Texas before and I really liked Texas in particularly Dallas and the cost of living was more in tune with the amount of money that I be able to start off with and so you came alone and how how easy was it to adjust to life in Dallas anything stand out as being very difficult or very different from what laughing South Africa was when I came she live in America I decided that my background being clothes I winter clothing college dude which was known as the city of guilds of london
or the training college for the South African clothing is that you which we did a course through the city & guilds of london which is an internationally recognized certificate and clothing you could go anywhere in the world with that certificate and i had a clothing factory but i realized that coming to america and stay in the clothing business may not be an advantage because i don't know though the way things work here and I don't know the production requirements whether they were baking stuff in America with a manufacturing goods overseas I had no idea and I didn't have the money to start a clothing boutique
but I thought carefully and realized that guava guava juice or something that they don't grow in America and I found out that they were giving her from Hawaii and Mexico only and I had friends in South Africa a very wonderful Italian family that had the largest guava form form producing guavas in nelspruit and I went to them in Austin if only they wouldn't mind me staying with him on the farm and learning everything I could about guava juice and they had a whole processing plant on the farm where they produced the in product from from picking the fruit of the trees to shipping it in
bottles to Nell's theory which was a large dairy company in South Africa and so I did that and came to America with the hope that I've got to sell vava pulp while the juice to a company and when I arrived in the united states are contacted Libby's which is a division of Nestle corporation they asked me to send bother juice samples that were would that have no preservatives in and pasteurized but absolutely no preservatives and free of any air editors and I dead end of tan sri lunch at that for me was the only company along that would do this frozen as a special conditions
Libby's received this in the laboratory to for testing in chicago and found it to be the harsh quality guava papa they were tested and had no hesitation him purchasing from me the buyer contacted me from New York his name is Franco corn and asked me if we could supply around 20 containers a month of which my commission in those days would have been three thousand dollars a container and I was so excited I just arrived in America they also asked me for apple juice and the husband apple juice four pages and for strawberry juice and orange juice and I started figuring out there's a possibility
that would be selling them 80 to 100 contains of them they place the first always with me for six containers to see what I care what the bulk shipment will be like and two days after I've got that order six weeks after i arrived in America I was watching televisions and complete sanctions were imposed on South Africa and so everything was cancelled and I had to go looking for a job in the clothing business for which I was trained and landed up working for a Mexican gentleman John manzanares downtown Dallas Texas and ironically he was paying me under the table and work for him for
two years many managing his club in factoring we made uniforms for and we made ladies accessories for Ginny Johansen a big ladies company at the top and how welcoming did you find the Dallas community as a new immigrant I found them very inviting for the few that were here because I was although there were others from South Africa before me there weren't a huge amount as these today and an apple I was like incoming but I wasn't so late in coming there were people that are maybe ten years before me but there were very few of those and the South African Jewish community and south
african community of which I know people off it can't the scent as well as Jewish descent has grown exponentially and it's it's it's it's amazing art has grown friends were some were very very keen to help and others have probably had too much of trying to help other people and they didn't show much interest which didn't bother me really at all I just made my own way for those that are connected with them and moved on and it was not easy I was always worried about finances I derived as United States with 8,000 just at eight thousand US dollars and had to bike horn have
no credits everything had to be paid for in cash and but I managed to survive and met a Jewish girl Corey brock was her maiden name remitted a Jewish singles meeting and will end up getting made from which comes mother was wonderful son any follicle II wish to have and best my son Trent in comm the yen is named after my late father easy and he knows in California's 26 years old and a very proud of him done very very well Oh Ronnie what South African Jewish cultural traditions have you maintained or for example food or holidays that you celebrate or what son that you
don't love it following along I am NOT a religious person at all although I truly believe that I have Jewish and alloys and main Jewish I I don't eat and kosher foods I don't I guess that's because I was just brought up that way and i am not a religious person i used to go to synagogue on a regular basis i don't anymore but my love for Israel will never ever ever diminish or die infected stronger and stronger than ever before and was that fostered growing up Zionism was that important to your family when you're growing up it was purely of the respect that I
have for such a small race of people on this planet and how how incredibly wonderful and resilient they're all they they seem to have perform any other culture on earth for the size of people at that they they contribute more to this planet than any other race of people any other group of people and in every field of life there is a lot that one more Nobel Prizes than any other group of people proportion to the science Israel is a farming farming country with tremendous innovation and you cannot better at my as well what for people and trade does he share those views about Israel
with you or that Judaism what what has he taken away from from you with it that what that respect Trent is not a religious person or like he went to religious schools in Dallas he went to the Jewish Community Center you went to akiba and but I think as many other young children in this case Jewish children have grown up knowing that the Jewish is not question about that are they proud of that they'll defend it but they're not in my tres in my son's cases as as with many of his friends are not that religious and don't got a shoe or synagogue and but
they'll always be Jewish kids are always be Jewish to me and they'll grow up and the children will probably be the same his crew Dave we've been back to South African no never being back and do you still have family in South Africa I do I've got some cousins and all my aunts have died off and my uncle's a battle so this I want to chew on which are actually because of the eye called monster because they're actually my first cousins but because I was a doctor lake in life they were so much older than I was and what if anything do you miss about
your life in South Africa i miss the freedom that I had growing up being able to hitchhike throughout the country go ever I wanted you know I missed the weather incredible weather I mr. food the i miss the cape i miss nice now i miss j harrisburg of my friends and the way things used to be which will never be again i miss the things i used to share with all my friends the holidays of this the bat you know that the certain restaurants that we used to go to on a regular basis and the old movie theaters have you all went to the 20th century the metro and there's a lot of nostalgia and but I've come to realize that that love is gone we all in America realize that that laugh is no mortal never be back but
I was fortunate to live their life very fortunate to live in love sounds like you've good memories good positive memory and do you consider yourself an American now and are you a US citizen yes I am a US citizen I do consider myself America and what does it mean to you be an American citizen being an American citizen is that I'm very proud to be an American citizen i think it is has been and still is the greatest country in the world there is no country that that that that offers of the freedom and the safety that the United States office and it is my
duty to defend this country unit might I would I would defend this country with my life as I will Israel there would be a tough call between the two are you glad you came here absolutely when I see that the difficulties that are going on in England today with certain groups of people like the Muslims changing things see a lot of people that are in England that live in America telling me that they gather they lived England there now that's something to listen to and people are glad they look they've lived England and when people have to beat any country because they they have to
not because they want to they were just feels best for their many families then that said in a way that's real said to have to be there but I'm glad I came to this country because I thought to myself in the end after considering Australia this one that one that i am going to the strongest country in the world and I've being here for twenty eight and a half years 8 20 29 years and I am 100-percent American could he met could not imagine living anywhere else in the world certainly not South Africa and at my age 60 years old I should be content with
a imagine living anywhere else in the world so I'm glad that I came here and I'm glad that my son was born here and at least I can pass on in my life and know that I've done the best for him that he doesn't have to have the difficulties and the the instability that he might have one day in South Africa which unfortunately believe is still yet to come Thank You Ronnie you see anything else you want to add that simply say we think wants to go you wanna add very good thank you very much appreciated