Overview

A sweeping story with intimate roots, Darker Shade of Pale traces a little-known chapter in the history of global migration: the journey of Jewish families from the Russian Empire’s Pale of Settlement to the far-flung colony of South Africa at the turn of the twentieth century. Written by acclaimed South African sociologist Deborah Posel, this deeply personal yet broadly resonant narrative blends family memoir with incisive historical analysis. At its heart is Posel’s grandfather, Maurice Posel, whose story of struggle and ambivalence she pieces together from family lore, feint archival traces and the lives of others. In turn, Maurice’s seemingly insignificant life becomes a prism through which Posel considers afresh ‘the greatest migration in human history’, as historians call it. Maurice’s journey – and, importantly, those of the educated, working women Posel follows – reveals theunspoken, often painful costs of uprooting: what had to be abandoned, what was endured, and what could never be fully left behind. From the shtetl’s rigid traditions to the racial hierarchies of the British Empire, Posel explores how Jewish migrants navigated social orders. She examines how identities shifted and how success was both a goal and a burden – particularly for those who didn’t achieve it. Along the way, Darker Shade of Pale sheds new light on the complicated role of Jews in colonial South Africa, their uneasy positioning within whiteness, and their unexpected interactions with Black communities. Lyrical, probing and unflinching, Darker Shade of Pale is essential reading for anyone interested in migration, identity, and the hidden layers of history and their continued tremors. It’s a powerful reminder that the migrant story is never simple and always singular. Perfect for readers of Isabel Wilkerson, Adam Hochschild, and Daniel Mendelsohn.

Full Product Details

Author:   Deborah Posel
Publisher:   Wits University Press
Imprint:   Wits University Press
ISBN:  

9781776149711

ISBN 10:   1776149718
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   01 November 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Maps  Family tree Part I Chapter 1 Longing Chapter 2 On the move Chapter 3 The glitter of gold Chapter 4 Conversations with Carruthers Chapter 5 Living with lack Chapter 6 A structure of life Chapter 7 The farribel Chapter 8 The ticket Chapter 9 Two more fragments Chapter 10 Many lives are possible Chapter 11 Ordinary stories Chapter 12 The myth of Jewish exceptionalism Part II Chapter 13 Shtetl Chapter 14 Prospects in the Pale of Settlement Chapter 15 Schisms and fault-lines Chapter 16 Posels in Pumpian Chapter 17 Posel prospects Chapter 18 Sitting and standing Chapter 19 Taverning Chapter 20 Itsyk Chapter 21 Singles Chapter 22 Pushy daughters Chapter 23 Stille Chuppah Chapter 24 Conversion to Christianity Chapter 25 Margin of margins Chapter 26 A boy child Chapter 27 Veins of violence Part III Chapter 28 Leaving Pumpian Chapter 29 At sea Chapter 30 ‘They came with nothing’ Chapter 31 Those who stayed Chapter 32 The ‘East’ of the ‘West’ Part IV Chapter 33 Rats Chapter 34 24 June 1902 Chapter 35 Towards District Six Chapter 36 A shtetl that wasn’t Chapter 37 ‘Squat-bodied’ Chapter 38 Shapeshifting Chapter 39 At risk Chapter 40 Upstanding work Chapter 41 28 Longmarket Street Chapter 42 Choices Chapter 43 Carrier Chapter 44 Smous Chapter 45 Good eggs and bad eggs Chapter 46 Nothing ventured, nothing gained Chapter 47 Business in the mix Chapter 48 Ways of women Chapter 49 Love and marriage Chapter 50 One of those who froze Chapter 51 What’s left behind Chapter 52 Mothers of loss Chapter 53 Longing to be let in Chapter 54 A colonial education Chapter 55 Carruthers Beattie Chapter 56 What a shame Part V Chapter 57 Brothers Chapter 58 Modern Jews Chapter 59 Money Chapter 60 ‘Like insects to the light’ Chapter 61 ‘Jewburg’ Chapter 62 Chatzkel’s luck Chapter 63 Whose gold Chapter 64 Jews and ‘the Blacks’ Chapter 65 Chatzkel on the move Chapter 66 Obscene extremes Chapter 67 A deferent retort Chapter 68 Ferreirastown Chapter 69 Prospering in Ferreirastown Chapter 70 The farribel Chapter 71 Max Part VI Chapter 72 A Johannesburg man Chapter 73 ‘A man and four girls’ Chapter 74 ‘Little Vienna’ Chapter 75 Jews in the Austro-Hungarian Empire Chapter 76 Czernowitz and the Jews Chapter 77 Bakers for the emperor Chapter 78 Family ties Chapter 79 Leaving Chapter 80 Lourenco Marques Chapter 81 Doornfontein Chapter 82 World War 1 Chapter 83 A darker world  Chapter 84 Cernauti Chapter 85 A Johannesburg ‘spinster’ Part VII Chapter 86 Marriage  Chapter 87 Jewish suburbia Chapter 88 Set in Stone Chapter 89 Archives Chapter 90 Farribels – again Chapter 91 Dear Maurice Notes Bibliography Acknowledgements

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Author Information

Deborah Posel is a South African sociologist who is Professor Emeritus at the University of Cape Town. She was the founding director of two prominent interdisciplinary research institutes, UCT's Institute for Humanities in Africa and the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research.

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