Additional Reading & Resources

This history of the Aiken Jewish Community greatly benefited from prior work — which provided a strong foundation for this effort. Many of these resources are provided here for those who want to dig deeper into this material.

Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina

Oral Histories

· Full Archives:  https://jhc.cofc.edu/oral-history-archives/

· Aiken County: https://jhc.cofc.edu/oral-history-archives/interviews-by-place/#aiken-county

Publications

· Spring, 2008: Strangers in Paradise: A Century of Jewish Settlement in Aiken SC http://jhssc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2008_Spring_JHSSC_Newsletter.pdf

· Fall, 2014: Jewish Roots, Aiken Branches http://jhssc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2014_Fall_JHSSC_Newsletter.pdf

Field Work Files

· Includes material collected in Aiken that is available in the Special Collections department at the Addlestone Library at the College of Charleston· https://jhc.cofc.edu/field-work/

Jewish Merchant Project

· Project Home Page: http://merchants.jhssc.org

· Merchant Map (includes profiles of 28 sites in Aiken): http://merchants.jhssc.org/merchant-map/

· Crossroads Exhibit: https://speccoll.cofc.edu/new-exhibit-a-store-at-every-crossroads-documenting-the-stories-of-south-carolinas-jewish-merchants/

Bella Magazine

The magazine profiled many early Aiken Jewish families; these articles are no longer available for download via the magazine’s website although copies may possibly be accessed by contacting the publisher: https://palmettobella.com/tag/aiken/

· October 2011: Julia Wolf: High Fashion on Laurens

· April 2012: The Poliakoffs & the Poliakoff Building

· Summer 2012: The Efrons

· September 2012: Six Surasky Siblings

· April 2019: The Rudnicks: An Old Aiken Family

Aiken Jewish Merchant Family Tree

New research was completed to document the genealogy of early Aiken Jewish residents, including the interrelationships among these families. This work includes entries for over 500 individuals and provides access to over 1100 records and more than 140 photos. It is available to the public via the link below and by searching for the "Aiken Jewish Merchant Family Tree" on ancestry.com:

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/164346628/family/familyview?cfpid=222137860253