Jewish Echo
English-language Jewish weekly newspaper published in Glasgow from 1928 to 1992
| Jewish Echo
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Weekly newspaper (defunct) |
| Founded | 6 January 1928 |
| Founder(s) | Zevi Golombok and Israel Golombok |
| Defunct | 29 May 1992 |
| Headquarters | Glasgow |
| Industry | Newspaper publishing |
The Jewish Echo was an English-language Jewish weekly newspaper published in Glasgow from 1928 to 1992.[1] It was published by the brothers Israel Golombok and Zevi Golombok, and edited first by Zevi Golombok and then by his son, Ezra Golombok.[1] A memoir published on haruth.com gives its first issue as 6 January 1928 and its last as 29 May 1992.[2]
History
According to the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre (SJAC), the Golombok family came to Glasgow from Biržai in Lithuania around 1900. The brothers Israel and Zevi set up a printing business in the Gorbals, and published Yiddish-language papers from 1914, including the Glasgow Jewish Evening Times and Die Glasgow Yiddishe Shtimme (Jewish Voice, 1921–22). SJAC states that "By 1928, less people in Glasgow were able to read Yiddish", and that the brothers then began publishing the Jewish Echo in English.[1]
The haruth.com memoir describes Zevi Golombok as "a fervent Zionist" who encouraged his brother to publish a newspaper "to spread the Zionist message". It says that rival Glasgow Jewish papers, the Jewish Leader (1932) and the Jewish Times (1964), lasted only a few months.[2]
Ownership and closure
The memoir says that a special general meeting called by Harvey Livingston, president of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, was told that the paper had closed because of "ever-spiralling losses". According to the memoir, the meeting was also told that the Glasgow Jewish Community Trust had bought the paper's title in 1988 and had made "a massive injection of cash". The memoir also describes an unsuccessful attempt by a proposed company, Jewish Echo 1992 Limited, to start a successor paper.[2] An Algemeiner column of August 2012 said that the Echo "had been supported by the Glasgow Community Trust for a while" before it closed in 1992.[3]
The Jewish Telegraph of Manchester started a Glasgow edition after the Echo closed. SJAC holds a full set of that edition from 1992.[1][2]
Editors
The sources give different dates for the change of editor. SJAC says Ezra Golombok succeeded his father as editor in 1950,[1] and the haruth.com memoir says he took over the editorship two years after returning to Glasgow in 1948.[2] The Herald's obituary says that Ezra returned in 1948 at his father's request "and take over the running of the newspaper which he did until its closure in 1992".[4]
| Editor | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Zevi Golombok | 1928[1] | 1950[1] |
| Ezra Golombok | 1950[1][2] | 1992 (closure)[4] |
The Herald obituary gives Ezra Golombok's dates as 22 August 1922 to 9 April 2022, and says that he "published and edited" the Echo for over 40 years.[4]
Archive
SJAC says that when the paper closed, Ezra Golombok gave it a complete set of back issues and the photographic library (1960s–1990s). The first 1,200 issues (1928–1950) have been digitised for the Scottish Holocaust-era Study Centre.[1] The memoir says the 64 volumes of the Echo are held in Glasgow's Mitchell Library.[2]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, Jewish Newspapers in Glasgow accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Death of a newspaper, haruth.com (undated memoir), accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ Algemeiner, Ezra Golombok – Glasgow's Idealist Jew 17 August 2012, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Herald, Obituary: Ezra Golombok, 'Idealist, maverick and loner' who edited the Jewish Echo accessed 7 November 2026.