Goks Alexander (16 August 1914, Latvia – 15 May 2006, Australia) — Zionist, public and government figure.
As a child, Alexander Goks spent two years in Saint Petersburg with his parents, where his father, Leib Goks, ran a tea business. Several years later, the family moved to Germany. In 1922, Leib Goks disappeared during a business trip; despite all efforts, he was never found and was presumed murdered. His widow, Henrietta, returned to Riga with their three children.
In 1930, Alexander Goks joined the Zionist movement and soon became an active member. In 1933, following Hitler's rise to power and a sharp increase in antisemitism, Goks decided to emigrate to Palestine. There, together with a group of Latvian Zionists, he founded Kibbutz Ramat HaSharon on land allocated by the Keren Kayemet (Jewish National Fund). The project collapsed after a year, but Goks remained in Palestine, working on orange plantations. He became a naturalised citizen in 1936.
In June 1940, he was drafted into the British Army, serving in the Royal Air Force in Egypt and the deserts of North Africa. In 1944, he accepted an invitation to join the anti-malaria service in East Africa, and after the war, he took a position on the municipal council of Nairobi, Kenya.
During the Second World War, all members of Goks’ family who remained in Latvia were killed, except for his older brother Naum, who had emigrated to Argentina before the war.
In his free time, Goks took part in expeditions in the Nairobi highlands as a photographer. He married a Jewish woman from Yugoslavia in 1946. Their children — Michael (b. 1948), Dan (b. 1952), and Ron (b. 1954) — were born in subsequent years. In 1957, he was poisoned by a colleague, became seriously ill, but survived.
After Kenya gained independence in 1964, Goks moved with his family to Australia. He remained in government service there until 1979. Following retirement, he was active in community affairs and was the recipient of government honours.
Danni Goks, his son, is editor of the website jewishnews.net.au.
Photo caption:
Goks (left) in Palestine, 1936 — working in the kibbutz.