The Heidi Urich Annual Lecture on Jewish Genealogy cosponsored by JGSGB and Hebrew College The discovery of diamond deposits in South Africa in 1869 led to intensified extraction, manufacturing and consumption of diamonds in a growing global network.  Jews played a crucial role throughout the process of extracting the rough stones from South African soil, manufacturing in European factories, and distributing gems and jewelry across the Atlantic.  They were not just intermediaries but pioneers and central agents of early globalization. Saskia Coenen Snyder is…