The man who fought for Zambian statehood
in 1965 to return by the new country’s president, Kenneth Kaunda.
By now a qualified engineer running a successful consultancy in England, Mr Zukas said he moved back to offer his professional expertise in major infrastructure projects.
A career in politics also followed: his efforts to persuade Mr Kaunda and his United National Independence Party to abandon a one-party state failed and, in 1990, he joined the drive towards multi-party politics, playing a leading role in its subsequent return.
Now 93, Mr Zukas was most recently leader of the Forum for Democracy and Development, an opposition political party. He retired from politics in 2005.
His wife Cynthia, an anti-apartheid activist from South Africa in the 1960s, made a name for herself in the world of art and cultural heritage. Six years ago, she was awarded an MBE.
But Zambian independence also triggered a change in the land laws and an exodus of white residents, including many from the Jewish community.
Today, just 12 Jews still live in the country and the last remaining synagogue in the capital, Lusaka, was sold — with the money donated to charities in both Zambia and Israel.
“There is,” Mr Zukas revealed, “a general wish to use our funds to build a small replacement synagogue but we have not as yet managed to find a suitable, affordable plot.”
And now, the remaining Jews in Zambia pray in their own homes.
Just 12 Jews still live in the country today