Benno-David (Baruch Dovid ben Noah) and Ida Kaerstadt spent roughly a decade in Vryburg. Benny was a pharmacist and they had two children, Marilyn and Nolan. Nolan was born in Springs in 1948. Many members of the Kaerstadt family migrated from Courland to South Africa. The family lived in Talsen, Tukums and Kandava. Upon their arrival in South Africa, they started out in the Eastern Cape. Many in the family were registered as living in Aberdeen – a stopping point for many other Courland families who made their way to Vryburg. Others were living in Tarkastad and Port Elizabeth.

 

Benno-David, referred to as Benny was the child of Noah Kaerstadt, who married Annie Berghaus in Somerset East in 1912. At the time of their marriage, Noah is listed as being born in 1884 on his wedding certificate and was living in Adelaide. It seems that Noah was born in Candau or Kandava. Annie was born in 1888 and from Lithuania. She was living in Somerset East at the time of their marriage. Her father was Pinhas, also residing in Somerset East. Noah and Annie had four children – Abraham Lemel (named after his grandfather), Shani (Stern), Rachael and Benno-David.

 

Noah died in Port Elizabeth on 3 April 1946 at the age of 62. His father Abraham Kaerstadt died in 1905 aged 61. He was the son of David Kaerstadt and a shopkeeper. Noah was the second youngest of six children born to Abraham Osher (also known as Avraham Asher Lemel) and his wife Hannah, who was a Hummel from Talsen. The Hummel family moved to Upington and Jack Hummel is buried in Vryburg. Hannah and Abraham’s children were: Louis, Herman, Tony (Tomar), Elizabeth, Noah, and Doris. Louis and Herman were born in Talsen.