Morris Kaplan and his wife Sonia (Kanusehfsky) were a vital part of the local Vryburg Jewish community. After his military service in World War II, Morrie moved to Vryburg from Kimberly and worked with Vryburg Wholesalers—founded by Max Cohen and Harry Joffe. Both Morrie and Sonia were from Kimberley. Sonia was the daughter of Shayna (Jane) Kanusehfsky and Kalman Kanusehfsky. Kalman’s family came from Malat (now Moletai) in Lithuania. Moletai is 60 kilometers north of Vilnius and south of Utena.

 

The entire Jewish community was murdered in the Holocaust. Morris Kaplan was the son of Yehuda Leib (Louis) and Shaine Hinde (Janie). Louis and Janie spent most of their later years in Pietersburg. Janie passed away in 1953, and Louis in 1960. Although Louis had retired to Johannesburg, he requested to be buried next to his wife in Pietersburg. His brother, Mannie, was a hotelier at Tuckers Hotel in Heilbron and was among the last Jews to leave. 

 

Shayna and Kalman had four children: Ellis, Willie (who married Ada Kacev), Sonia, and Esther Shima (who married Harry Bloch). Willie Kanushefsky owned Kenny's Outfitters in Kimberley, and his brother Ellis owned the Commercial Bar in Kimberley, which was started by their late father Kalman. Ellis lived in Kuruman in the 1920s. Morrie and Sonia had a daughter named Lynne, who was born in Vryburg in 1954. In the 1960s, the family moved to Vereeniging. In 1981, Morrie and Sonia retired to Johannesburg, and they both passed away in 1990, at the ages of 90. Sonia died in 2005 at age 95. They are both buried in West Park Cemetery. 

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