Morris Kaplan and his wife Sonia (Kanusehfsky) were an integral part of the local Vryburg Jewish community. After his military service in World War Two, 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) Kanushefsky and Kalman Kanushefsky. Kalman’s family hailed from Malat (now Moletai) in Lithuania. Moletai  is 60 kilometers north of Vilnus 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 latter years in Pietersburg. Janie passed away in 1953 and Louis in 1960. Though Louis had retired to Joburg he sked to be buried next to his wife in Pietersburg. His brother, Mannie, was a hotelier (Tuckers Hotel) in Heilbron and one of the last Jews to leave. 

 

Shayna and Kalman had four children, Ellis, Willie (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 his late father Kalman. Ellis lived in Kuruman in the 1920's. Morrie and Sonia had a daughter, Lynne. She was born in Vryburg in 1954. In the 1960s the family moved to Vereeneging. In 1981 Morrie and Sonia retired to Johannesburg and passed away in 1990 at the ripe old age of 90. Sonia passed away in 2005 at the age of 95. They are both buried in West Park Cemetery. 

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