Woolf Goldwater - the early leader:

The Jewish Life in the Country Communities Study states that Woolf Goldwater (1853-1935), who was then President of the community, taught Hebrew to children between 1912 and 1914. Woolf applied for citizenship on August 29, 1899, after being in the colony for five years at age 42. He was from Szagarren (Zagare, Kovna), Lithuania, and listed as a general dealer living in Uitenhage. Woolf was a key member of the Uitenhage community and served as its President, leading the construction of the local synagogue from 1907 to 1911 (Addleson, p. 311). Woolf's wife, Dora (nee Harmel), died in Uitenhage in April 1916, and it seems they had left Vryburg by then. The Goldwaters are recorded as hotel owners and had six children. Their eldest daughter, Matilda, was married to David Smollan, who owned the Grand Hotel in Vryburg. This explains how Woolf Goldwater came to Vryburg. Goldwater likely also provided spiritual leadership, and his appointment indicates that the community was formalized before 1912. Many years later, Harry Goldwater, the son of Woolf's brother, Mathilda Smollan (married to David), served as a GP in Vryburg.

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In 1914, Rabbi Lieberman was appointed as the town’s first rabbi. He served the community until 1926. The appointment of a rabbi indicates the presence of a sizable community by then. When Irwin Aubrey Hartogs (from Cape Town) married Hettie Sonnenberg on July 14, 1915, in Vryburg, the wedding was officiated by the local magistrate, not Rabbi Lieberman. Hettie was the daughter of Theodore Sonnenberg (mayor of Vryburg) and Bertha (née Bing). Irwin (1890-1970) was the son of Samuel and Doretta Hartogs. This ceremony probably reflects the lesser observance among German Jews. The Sonnenberg family's wealth was remarkable even on a national scale. A 1911 (August 25) article in the Northern News, discovered by Anney Garnett, describes how Max Sonnenberg drove the 112 kilometers to Geluk in three hours. He was one of the earliest residents of Vryburg to own a car.

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Jewish collective identity was driven the Litvaks - the Smollans / Woolf Goldwater. 

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In 1919, a Zionist Society was formed. According to the Jewish Life in the Country Communities Study, it was led by Harry Abrahamson (1865-1933) - a storekeeper and the father of the infant Segoite buried in the local Jewish cemetery. He and his wife Esther were from Latvia. His business partner was Samuel Solomon Kaplan—son of Moses and Fannie, came from Ponevezh (Panevezys in Lithuanian). Samuel Kaplan served on the school board. The two opened a shop in 1919 but went out of business in 1922 and then left Vryburg. Harry Abrahamson seems to have handed over the Zionist leadership to Woolf Goldwater by 1920. A Zionist Record report from 1921 details an activity at the Grand Hotel listing Woolf as the President of the local Zionist Society. A 1925 report shows Woolf still in charge. This article mentions Mr. Shein visiting Vryburg and Taungs on behalf of the Jewish National Fund (JNF). It also mentions brothers Woolf and Sam Friedman and Simon Lieberthal.

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The Lieberthal-Friedman family alight:

The arrival of the Friedman–Lieberthal family in Vryburg in 1911 marked a turning point in the town’s Jewish communal life. Simon Lieberthal was preceded by his nephews and brother-in-law, Sam and Lolly Friedman. Simon was married to Lea Friedman, the sister of Ester, Sam, and Lolly. Because marriage between close family members was not legally permitted, Simon and Lea travelled to Mozambique to be married.

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If the Smollans represented the social, economic, and Jewish core of the community in the preceding decade, the following decades belonged to the Talsen Jews. The Friedman–Lieberthal family attracted others from Talsen to Vryburg and functioned  as a clan. The communal core shifted toward Talsen families.

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Ester Friedman married John Mandie (Jack) Silbert in Kimberley on February 19, 1926. Jack had already been living in Vryburg by 1920. Lolly Friedman married Leah Blumberg, sister of David and Joseph (known as “Spider”) Blumberg. Leah had previously been married to Maurice David Toube , who, according to Phil Toube, travelled with his parents, Simon and Leah, to South Africa. Maurice David Toube died in 1946.

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The Blumberg family was closely connected to many other Courland families through marriage. Abraham Blumberg, who died in 1932, was the brother of Leah, David, and Joseph. Records indicate that their father, Moses Blumberg, married Betty Immerman in Talsi. All three Blumberg siblings later settled in Vryburg. Joseph (“Spider”) Blumberg married Lilly Edelstein, daughter of Louis Edelstein of Warrenton, another Courland family.

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The Immerman family was also related to the Friedmans and Lieberthals. Maurice Immerman recalled that his family moved to Middleburg because of relatives there—the Lieberthals. His mother had a half-brother or stepbrother named Leib (Lewin) Friedman, whose daughter Lea married her uncle, Simon Lieberthal. Shifra Sophie Toube was born an Immerman, and her brother Leopold is buried in Vryburg, where he and his family lived. Abram Aron Immerman married Lena Blumberg, further strengthening the family connections. The Immermans were also related to the Friedberg family, one of whom is buried in Vryburg.

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Leib (Lewin) Friedman, father of Ester, Leah, Sam, and Lolly, later joined his children in Vryburg. His wife, Helene Friedman, was originally a Lieberthal and may have been Simon’s sister. Helene died shortly after Ester’s birth. Through marriages to members of the Lieberthal family, the Toubes and Mendelows also became part of the Vryburg Jewish community, and the Toube family, in turn, was connected to the Immermans. These were all Talsen families. 

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Additional families arrived in the late 1910s. The Lowitz and Radowsky families came to Vryburg in 1918 to operate a hotel, which was sold in 1919 to Moses Cohen of Bloemhof. According to Phil Toube and Mervyn Lieberthal, the Lowitz family was also related to the Lieberthals, underscoring the dense network of kinship ties that characterized the Vryburg Jewish community.

 

Early Residents and Courland Connections

Among the early Jewish settlers were several individuals with origins in Courland. One such figure was Leopold Brenner, who applied for naturalization in 1910 from Pudimoe. Originally from Courland and with a Vyburg connection, Brenner later lived at Upper Gong Gong near Barkly West, where he died in 1930.

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Records from the local Freemasons’ Lodge further identify Jewish residents active in the town during this period. Another Courlander was Solomon Reidman - the son of Elkan (1850-1925) and Lina Reidman. Elkan applied for South African citizenship in 1903, while Lina died in 1906.

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Several additional Jewish individuals and families were present in Vryburg and the surrounding districts during the 1910s. Freemasons active at the time included Samuel Bing, brother of Martha Bing (née Sonnenberg), who married Pauline Traub, and Jacob Trass, who later fathered a child with a Batlhapin woman in 1920 at Sydney on Vaal. Others who arrived around this period include Lazarus Solomon, Elias Norman Helfer (Zidikė/Zhidik), and the brothers Woolf and Michael Friedman (Mazaik).

 

The Government Gazette of 1 June 1916 records that a Meltzer was in partnership with the Friedman brothers. Together they operated a store in Vryburg and another in Takoon. A 1916 notice discovered by Anney Garnett, promoting the Vryburg Fresh Meat Supply Company, also refers to S. Meltzer. I believe this individual was  Solomon Meltzer, originally from Mir/ Minsk, who married Hode Rakovski. This conclusion is based on the fact that Samuel Abelheim served as a witness to Solomon Meltzer’s last will. Abelheim was married to Rose Smollan.

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Solomon Meltzer later sold the business to Max Lowitz, who in turn sold it to M. Hurwitz. Some months later, M. Hurwitz sold the enterprise to C. Bruhns. I believe that M. Hurwitz was Michael Hurwitz, father of Cyril Hurwitz, the founder of Bull Brand, who was born in Mafikeng.

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Max Lowitz was a speculator and farmer who lived on a farm called Kareebult near Kameel. It is quite possible that he originally came to Vryburg as a hotelier. Research by Graham Brodovcky on Jewish hoteliers notes that the International Hotel was owned by the company Lowitz and Radowsky. I suspect this was Abraham Radowsky (1996-1931) who migrated to Bulawayo. In 1918, Max Lowitz—who I believe was Latvian—married Sophie Maneschewitz of Grahamstown.

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In 1916, another store in the district was sold to Isaac Rauff and Louis Gerber, the latter being a German Jew. The two traded under the name Rauff and Gerber until Louis Gerber’s death in Vryburg in 1934.

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Abe Lax (Leibowitz) was in partnership with Abbie Lewis (Levius) at Madibogo. As already noted, Lax arrived in Vryburg sometime before 1910. ​Maximillian Isaac Cohen, brother of Jacob (“Jack”) Cohen, arrived in Vryburg as early as 1919, together with their brother Harris Bernard Cohen. The brothers were involved in the Savoy Hotel, later known as the International. The Cohen family originated from nearby Bloemhof.

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Zionist Records and Community Presence​

A Zionist Record article dated 6 September 1915 provides valuable insight into additional Jewish families present in Vryburg during this period. This list is supplemented by the names of Jewish soldiers serving in the Union Forces during World War I.

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Those listed in the Zionist Record include:

• Mrs. S. Abelheim, identified as Rose Smollan, wife of Samuel Abelheim.

• Fannie Victoria Fisher, apparently the daughter of Adolph Marks Fisher and Rosa Fisher (née Hart). The family was Hungarian Jews from Miskolc (known as Mischkolz in Yiddish). Her connection to Vryburg is unclear.

• A. Zarif, probably Aharon Sarif (1881-1937). His brother Jacob (1879-1936) was a merchant near Bloemhof. Another Courland family. 

• A. Katz, about whom nothing further is known.

• R. Rosenberg (I presume Robert Rosenberg - 1890-1937), a commercial traveller from - from Neigut or Ligutanear to Aizpute.

• A. Hirschon, presumably Adolph Hirschon, a livestock speculator. The family are from Talsen. 

• I. Geber. In the Kuruman section we have mapped the Geber brothers who were active.  

• G. Green, possible Gekob Jacob Green (1878-1959) or George Green (1995-1958).

• S. Meltze, whom I believe was Solomon Meltzer or Susman Meltzer from Mafikeng.

• S. Hurwitz, of whom very little is known. There is a Latvian Samuel Moses Hurwitz (1879-1950) and a Solomon Hurwitz (1857-1921), Solomon Hurwitz (1962-1941), Simon Hurwitz (1869-1926) and a Solomon Hurwitz (1867-1931).

Notably, Simon Lieberthal and the Talsen Friedmans were not included on this list, suggesting they were not yet economically established at the time.

 

Jewish Soldiers from the District

The list of local Jewish men serving in the South African Defense Forces during World War I includes:

• Fritz Sonnenberg

• B. Senderowitz (Taung)

• S. Solomon (Pudimoe), identified as Simon Solomon, son of Lazarus and Annie Solomon

• Freedman, about whom nothing further is known

• E. Loewenthal, possibly Edvart 

• Ludwig Hammerschlag, listed as living in De Hen and serving in the Kalahari Horse Regiment

• I. B. Solomon (Israel Solomon), also a son of Lazarus and Annie Solomon of Pudimoe

The list also includes an M. Friedman from Mafikeng, identified as Michael Friedman, brother of Woolf and Sam Friedman.

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