The roaring 1920s​

A few families arrived before or during the 1920s:  Sarah (Cuddles) Lewis (born Sebba) and Abraham Abbie Lewis (Levisus), his brother Louis Lewis. Sarah is first mentioned in a 1924 court case and probably moved after marrying Abbie in 1916. Louis Lewis married Sheila Hirshowitz in 1950. Sheila was the daughter of Julius and Paulina Hirshowitz, and they came to South Africa from Lithuania. The Lewis brothers were from Lepeija and were later joined by their sister Regina Levius (Lewis). In Vryburg she met and married Harry Jacobson (30 May 1937 in Johannesburg). Harry was also from Lepeija and owned the Central Hotel. The Sebba family were from Talsen. 

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Tailor Nathan (Nat) Levine and movie theater owner David Solomon Cohen were also in town. He was to remain in Vryburg until going bankrupt in 1935. His Vryburg connection may well have been to Solomon Stores as his sister Millie married a Schneier. Samuel Schneier and Solomon London bought Solomon's Stores from Max Sonnenberg. Nat Levine (born Naphtoola Vinograeliski) changed his name in 1921. He and his first wife, Maude (Fisher) were married in 1915, in the West End Talmud Torah and Bikkur Holim Synagogue. Maude passed away in 1922 and was buried in the local cemetery.

 

Moses Cohen from Bloemhof owned the Savoy (later the International) Hotel from 1919-1929. In 1922 Ephraim Gluckman and Samuel Solomon Kaplan were represented on the local Town Council. Ephraim Gluckman, a bachelor, was lawyer and born in Talsen, Latvia. He managed Solmons Stores on behalf of Schneier and London. By the time Ephraim passed away in 1948, he was living on Lindhurst Dairy Farm in Johannesburg. From his estate, we learn that his sister Nadia Gluckman was married to Joseph Berman. Joseph and Nadia were also in Vryburg around this time. Solomon Kaplan was married to Fannie Kaplan and his business partner was Harry Abrahamson. The operated and general dealership called Kaplan and Abramson. In 1921 Harry and his wife lost their baby, who is buried in Vryburg. They left Vryburg after filing for insolvency in July 1922.

 

From the 1921 records of the local Free Mason Lodge - the Stella Lodge - we also learn of other Jews in town: Solomon Maurice Redhouse, who was initiated as a Freemason in 1902 and Samuel Bing was initiated in 1912 and is listed as a clerk. He presumably worked at Solomons Stores. Samuel was the son of Benjamin and Ida Bing and the brother of Bertha Bing, who married Theo Sonnenberg. There was also a Pasech (Philip) Lavin (Dvinsk, Latvia) was initiated in 1913 and was a farmer. Jacob Trass (or Frass) was initiated in 1914 and resigned in 1918. In 1922 Shmaryahu Levin was the chief guest of the eight South African Zionist Conference. The Zionist Record reported that the Vryburg Zionist Society (earlier led by Harry Abrahamson and founded by Woolf Goldwater) was represented by Joseph Reeb. It is not clear that he was living in Vryburg. From his naturalization papers in 1902, we know he was in Mafikeng at the time. He is listed as being born in Weksne. In 1919 we have him at Vlaakfontein, Carolina District, according to a Government Gazette (17 January 1919). Another Government Gazette (28 January 1921) has him serving on the Wekshner Benevolent Fund. This would imply a connection to Abe Lax and Woolf, Sam and Michael Friedman. It is not clear if and when he lived in Vryburg. From his estate we see that he was a farmer and a merchant from Rysmierbult. His brother Charles also migrated to South Africa. The Sussman family would later live at Rysmierbult.  

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The earliest reference to Jack Silbert was also in 1922. Simon Maurice Suchet (nephew of Elias Helfer of Geluk) married Fannie Katzin in 1927. Percy Friedman (son of Jacob Freidman from Shavel) and Morris Bayer, both from Taungs, were also active in business around 1918. Lazarus Falowitz passed away in February 1928. His death certificate lists him as owning a store in Pudimoe and his will (signed in Yiddish) was written up in Vryburg. The business he operated was L. Falowitz and Son and as reported, in his estate distribution. Lazarus Falowitz applied for citizenship in November 1904, then aged 36 and a shopkeeper based in Kimberley. Lazarus and his wife Leah (nee Horwitz) had five children; Molly (married Jack Freedman), Abraham (married Gertrude Wax), Jack (married Zena Rudolph), Betty (married Solomon Lipschitz in 1920 and is listed as living in Pudimoe at the time) and Cecilia (married Harry Michelow). Though the Bet Hatfutsot list includes an Ezekowitz family, there is nothing I have seen that places this Uniondale-Aliwal North family in Vryburg. This list also includes a Greenberg. He was Herman Greenberg (son of Zalman and Chana) from Lithuania and married to Bertha Linde from Uniondale. He died in 1929 at the residence of Louis and Chai Chesne Linde residence in Uniondale, leaving behind two daughters, Felicia Daphne (born 1924) and Eleana (born 1928). He is listed as a storekeeper and speculator on his death certificate. In Vryburg he had the license to run the Savoy (later the International) bottle store. Other Jews with licenses in 1928 were Jack Perel and Jacob (Jack) Cohen - The Grand Hotel and William (Willy) Heppel - The Central Hotel. 

 

Esther and Jack Perel and Jacob (Jack) Cohen and Fay Cohen, who arrived in 1927. Fay and Esther were sisters from the Manoim family. Fay and Esther were to establish the Vryburg Jewish Ladies Society. Jacob Cohen was from Bloemhof and the son of Moses Michael Cohen. Jacob's brother Maximillian Isaac (Max) Cohen was engaged to Ida Goldinger of Zeerust in 1931 and was also listed as living in Vryburg by the Zionist Record. Ida's father, Isaac Goldinger, was from Hasenpoth or Aizpute in Latvia. Both Cohen brothers later moved to Wepenaar. Hotelier Kevi Levin, who reached Vryburg in 1929. I have seen reference to Charlie Osrin - a veterinarian as early as 1928. I came across reference to a Jewish vet called Charlie Osrin who served in Vryburg for a short time. He married Fanny Bayer from Taungs in 1929. She was the daughter of Morris & Freida Bayer. Charles was the second eldest of 10 children born to Abraham (Abe) Osrin and Sarah Kisrschner. The Osrins came from Krustpils/Kreuzburg, Courland.

 

Elias Traub, who was born in 1906 in Beaufort West came to Vryburg in 1924, at the age of 18 years, to do his articles with Wessels. de Kock and Van Rooyen. According to an interview he conducted with Eve Horwitz in 1986, he noted that he came to Vryburg “on the recommendation of a relative.” From the estate of Nechama Horwitz (Bayer) we glean that Elias’s father was her brother in law. Later, Elias’s brother Izzy also did his articles in Vryburg. The Traub's were from Courland. 

 

David Salmonson from Libau reached Vryburg in 1921. Though Abe Lax (Lubavitch or Leibowitz) arrived before 1910 was initiated to the local Free Masons Lodge in 1920. He was joined by his sisters. First, his brother-in-law, Chanan Poliak in 1925 reached and in 1927 Tzirre (Celia) Poliak joined. Next, Avraham Mordechai (Morris) and Pessa (Pauline) Wald reached.

 

The community buried three members in the 1920's: Maude Levine died in 1922, aged 24. She was the first wife of the tailor Nathan Levine. Her death would explain Nathan's absence from the town around then. He remarried Raie, Rachael Diamondstone in Kimberley in 1926. The second burial was a 33 year old lawyer, Jacob Hoffland practicing law in Taung. The third, Ludwig Hammerschlag, aged 41 passed away in October 1928. Ludwig was a Barman. His tombstone mentions a mother, brothers, sisters and an uncle. We know that his brother, Herman Hammerschlag, was a Kuruman resident. His other brother Max was in Lichtenburg, his sister Adele in Cape Town and a fourth sibling, Bertha, was in Wolmeraanstad. She married Hermann Bach in 1906. 

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