Vryburg Jewish Cemetery: History, Burials, and Community Practice

Vryburg’s Jewish cemetery, consecrated in 1905, remains a focal point of pilgrimage for many former residents and their descendants who return to the town. According to the London Jewish Chronicle, the cemetery was consecrated by Rev. M. I. Cohen, minister of the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation.

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Deaths Prior to 1905

Before the consecration of the Jewish cemetery, Jews who died in or around Vryburg were generally buried elsewhere. Those regarded as religiously observant were usually interred in Kimberley, while the less pious were often buried in the local (general) cemetery.​

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The following is a list of known Jewish deaths prior to 1905:

• Marcus Sonnenberg: Infant son of (Isaac) Ikey and Jeanette, died on January 7, 1872; buried in Kimberley.

• Amalia Rosenblatt: Mother of Herman, Julius, and Jeanette Rosenblatt; died on October 11, 1887; buried in Kimberley.

• Harold Rosenblatt: Infant son of Herman and Jeanette, died in 1891 at approximately four months of age; buried in Kimberley.

• Sarah Stern: Died in Vryburg in 1896; buried in Kimberley. She was the wife of Rabbi Noah Bernard Stern.

• Alphonse Blum: Died on December 26, 1896, aged 48.

• Eliza (Liza) Senderowitz: Died on October 19, 1896, in Vryburg; buried in Kimberley.

• Archibald Isaacs: Died on April 9, 1898, aged 24. Buried in Vryburg. 

• Doris Sonnenberg: Infant daughter of Maurice and Betty Sonnenberg; buried in Kimberley on February 2, 1899.

• William Ruthenberg: Died on February 25, 1899, aged 40. He was from Krugersdorp (Jewish status to be confirmed).

• Elly Jacobs: Died on April 11, 1899, aged 25 (Jewish status to be confirmed).

• Hannah Marks: Died on December 9, 1899, aged 18 (Jewish status to be confirmed).

• Albert Elkan (1858-1903): A German-Jewish shopkeeper who died in Vryburg and was buried in Kimberley.

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The Jewish Cemetery (1905–1993)

The first burial in the Jewish cemetery took place in 1910, and the last in 1993. The cemetery contains 44 graves and has, for the most part, been well maintained.

The cemetery served:

• Local congregants

• Families from the broader district, notably Pudimoe (Wolpert), Taung (Rauff and Bayer), and Delareyville (Joffe).

 

It is noteworthy that Daniel Abt (1936) and Lipman Israel Hyman (1917) are buried in the Kuruman cemetery, illustrating that burial location was often determined by proximity, circumstance, or medical care rather than residence alone.

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Several individuals with Jewish identity or background were buried outside the Jewish cemetery due to assimilation, intermarriage, or personal circumstances, including:

• William Klisser, who died in Vryburg in 1917 and was likely buried near his non-Jewish wife.

• Ludwig Salomon, whose death certificate notes he was a Hebrew, yet he had assimilated and was buried in the general cemetery.

• Louis Gerber, a German-born bachelor who died in Vryburg in 1934 but was not buried in the local Jewish cemetery.

 

Deaths Outside Vryburg

Many Vryburg Jews died away from town and were buried elsewhere:

• Lazarus Solomon, storekeeper of Pudimoe, was buried in Kimberley in September 1912.

• Max Mell - a feather merchant from Oudtshoorn who died in 1912.

• Herman Greenberg, a Vryburg hotelier, died in Uniondale and is buried there.

• Louis Myers, a retired jeweller living in Vryburg, died in 1917 and was buried in Johannesburg. His wife, Elizabeth, was an Isaacs.

• Feige Roche Romm Galgut, died in Vryburg in 1952 - buried in Brixton Cemetery.

 

Visitors Who Died in Vryburg

Some individuals died in Vryburg while visiting on business or family matters and were not buried locally:

• Herman Segal, from Latvia, died in 1921 while staying at the Grand Hotel. His estate was handled by his brother-in-law Joseph Kaplan (from Piltene, Latvia) and his sister Charlotte.

• Abraham Bernard Schapiro of Cape Town died in Vryburg during a business trip in 1946.

• Louis Hoffman, who died in 1950 while staying with his son Seymour, was buried in the Cape.

• Feige Roche Galgut, mother of Annie Joffe, died in Vryburg in 1952 and was buried in Johannesburg.

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Chevra Kadisha and Burial Practices

Given that over scores of families or individuals passed through Vryburg and its surrounding district, the Jewish cemetery is relatively small. This is partly explained by travel patterns for medical care, the logistical challenges of funerals in outlying districts, and strong connections to larger Jewish centres.

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Until the early 1970s, Vryburg maintained a local Chevra Kadisha, responsible for taharah and guarding the body until burial. Eddie Shapiro recalls his father, Mike Shapiro, serving in this capacity before the family left the town in 1967.

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By 1979, when my brother Dale was killed, these responsibilities were assumed by the Klerksdorp Jewish community, and later by the Kimberley Chevra Kadisha, under the leadership of Arnold Bayer. Arnold drove my brother Brett to Laingsburg to identify our father and then prepared the body for burial. The deep irony was that this was a soggy funeral: my father, having driven home early because of severe drought conditions, fell asleep at the wheel.

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The cemetery’s Ohel fell into disrepair and was destroyed in the early 1990s. 

 

Below appears a list of those buried in the cemetery, arranged by date of death, accompanied by photographs of the tombstones. The photographs were taken by Anney Garnett on 25 June 2020.