Vryburg's cemetery, which was consecrated in 1905, is a focus of pilgrimage to the town for many of us who still return. According to the London Jewish Chronicle, it was consecrated by the minister of the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation - Rev. M. I. Cohen. Those Jews who departed this life before this were presumably buried in Kimberley. The less pious were buried in the local cemetery. They include:

• Infant Marcus Sonnenberg, 7 January 1872. He was the son of Ikey and Jeanette and was buried in Kimberley.

• Amalia Rosenblatt, 11 October 1887. She was the mother of Herman, Julius and Jeanette Rosenblatt and is buried in Kimberley.

• In 1891 Harold Rosenblatt, the son of Herman and Jeanette was buried in Kimblery in 1891. He was around 4 months old, 

• Sarah Stern passed away in Vryburg in 1896 and was buried in Kimberley. She was married to Rabbi Noah Bernard Stern, who was a Rabbi. He may well have been the community's first Rabbi. If this is the case, this implies that there was a formal community well before the Beit Hatfutsot studies posit. 

• Alphonse Blum, 26 December 1896 - aged 48.

• Eliza Senderowitz, 19 October 1896 (she dies in Vryburg and was buried in Kimberley, listed as Liza).

• Archibald Isaacs, 9 April 1898 - aged 24.

• Doris Sonnenberg, the infant daughter of Mauuice and Betty Sonnenberg. She was buried in Kimberley on 2 February 1899.

• William Ruthenberg, 25 February 1899 - aged 40. He was presumably Jewish and married out. There were three Ruthenberg's - who all hailed form Shalve. Brothers Harry and Solomon (sons of Aron and Rebecca, who were active in the Transvaal as general dealers) and Louis Ruthenberg (also spelt Ruttenberg). There were several other Ruttenberg's - Able, Meyer, Harry, Nethaniel and Morris. 

• Elly Jacobs, 11 April 1899 - aged 25 (TBC if he was Jewish). 

• Hannah Marks, 9 December 1899- aged 18. (TBC if she was Jewish). 

• Albert Elkan - German Jew who died in Vryburg in 1903 and was buried in Kimberley. He was a shopkeeper in town at the time of death.

• William Klisser died in Vryburg in 1917 and was presumably buried near his wife who was not Jewish.

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

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The quaint Jewish cemetery has 44 graves and has - in the main - been well kept. The dilapidated Ohel was destroyed in the early 1990s.  The Jewish Life in the Country Communities Study (Volume II), by SA Friends of Beit Hatfutsot claims this happened in 1983. I however recall the Ohel still being there the day my father Isaac was buried in 1991.

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The first burial took place in 1910 and the last in 1993. The cemetery catered for local congregants, families from the wider district, notably Pudimoe (Wolpert), Taung (Rauff and Bayer) and Delareyville (Joffee). It is worth noting that both Daniel Abt (1936) and Lipman Israel Hyman (1917) are buried in the Kuruman cemetery. Given that many people would have gone to larger towns for medical treatment and that the journey to Vryburg was time consuming, it may well be that Vryburg Jews who passed away in the early years were not buried in town. In the case of German born bachelor, Louis Gerber, he died in Vryburg in 1934 but was not buried on the local Jewish cemetery. Storekeeper Lazarus Solomon of Pudimoe was busied in Kimberley in September 1912. Hotelier Herman Greenberg of Vryburg died in Uniondale and is buried there. Louis Myer, died in 1917 and was buried in Johannesburg. His wife Elizabeth was an Isaacs and he was listed as a retired jeweler living in Vryburg at the time. Feige Roche Romm Galgut died in 1952 in Vryburg and was buried in Brixton cemetery.

 

Then there were those who died in town whilst there on a business trip or visiting family and were not buried locally. Herman Segal - who died in 1921 whilst staying at the Grand Hotel - is one example. He was from Latvia and his brother-in-law Joseph Kaplan (from Pilten, Latvia) and sister Charlotte dealt with his affairs. Abraham Bernard Schapiro from Cape Town died in Vryburg whilst there for business in 1946. Louis Hoffman died in 1950 whilst staying at his son Seymour and was buried in the Cape. Feige Roche Galgult (mother of Annie Joffe) died in Vryburg in 1952 but was buried in Johannesburg. 

 

Given that there were over 200 families / individuals who passed through the town and its catchment area, the cemetery is quite small. 

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Until the early 1970's there was a local Chevra Kadisha to perform taharah and watch the body until the funeral. Eddie Shapiro remembers his father Mike being part of the Chevra Kadisha (the family left in 1967). By 1979, when my brother Dale was killed, we needed the Klerksdorp community fulfill this function. Later, the Kimberley Chevra Kadisha, led by Arnold Bayer took care of Vryburg. Arnold drove my brother Brett to Laingsburg to identify our father and then prepared the body for the funeral. The deep irony was that it was a soggy funeral. He had driven home early because of a bad drought and fell asleep at the wheel.  

Below is a list of those buried in the cemetery along with photos of tombstone's. The list is arranged by date of death. To the extent possible we will seek to secure copies of death notices and obituaries in order to shed some light on these individuals. The photos were taken by Anney Garnett on 25 June 2020. Anney will reviewed the Stellelander to obtain related news items, obituaries and death notices. This will be an incremental process. May their memory be blessed.