Grahamstown

Grahamstown Jewish Cemeteries

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD)’s Country Communities Department now oversees the maintenance of both the Old and New Jewish cemeteries.

The tables of burials below were adapted with permission from the records of the SA Jewish Rootsbank at the Kaplan Centre, University of Cape Town. Photographs, taken in August 2024, were generously provided by Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft of the Small Jewish Communities Association of South Africa (SJCA-SA). The Rootsbank records include entries from undertakers' records and other sources but with some uncertainties regarding Jewish identity. In addition, those records do not distinguish between graves in the two cemeteries. The entries that include photos (linked via underlined surnames) can be definitively attributed to the respective cemeteries but uncertainty surrounds entries for the Old Cemetery that do not include photos. The tables can be sorted in different ways by clicking on different column headings.

Old Cemetery

• The very first Jewish burial in Grahamstown occurred on 30 October 1838, when Lyon Benjamin, a local Jewish shopkeeper, died. The following day, five Jewish residents petitioned the Lieutenant-Governor of the Eastern Division to set aside ground for Jewish burial. This petition is likely the first Jewish document drafted in South Africa. The petitioners were John Norton, his son Alouis, his brothers-in-law Joshua Davis Norden & Marcus Norden, and Meyer Schryver.
  
  
• The request was granted. Lyon Benjamin’s grave is the oldest in the Old Cemetery; the next oldest is that of Moses Isaac Leon, who died in February 1839.
  
  
• By 1843, the Jewish community officially purchased the plot, surrounding it with a stone wall and iron gates. The funds for this came in part from donations from Jews in Cape Town. Among those interred in 1843 were Meyer Schryver and Isaac Weinberg.
  
  
• Before Port Elizabeth established its own Jewish cemetery (around 1860), Jews who died there were sometimes transported by ox-wagon to be buried in Grahamstown’s Old Cemetery.
  
  
• The Old Cemetery has 111 graves, though only about 64 of them still bear headstones. Many graves have become unmarked or their markers are damaged.
  
  
• A major restoration effort was completed in 2004 for the Old Cemetery.
  
  

Surname	First Names	Maiden Name	Hebrew Name	Date of death	Age	Spouse
ABRAHAMSOHN	Rosalie	ABRAHAMSOHN	Rosa b Avraham	1860-12-05	22	Joseph Wallach
ABRAHAMSON	Bertie			1961-12-18
ABRAMOWITZ	Elias Raphael		Eliyahu Raphael b Zeev Yosef	1929-01-08	9
ARENSON	Liele/Lieb			1912-09-14	4
ARKIN	Annie Victoria			1971-04-10	72
ARONSOHN	Harry		Tzvi Hirsh Shmuel Yacov	1918-10-26	40	Betzy Aronsohn (born Lewis)
ARONSOHN	stillborn			1911-12-06
ASHERSON	Leah			1970-11-17	90
BACK	Eveline Margaret			1850-03-12	23
BALLIN	Jetchen/Jakchem ???	NATHAN		1944-02-04	70
BARNETT	Henry Robert Charles			1957-11-10	81
BARNETT	Josephine Mary ("Joy")			1957-11-14	56
BARRON	Becky (Rebecca)			1943-07-14	37
BENJAMIN	Julia			1902-07-26
BENNETT	Netty (Neche)	AMOILSKY	Nessa b Shlomo Zalman	1911-06-07	47	Moses Bennett
BERMAN	Hyman		Chaim b Dov	1930-02-24	78	Jane Berman (born Jacobson)
BERMAN	Janie	JACOBSON		1936-06-07	69	Hyman
BERNSTEIN	Joseph		Yosef Yacov b Moshe	1914-02-15	17
BIERMAN	Hyman			1930-02-24	78
BITCHANSKY	Millie			1933-01-10	42
BLACKMAN	Esther	OSHRY	Esther b Benzion	1932-03-05	53	Joseph Blackman
BLACKMAN	Fanny			1932-06-14	18
BORMAN	Bertha		Batya Tzipa b Chaim Dov Ber	1923-03-19	52
BORMAN	Max		Menachem Mendel b Baruch Yitzchak	1946-06-15	76
BRAINES	Wolff			1962-03-15	74
BRENNER	Morris		Moshe b Fivush ve Sara	1917-08-06	43
BUCKOFSKY	Rachel			1909-08-20	44
BURMAN	child			1907-03-15
BURNOLINE	Joseph			1914-02-15	17
CASSEL	Henry James			1924-00-00
CASTLE	Alfred T			1935-06-24
CHASSEN	Henry			1955-07-08	79
CLOUTS	Israel Isidore			1962-10-30	66
COHEN	Baruch			1953-07-02	65
COHEN	John			1968-12-02
COOPER	Israel Bennie			1972-02-22	76
DAVIES	Solomon			1954-09-13	82
ELIASOV	Elia			1922-07-10	61
ELIASOV	Eva			1922-07-05	52
EPSTEIN	Fanny			1966-02-24	87
FINE	Annie			1950-03-01	80
FINE	Rosie			1957-03-11
FINES	Samuel		Simcha	1903-02-05	52
FISHER	Aisik		Yitzchak Aizik b Shlomo	1940-05-27	72
FISHER	David Leslie		David Eliezer b Yitzchak Aizik	1939-11-01	46
FISHER	Sarah		Sara b Zalman	1932-06-11	61
FISHER	Abraham			1922-02-02	0
FISHER	M			1911-11-11
FRANKEL	Isaiah		Yeshayahu b Moshe HaLevi	1919-06-19	82
FRANKS	Alfred			1932-08-01	77
FREEMAN	Samuel			1916-06-05	65
FRIEDLANDER	Marcus			0000-05-20
FRIEDLANDER	Gertrude Lidia			1887-09-15
FRIEDLANDER	Letticia Johana			1887-05-21
FRIEDMAN	Sarah		Sara	1927-05-08	72
FRIEDMAN	Barnard			1908-07-24	26
GABRIEL	Adolph		Avraham b Eliyahu	1868-06-10	21
GOLDBERG	Sarah			1947-03-20	67
GOODMAN	Arnold			1974-01-06	94
GORDON	Toibah Goodman		Toiba Goodman b Noach	1902-11-11	22
GORDON	Adolph			1981-10-30	77
GREEN	Morris		Moshe b Pesach	1943-08-09	67
GREENSTONE	Abraham Joseph		Avraham Yosef b Moshe	1917-06-01	44
GREENSTONE	Charlie			1909-08-22
GRUBMAN	Joe			1961-09-18	71
GRUSKIN	Ralph			1910-10-23	0
HARRIS	Samuel Jacob			1928-07-25	58	Dora Harris (born Gross)
HERRINGS	Barney			1928-08-21	21
HESS	Joseph Charles			1882-03-26	61
HOHN	David			1974-07-25
HUTH	Heinrich			1948-10-13	73
ISRAELSHON	M.L.			1961-02-14
JACOBS	Margaret			1872-03-03	0
JACOBS	Rachel			1917-02-02	45
JACOBS	Hyman			1973-09-01
JACOBSON	Bernard		Dov Ber	1935-09-14	75
JACOBSON	Bertha			1902-03-13	0
JACOBSON	Ellen	WOLF	Elka b Yehuda Leib	1924-02-14	59	B Jacobson
JACOBSON	Fanny			1923-04-18	96
JACOBSON	Jane		Shaina b Shlomo	1933-11-04	58	B Jacobson
JACOBSON	Louis			1889-11-07	0
JAPPIE	Leah			1952-07-17	58
JOSEPH	stillborn			1937-08-09
KAHN	Julius			1952-04-30	57
KAHN	Mina			1951-01-30	80
KALISIK ??	Abe			1962-06-05	63
KAPLAN	Annie Rachel	ZIMMERMAN	Yenta Rachel b Yosef Yacov	1915-04-01	42	J I Kaplan
KAPLAN	Jacob Isaac		Yitzchak Yacov b Avraham HaCohen	1924-05-31	50
KAPLAN	Rachel	WARKOBOVNIK	Rachel b David	1922-06-19	48
KAPLAN	Sarah Leah		Sarah Leah b Yitzchak Yacov HaCohen	1913-12-23	11
KAPLAN	Robert Isaac			1924-05-31	50
KAUFMAN	Udel			1931-05-08	50
KUSSEL	Minnie		Mina Riva b Henna	1920-05-16	19
LAWRANCE	Henry			1921-03-25	66
LAWRENCE	Dinah	MOSES		1931-02-25	85	Joseph Lawrence
LAWRENCE	Elizabeth	BENJAMIN		1863-02-25	41	Joseph Lawrence
LAWRENCE	Ethel Annie			1891-07-10	19
LAWRENCE	Harriet Amelia			1857-07-16	4
LAWRENCE	Joseph			1899-07-28
LAWRENCE	Josephine May			1935-06-23
LAWRENCE	May			1935-06-24
LAX	Victor			1906-06-08
LEIBENSON	Nathan J		Natan Yaacov b Avraham	1917-01-02	36
LEON	Moses Isaac			1829-02-23
LEVENSON	Emelia Jacoba			1974-04-16		Lionel
LEVENSON	Lionel			1944-02-11	64	Emelia
LEVENTHAL	Jacob		Yacov Shia b Yisrael	1943-11-19	82
LEVINSOHN	Gertrude			1915-10-17	0
LEVY	Maurice Gilbert			1911-01-04	0
LEWIS	Isaac			1916-11-23	60
LIBERTHAL	Herman			1933-07-22	54
LIEFMANN	Julius			1916-12-03	72
LINNARD	Joseph			1934-09-03	71
LOCKE	Louis			1960-07-19	79
LURIE	Moses Reuben			1906-04-21	0
MALATSKY	Isaac		Yitzchak Yehuda b Shabtai	1948-12-28	71
MANASCHEWITZ	Fanny		Faiga	1938-03-01	63
MANASCHEWITZ	Louis		Shimon Leib	1944-01-17	76
MARCUS	Rachael	SCHRYVER	Rachel b Meir	1866-11-17		John Marcus
MARKMAN	Mary			1934-02-12	29
JUNE	Josephine			1935-06-23
MEYER	Esther			1906-04-09	74
MEYERSON	Charles			1920-05-14	58
MILLER	Merle Fay	MARCOW		1985-09-24	41
MORRIS	Barnett		Dov b Moshe	1938-05-27	64
NAILAND	Minnie	JACOBSON	Mina b Dov Ber	1925-04-02	36	Julius Nailand
NAILAND	Grace			1911-01-31	0
NAILAND	Minnie			1925-04-02	36
NORDEN	Joshua Davis
NORDEN	Miriam		Miriam b Yacov	1866-05-04	28	Louis (Yehuda Avraham) Norden
ORLOW ??	Theodor			1905-04-14	37
PADOWITZ	Matus		Matityahu	1916-08-08	62
PHILIPS	Arniel ? Sinson ?			1944-02-05	74
PHILIPS	Julia			1902-07-26	75
PLOTZ	Riverlie		Rivka b Yisrael	1926-06-24	21
RADOMSKY	Abraham		Avraham b Baruch	1958-04-03	81
RADOMSKY	Eidis		Ada b Ephraim	1915-01-29		Barnett (Baruch) Radomsky
RADOMSKY	Ethel Maud		Etel b Avraham	1930-04-10
RADOMSKY	Jehudis			1915-01-30	58
RADOMSKY	Leah Fanny			1934-08-12	50
RADOMSKY				1910-07-14	0
RAFFEL	Sonia Deborah			1965-01-28	40
ROSE	John			1906-12-12	35
ROSENFEL	Mrs.			1910-11-07	44
ROSENTHAL	Jacob			1920-12-06	54
RUBENSTEIN	Leonora			1973-11-02
SACKS	David			1969-12-09	89
SALMAN	Goldeman			1913-08-07
SALMON	Gladys Sylvia			1909-04-18	0
SALMON	Theodore Isaac			1908-07-02	0
SATILL	Thomas			1931-05-03	52
SCHAVEL	Robert			1933-01-30
SCHIPITIN	Mordechai			1939-02-11	49
SCHNEIDER	Joseph (Jack)		Yosef b Avraham Henoch	1931-04-29	24
SCHNIDER	Ethel			1931-07-18	46
SCHRYVER	Catherine		Kaila b	1859-06-05	64	Meyer Schryver
SCHRYVER	Meyer			1840-02-06	60
SCHWARTZ	Myra				0
SCHWARTZ	baby			1911-06-22	0
SCHWARTZ	Barnett			1901-11-10	22
SCHWARTZ	Mendel			1901-06-28	24
SEGAL	Emmanuel Sydney		Mendel	1944-10-10	62
SHER	Andrew			1962-08-24	19
SHERMAN	Rebecca			1924-11-02	65
SIFF	Valerie		Liba b Mordechai Zella	1943-04-26
SINOSKY	Hyman			1927-02-09	76
SOLOMON	Fanny			1866-11-26		E H Solomon
SOLOMON	Reuben			1919-05-27	48
SOLOMONS	Theresa			1924-09-05	26
SUGERMAN	Clara		Clara	1945-02-28	75
SUGERMAN	Louis		Yehuda b Elimelech	1951-06-12	50	Ethel Sugarman
SUSSMAN	Lazarus			1928-09-18	81
SUTTNER	Rudolph Smerl		Reuven Shmariyahu b Yehuda Leib	1942-02-07	67
TROUBE	Simon		Shimon	1902-09-19	24
UNTERMAN	Solomon			1960-06-09	68
VADOWITZ	Natus			1916-08-08	62
WAILAND	Minnie			1905-04-08		Julius Wailand
WALLACH	Myer		Meir b Yosef	1866-08-13	0
WINEBERG	Isaac		Yitzchak	1843-11-06
WINER	Bertie		Eliyahu b Avraham	1918-11-01	21
WOLF	Isaac			1917-11-03	54
WOLFE	Louis			1940-07-24	73
WOOLF	Kate			1939-05-02	85

New Cemetery

• A second Jewish cemetery was opened in the early 1940s. The oldest grave in the new cemetery appears to date from 1943.
  
  
• Mr. A.G. Barnett, who was President of the Grahamstown Hebrew Congregation at the time, donated the gates to the new cemetery.
  
  

Surname	First Names	Maiden Name	Hebrew Name	Date of death	Age	Spouse
ABRAHAMS	Neil		Daniel b Yitzchak	1991-05-30	81
BARNETT	Arthur Gluckman		Dov b Yehuda Leib HaLevi	1950-12-20
BARNETT	Esther Gluckman		Esther b Daniel Moshe	1952-01-24	63
BERGMAN	Philip Leibe		Raphael Leib b Shraga	1943-12-21	67
BERMAN	Solomon Charles		Shlomo b Chaim	1964-02-04	76
BORMAN	Barnett Isaac		Baruch Yitzchak b Menachem Mendel	1976-06-15	78	Sarah Borman
CASTLE	Philip		Faivish	1955-06-03	62
EDELSON	Ada		Ita b Zemach	1958-03-18	52	Aser Edelson
EISENBERG	Sam		Shmuel b Yechiel Michael	1969-04-12
GITELSON	Sarah		Sara Rivka b Yitzchak	1968-09-26	83
GITTELSON	Shlomo		Shlomo Leib b Yosef	1956-12-17	82
GLUCKMAN	Harry		Tzvi b Gershon	1963-12-18	79
GLUCKMAN	Sarah		Sara b Shlomo Zalman	1950-09-01
GOLDBERG	Pincus		Pinchus b Yitzchak	1955-03-11	76
HAHN	David		David b Yacov	1974-07-25
HURWITZ	Morris		Moshe b Chaim	1986-01-12
ISAACSON	Calman		Kalman b Zusman	1971-05-17	78	Fanny Isaacson
JACOBSON	Nathaniel (Sonny)		Nataniel b Moshe	1984-07-30	75
JACOBSON	Ruth		Rut b Avraham	1994-02-20	77
KAHN	Algernon (Alec)		Elchanan b Daniel Moshe	1963-10-11	53
KAPLAN	Louis Samuel		Leib Shmuel b Avraham Betzalel HaCohen	1981-01-08	75
LEVINSOHN	Isaac (Jack)		Yitzchak b Benjamin	1979-09-22	68	Rosalie Levinsohn
PIETERS	Adelaide		Adelaide b Chaim & Phina	1983-11-13	74
ROSENBERG	Hyman		Chaim b Yacov	1967-12-31
SCHNEIDER	Hyman		Chaim b Moshe Leib	1948-03-12	65
SUTTNER	Judith		Yehudit b Yisrael	1968-02-29	47
SUTTNER	Maxwell		Matityahu b Shmerl	1961-12-04	50	Judy Suttner
TAITZ	Kalman		Kalman b Avraham	1991-07-23
WILKEN	Solomon		Zalman b Yehuda	1962-01-29	78
WOOLF	Sophie		Sarah b Benjamin	1966-04-15