Laingsburg Jewish Cemetery
Photo: Professor Peter Gordon
Land for a Jewish cemetery in Laingsburg was acquired in 1903. It seems that 21 people were buried there from 1913, when Dora Helman died aged 57. Although it seldom rains in Laingsburg, the cemetery was damaged by flood waters in 1920 and had to be repaired. The last burial was in 1981, when 38-year-old Alfred Goodman drowned in his house in the catastrophic flood of January that year. The cemetery was also badly damaged in the 1981 flood. The Jewish Board of Deputies’ Country Communities Rabbi and the HOD repaired the graves. (See the Articles page for a description of the flood.)
As we see in the evocative photographs (one taken by Steve Albert and the other by Professor Peter Gordon and kindly sent by Natie Finkelstein from up the road in Beaufort West), the cemetery is perfectly walled and even the gate is intact and proudly displays a Magen David incorporated in the design.
Photo: Steve Albert
By clicking each surname in the table below, you will bring up a photograph of the gravestone. The table can be sorted in different ways by clicking on different column headings.
| Surname | First Names | Hebrew Name | Date of Death | Age | Spouse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADAMSTEIN | David | David Moshe b Todres | 1943-08-14 | 73 | |
| ADAMSTEIN | Elias | Elihu b David Moshe | 1977-02-03 | 79 | |
| ADAMSTEIN | Jane | Sheina b Avraham | 1924-02-16 | 44 | |
| ADAMSTEIN | Solomon | Shlomo b David Moshe | 1969-11-02 | 63 | |
| BLUM | Lina | Leah b Yitzchak | 1957-08-21 | 90 | |
| BLUM | Shaie | Yeshiyahu b Aliezer | 1949-11-28 | 77 | |
| GOLIN | Edith Chyene | Ita Cheyna b Yehuda | 1939-02-05 | ||
| GOODMAN | Alfred | Avraham b Yitzchak | 1981-01-25 | 38 | Ruth Goodman |
| GOODMAN | Philip | Yitzchak b Ariyeh Leib | 1973-11-02 | 66 | |
| HELMAN | Dora | Dvora b Chaim Tzvi | 1913-02-05 | 57 | Shimon Yehuda Helman |
| KAHN | Elias | Eliyahu b Yacov | 1935-10-05 | 68 | |
| LEWIN | Esther | 1920-05-09 | 51 | S Lewin | |
| LEWIN | Shabtai | Shabtai b Moshe | |||
| MARGOLIS | Morris | Chaim Moshe b Yosef | 1940-01-04 | 20 | |
| MARGOLUS | Joseph | Yosef b Moshe | 1953-01-19 | ||
| PHILIPS | Beila | Beila b Ariye Leib | 1932-10-04 | ||
| RACHMAN | Solomon | Shlomo b Eliezer | 1940-04-18 | 11 | |
| SEGAL | Maisel | Moshe b Shimon Yacov | 1957-07-29 | 82 | |
| SEGAL | Rebecca | Hena Rivka b Moshe | 1969-09-27 | ||
| TABACHNIK | Elias | Eliyahu b Yehuda Dov | 1923-12-16 | ||
| ZACKS | Israel Woolf | Yisrael Zeev b Moshe | 1917-02-27 | 72 |
Adapted with permission from the records of the SA Jewish Rootsbank at the Kaplan Centre, University of Cape Town. Gravestone photographs provided by Steve Albert. Table assembled by Bramie Lenhoff.
