People who lived or worked in Maitland
On this page we aim to list the names of everyone who lived in Maitland, or who had a business in Maitland. We know that there were Jewish families living in the neighboring suburbs of Kensington and Brooklyn who came to Maitland Shul, or their children came to the Maitland schools and cheder, and they are included.
At the start of the project, we listed the names of all the Maitland people that we could recall, and here I want to acknowledge and thank two people who spent untold hours with me, brainstorming family names and passing on bits and pieces of information - my aunt, Rebbetzin Liebe Lagnado (was Kramer), who grew up in Maitland in the 1940s and 1950s. Now living in Houston, she is still in contact with some of her Maitland friends from that era; and Hymie Odes, long-time friend, who grew up in Maitland from the 1950s to the 1970s, and is again living in Maitland, in his childhood home.
My next step was to write short family biographies, and here I reached out to key people in these families, and who more than likely lived in Maitland themselves at some stage. This is ongoing, and new stories will be added as and when they become available.
These family biographies have been written with information mostly obtained and approved by one or more people in that family. The stories have been written to paint a picture of the family's time in Maitland, when and why they came to Maitland, a little bit about their family, their work and their life in Maitland, and when and why they left Maitland. At the end of many of these stories, there are cross-references to other family names. This has been done to highlight the connections that existed between the people of Maitland, and to show that the people who lived in Maitland weren't just a bunch of strangers to one another, but there were many close family relationships, and Maitland was often home simultaneously to two or more generations of a family.
You will read of families who lived in Oxford Street and families who lived in Colin Street. I was told by a couple of people who grew up and lived in Maitland from the 1930s that Colin Street, which runs between Voortrekker Road and Coronation Road, was originally called Oxford Street. It was apparently an extension of the Oxford Street that presently runs between Coronation Road and Royal Road, even though the two streets don't run straight into each other. Each meets Coronation Road at a point about 40 metres apart. So why was the name changed? There were two Collins families (Snr. and Jnr.) living in the two houses on (what was then) Oxford Street between Coronation Road and Langham Street. Mrs Collins Jnr. (Hilda) was the daughter of Councillor Bunney, and he used his position in Council to honor Hilda by having that portion of Oxford Street being renamed to Colin Street.
Stories are bound to have errors, especially when those stories happened a hundred or more years prior and have been told to me by people who weren't even born yet. Limited fact-checking has been done, but for the most part I have accepted in good faith what has been told to me. And just like errors occur, errors can always be corrected, and I welcome any input from you, the reader, in making such corrections.
I also appeal to anyone who can provide content to any of the unwritten family biographies, to please contact me and tell me what you know, and hopefully over time we can write their stories too.
One last point - as you read these stories, Main Road (Maitland Road) and Voortrekker Road can be used interchangeably. As is written on the Home page, Maitland Road, the main road, was renamed Voortrekker Road in 1938, and in writing these stories I have used the name as it was given to me, without necessarily trying to pin it down to pre- or post-1938.
Please enjoy reading these stories.
Philip Stodel, December 2024
- BARR, Solly and Florrie: They had a daughter, Estelle. The family lived in 1 Regina Court in Coronation Road for a while during the 1960s. They had a grocery shop on Voortrekker Road.
Content provided and reviewed by Philip Stodel, November 2024 - BERMAN, Isaac (Issy) and Mabel: Came to Maitland from Kimberley in 1970. Issy was a brother to Gertie Jacobson and Fanny Katzef. Issy and Mabel had four children, Sandra, Rosy, Michael and Hannah. Sandra remained in Kimberley, and in 1975 she moved to Milnerton. Rosy had finished school by the time they arrived in Maitland, but Michael and Hannah went to school in Maitland. The family lived in Jacobs Court on the corner of Coronation Road and Station Road. Issy and Mabel had two cafes, New Mexico on Voortrekker Road, between Highclere Street and Essex Street, and Riviera, which was next to Springbok Bazaar on the corner of Voortrekker Road and Koeberg Road. They sold New Mexico in 1970. In 1972 they moved to Vredehoek as they needed a larger flat, but continued to work in Riviera until they sold it in 1977.
Where are they now (September 2024)? Issy died in 1988 and Mabel died in 2002. Sandra died in 2023. She was married to Albert Meyfarth, who died in 2007. They had one daughter. Rosy (now Ungerer) is living in Cape Town. She was married to Keith. They had one daughter. Michael is living in Cape Town. He was married to Freda Louw, who died in 2009. They had a son and two daughters. Hannah (now Andrade) and her husband Pedro are living in Cape Town. They have one son.
See also: JACOBSON, Basil and Gertie; KATZEF, Aaron (Okey) and Fanny; MEYFARTH, Albert and Sandra
Content provided and reviewed by Michael Berman, September 2024 - BLOCH, Dr. David (Bobby) and Gertruth (Ruth): Lived on the corner of Camden Street and Voortrekker Road from about the early 1940s. David was a general practitioner in Kensington, in partnership with Dr Aubrey Zabow. He also ran a practice from his premises in Camden Street. Dr Zabow subsequently left the partnership to specialize in psychiatry, and a few years later David again shared rooms with him. David and Ruth had four children, Jolyon, Ita, Gordon and Miranda. The family moved to Sea Point in 1953/54. Ruth was a sister to Hilda Seidle.
Where are they now (September 2024)? David died in 2002 and Ruth died in 2014. Jolyon died in 2023. He was living in Israel with Sara Zuker at the time. He was previously married to Cheree (was Blacher). Jolyon and Cheree have a son and a daughter and four grandchildren. Ita (now Anstey) and her husband Brian are living in Los Angeles. She was previously married to Zel Zurnamer. Ita and Zel have one son. Gordon and his wife Melanie (was Ihring) are living in Israel. They have a son and a daughter and eight grandchildren. Miranda is living in Cape Town with her partner Johnny Dodo.
See also: SEIDLE, Philip and Janey
Content provided and reviewed by Gordon Bloch, September 2024 - BLOCH, Dr. Edwin and Eleonore: They lived at 7th Avenue in Kensington, opposite the cemetery. Edwin bought the property in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and he practiced there for about 50 years. Edwin was joined in the practice by Dr. Alex Sachs and Dr. Percy Wisnowitz, who were his brothers-in-law (they were married to Eleonore’s sisters), and both families lived at the practice for a short while, before moving to the Atlantic Seaboard. Over the years the practice flourished and they had a few assistant doctors as well. Edwin and Eleonore had two daughters, Pauline and Shirley, who remember going to the Maitland Shul, but they hadn’t started school yet when the family moved to Sea Point in 1959. Edwin continued to practice in that surgery until 1995.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Edwin died in 2012 and Eleonore died in 2023. Pauline (now Leuw) and her husband Leonard are living in Cape Town. They have two sons. Shirley (now Markman) and her husband Larry are living in Toronto. They have three daughters and five grandchildren.
Content provided and reviewed by Pauline Leuw, November 2024 - BROWER, Issy (Doc) and Sheila: Issy grew up in District Six and later moved to Maynard Street in the Gardens. Sheila grew up in Wynberg, and later moved to Muizenberg. They came to Maitland in 1951/52 as a young married couple and moved into Regina Court in Coronation Road. Issy and Sheila had recognized the strong and thriving Jewish community in Maitland. This was a time when newly-weds were settling there to form friendships and have their children grow up together. They had three children, Beverley, Mark and Debbie. Issy was a rep in the furniture industry, and he later bought his own company, Cape Furniture Agencies. The family left Maitland in 1959 because, being asthma sufferers, they found the climate wasn’t good for Issy and two of their children. They moved to Vredehoek, but for many years after that they remained in contact with the Maitland crowd.
Where are they now (September 2024)? Issy died in 2003 and Sheila died in 2008. Beverley (now Hoffman) is living in Cape Town. She has a daughter. Mark is living in Cape Town and has two children. Debbie (now Miller) and her husband Ira are living in London. They have two sons and one grandchild.
Content provided and reviewed by Beverley Hoffman, September 2024 - BUB, Selig and Leah: Came to Maitland around 1944. Selig was born in Zedik, Lithuania, and Leah was born in Durbanville. Selig's mother Beila was a cousin to Tzvia Peltz. They arrived in Maitland with their two young sons, Ralph and Sam. Over the course of the next 14 years, three more sons were born, Jeffrey, Barry and Ivan. The family lived at 33 Lawrence Road. Their relatives Pesach and Sarah Boob lived next door at number 35, later to be occupied by the Zetner family. Like other Jewish families in Maitland, there was another "family" member worthy of mention - Caroline, the domestic employee who was with the Bub family for 50 years. She not only understood Yiddish, she spoke it to the children. A character of the village, everyone knew her. She cooked all of Leah's traditional Jewish dishes, and was effectively a second mother to the children. The five Bub boys all went to school and cheder in Maitland. Leah was involved with Shul committees, playing cards and having wonderful Shabbat and holiday family dinners. Selig and Leah came to Maitland from Stellenbosch. After he got married, Selig bought a small shoe factory. He later built a large shoe factory in Maitland, Olympic Footwear, on the right-hand side of Voortrekker Road heading towards Salt River. He sold his share in the business in 1950 and started a shoe store business in Parow, called Northern Shoes. His son Jeffrey joined him in the business. They later opened stores in Bellville, Goodwood and Milnerton. The family moved to Sea Point in 1968. Selig and Leah retired around 1975, having sold their stores to a public company a few years earlier, with Jeffrey remaining in the company as a Director.
Where are they now (December 2024)? Selig died in 1988 and Leah died in 2013. Ralph is living in Cape Town. His wife Helen (was Israele) died in 2014. They had three daughters and five grandchildren. Sam and his wife Sylvia (was Shell) are living in Pennsylvania. They have a daughter and two sons, and seven grandchildren. Jeffrey died in 2008. His wife Sheila (was Wacks) is living in Los Angeles. They had three sons and six grandchildren. Barry and his wife Rabbi Goldie Milgram are living in Florida. Barry was previously married to Francis (was Bendheim) and has a daughter and two sons, and ten grandchildren. Ivan and his wife Paula (was Ruttenberg) are living in Pennsylvania. They have one daughter.
Content provided and reviewed by Ivan Bub, December 2024 - BUCHINSKY, Louis and Cille: Louis came to Maitland around 1925 from Rogava in Lithuania. Like most Jews, he emigrated to escape the pogroms. He began working for National Meat Suppliers at the abattoirs. After saving sufficient money, he sent for his girlfriend Cille. They were married in the Woodstock Shul in 1927. They were staying on Main Road near the Police Station at the time of their marriage. They had three children there, Masha, Julius and Harry, and later moved to 122 Coronation Road, where Ralph and Leah were born.
Louis, realizing that he could not survive on his salary, bought an old wheelbarrow and some second-hand clothes and underwear, and became a travelling salesman, the smous of those days. He was good talker and sold very well, and soon he was able to rent a shop next to the Police Station, near where the Odes family lived, and he sold from this shop. He later had a shop built on Voortrekker Road opposite the Welcome Hotel and near Barron’s Pharmacy and Margolis’s fish shop. This shop was divided into two – a ladies and gents clothes shop on the one side, with an interleading passage to a shoe shop on the other side. In the mid-1970s, the shop was taken over by Julius and some partners. Competition became tough, reject shops popped up, and L Buchinksy & Co. ceased trading in the early 1980s, after being around for nearly 50 years. The shops were then let to a firm selling office furniture.
Cille was the typical Yiddishe mama, loving but not overbearing. She helped Louis in the shop full-time, and had little time for any extra activities. Her fund-raising activities for Bnoth Zion usually took the form of a cards evening for men, where she served her renowned cheese cake. The children went to school and cheder in Maitland, but Leah went to high school at Good Hope. Louis continued to live in Maitland after Cille died, and moved to Sea Point in 1975.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Cille died in 1970 and Louis died in 1980. Masha died in 2004. She was unmarried. Julius died in 2016. He was married to Alma (was Jowell) who is living in Cape Town. They had two sons and a daughter and five grandchildren. Harry and Shooshy (was Marks) are living in Cape Town. They have a son and a daughter, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Ralph died in 2000. He was unmarried. Leah (now Sack) and her husband Aubrey are living in Toronto. They have two daughters, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Content provided and reviewed by Harry Buchinsky and Leah Sack, October 2024 - COHEN, Harry and Esther: Harry was born in Poland. He and Esther were married in Cape Town in 1935. Harry was a business man, and had a small mens clothing shop in Kensington. They lived at 5th Avenue in Kensington and had a son Harold. Most of the families who stayed in Kensington had the houses next to their businesses. When the Nationalist Government came into power after the war, the Group Areas Act was introduced and Kensington became a Colored area and all the whites had to move out. Harold felt sad at what apartheid did to the friends and families that he grew up with, as they lived very naturally amongst the Colored people, with no racial tension whatsoever. After 1948 the Coloreds were made aware that they were different, and so that division was created. A lot of the Jewish families who lived in Kensington were very poor, having arrived in South Africa with just their clothes on their backs. They were hard workers and they scrimped and saved to educate their children and improve their living conditions. Harold’s first school was the Convent in Coronation Road, which was a pre-school. The family could not afford a car, and Harry would take Harold to school on his bicycle. The natural progression out of Kensington was to move to Maitland where Harry bought a house, and in the mid-1940s the family moved to 32 Spencer Street. Harold went to school and cheder in Maitland, but he just couldn’t wait for his Barmitzvah so that he could quit cheder, as he felt that cheder interfered with his sporting activities in the afternoon. He recalls that the big hall in the cheder building was used for youth activities, like Bnei Zion and Habonim. They also had wonderful social events in the hall with teenagers coming from all over the peninsula to participate in their dance evenings. During Harold’s years in Maitland, one of the peculiarities was the number of boys in proportion to the girls. There was usually a mob of boys who did everything together, whether playing cricket in Jeff Margolis’s back yard or at the Bub oval in front of the school, or playing soccer on the school fields. They would go to camp together and later to parties together.
Where are they now (December 2024)? Harry died in 1980 and Esther died in 1982. Harold died in 2022. He was married to Masha (was Kreel) who also died in 2022. They had a daughter and a son and three grandchildren.
An anecdote: Many remember the south-easterly wind (known as the Cape Doctor) that used to blow the smell of the abattoirs through Maitland. Harold recalls teaching Harold Taviansky to ride a bicycle in one such raging south-easter. Harold got him up and going, and then the wind got hold of him, and off he went wobbling down the road. The only problem was that Spencer Street came to a dead end on Royal Road, and as he hadn’t learned to steer yet, poor Harold Taviansky ran straight into the fence. Fortunately he wasn’t hurt.
Content extracted from public records and from memories that Harold wrote in 2005, and reviewed by Jeff Margolis. - EFRON, Moses (Moshe) and Shirley: Married in 1961, they came to Maitland from Sea Point in 1963 with their young son Mark. They lived at 72 Royal Road in the house belonging to Moshe’s father, Reverend Efron. Over the next four years, Russel and Reeva were born, and in 1967 they left Maitland for Milnerton, where Moshe had his pharmacy, Ascot Pharmacy. Their fourth child Lance was born while they were in Milnerton. Like most of the Milnerton community at that time, the family continued attending the Maitland Shul, and in later years Moshe performed the role of ba'al tekiah (shofar blower) on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Moshe died in 2020. Shirley is living in San Diego. Mark and his wife Michele (was Stamper) are living in San Diego. They have two daughters. Russel is living in New York. He has a son and a daughter. Reeva was married to Marc Myerson, and is living in San Diego. She has two sons and a daughter. Lance is living in Mexico.
See also: EFRON, Reverend Schachne and Eva
Content provided and reviewed by Shirley Efron, October 2024 - EFRON, Reverend Schachne and Eva: Both born in Lithuania, they were married in the Malmesbury Synagogue at the end of 1927, where Reverend Efron had served the community since 1922. They came to Maitland in 1942 with their young family, Gershon, Reeva and Moshe. For a time they lived at 72 Royal Road, and later they moved to 82 Royal Road. The children went to school in Maitland. Sadly, Reeva died in 1946 at the age of 14. Reverend Efron performed the typical roles that came with his position. He led the Shul services, “leyned” from the Torah, gave sermons, led shiurim, officiated at weddings and funerals, visited the sick, and slaughtered chickens. He was a mohel, and it wasn't uncommon to see him on Shabbat walking the nearly four kilometres to St Joseph's Hospital in Pinelands to perform a bris. And of course he was the cheder teacher. Countless number of children, not only from Maitland, but Kensington, Brooklyn and later Milnerton as well, were taught by him. Whether it was the boys' Barmitzvah portion, or just regular cheder studies and teaching the children how to read and write Hebrew, Reverend Efron did it all. Past pupils will remember how, prior to Rosh Hashanah, he would organize for each pupil to write a Rosh Hashanah card to their parents. He would write the card lightly in pencil, then he would hand his burgundy-colored fountain pen to the pupil to overwrite the pencilled Hebrew letters, after which he would carefully erase the pencil evidence, resulting in a beautifully handwritten greeting card. In the lessons leading up to Rosh Hashanah, Reverend Efron would explain the concept of "On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed", and it is symbolically poignant that it was on Second Day Rosh Hashanah that he died. Some of the Maitland youth will remember going to Reverend Efron's house on a Shabbat afternoon to play a game of chess with him. Eva was involved in Bnoth Zion, she did lessons for a few of the girls who didn't go to cheder, and she ran evening Hebrew classes for adults. Reverend Efron and Eva left Maitland in 1978, and retired to Sea Point.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Reverend Efron died in 1983 and Eva died in 1999. Gershon was married to Jane (was Goosey). He died in Baltimore in 2020. They had three sons and five grandchildren. Reeva died in 1946, at the age of 14 years. Moshe died in 2020. He was married to Shirley (was Phillips) who is living in San Diego. They had three sons and a daughter and seven grandchildren.
An anecdote from Philip Stodel: Reverend Efron used to say to me, "Philip, one day you'll go to Israel and study to become a rabbi." Well, at age 65 I came to Israel, but I haven't started my studies yet. I think that ship has sailed.
See also: EFRON, Moses (Moshe) and Shirley
Content provided by Philip Stodel and reviewed by Shirley Efron, October 2024 - FIELD, Myer and Mabel: Originally from Paarl, Myer and Mabel moved to Brooklyn, where they owned Field’s Provision and Hardware. They had four children, Sidney, Phillip, Miriam and Barbara. They were one of a number of Jewish families who came to Shul, school and cheder in Maitland, and in this way they formed part of the Maitland Jewish community. In the mid-1940s they moved to Maitland, where they lived at 64 Royal Road. The children continued their junior schooling in Maitland, but Miriam and Barbara went to the new high school in Milnerton. Besides working at their shop, Mabel was involved with Bnoth Zion and also assisted at the blood donation clinics. In the mid-1970s, after their children had all left home, Myer sold the shop, and he and Mabel moved to Sea Point.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Mabel died in 1979 and Myer died in 1991. Sidney died in 1971. He had been married to Maureen Lehr for five years. Phillip relocated to Israel and died in 2004. He was married to Cynthia Sacks. They had three sons and a daughter. Miriam (now Bilski) is living in Cape Town. She was married to Clive, and they have three sons and four grandchildren. Barbara (now Barnes) and her husband Barry are living in Toronto. Barbara has a son and a daughter from a previous marriage, and two grandchildren.
Content provided and reviewed by Miriam Bilski and Barbara Barnes, October 2024 - FIRER, Louis and Miriam (to 1916), later Louis and Sarah (from 1929): Louis and Miriam came from Russia in 1903 with their two young children, Rachel and Mike. (In later years, Rachel would tell a story that was handed down to her whereby her grandmother fainted at the train station when they left, as she knew that she would never see her children or grandchildren again.) After settling in Maitland, they had another four children, Simon, Becky, Sybil and Lily. All of the children went to school in Maitland. It is likely that they lived in Essex Street until at least 1916, and later moved to one of the semi-detached houses on Main Road opposite the Town Hall. Louis had various occupations - he owned the Triangle Bus Company, he was a shoemaker, he was a general dealer and he was a speculator. When Miriam died in 1916, her youngest child Lily was four years old, and was brought up by Rachel, then just 16 years old herself. In 1929 Louis married Sarah (was Harris), a widow from England, who had four children from her previous marriage. Some 25 years later, her son Jack would marry Louis' daughter Lily. The family continued to live in the house for some time, but by the time Louis died in 1939, they were no longer living in Maitland.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Miriam died in 1916 and Louis died in 1939. His second wife Sarah died in 1967. Rachel died in 1977. She was married to Rubin Kramer who died in 1970. They had a son and five daughters, 13 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren and 20 great-great-grandchildren. Mike died in 1933. He was married to Esther (was Levin) who died in 1943. They had two daughters, four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. Simon died in 1957. He was married to Blume (was Miller) who died in 1979. They had a daughter, three grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. Becky died in 1982. She was married to Sam Modlin who died in 1982. They had a son, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Sybil died in 1952. She was married to Barnett Chait who died in 1974. They had two sons and a daughter, seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren. Lily died in 1979. She was married to Jack Harris (her stepbrother), who died in 1988. They had no children.
See also: KRAMER: Rubin and Rachel
Content provided and reviewed by Liebe Lagnado, November 2024 - FOREMAN, Ralph and Lily: They were both born in the UK. They came to Maitland in 1948, initially boarding with a family by the name of Schwabsky in Essex Street (or possibly Spencer Street, as there was a family Schwabsky family living there around that time). Just over a year later they moved to Regina Court in Coronation Road. They had two children, Michael and Carol. In 1955, expecting twins, they realized that the flat would be too small for them, so they moved to Three Anchor Bay, where Charles and Dawn were born. Ralph worked at Rex Trueform.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Ralph died in 1999 and Lily died in 2010. Michael is living in Cape Town. Carol was married to Hillel Melamed. She died in Israel in 2023. They have two sons and a daughter, and seven grandchildren. Dawn (now Norton) is living in Israel. She has a son and a daughter, and eight grandchildren. Charles is living in New Jersey. He has a son and a daughter.
See also: SCHWABSKY, Ben and Bloomah
Content provided and reviewed by Dawn Norton, October 2024 - FRANKLIN, Rabbi Abner and Sara: Came to Maitland for a few years in about 1978 after Reverend Efron left. They lived in Bringer Court in Langham Street.
Content provided by Philip Stodel, September 2024 - FREEDMAN, Jacob and Jeannie: Jacob came from Glasgow in 1914. He was on his way to Europe for medical treatment. The ship stopped in Cape Town, but then World War I broke out and Jacob remained in Cape Town. His family were running the Welcome Hotel, and being unable to work, Jacob resided there. In 1920 Jeannie brought out their two older children Alice and Mary to be with him and she went back to Scotland with their younger daughter Hilda. The girls stayed in the hotel with Jacob. Alice was 15 and presumably worked there. Mary was 12, and did some of her schooling in Maitland. Jeannie returned to Cape Town with Hilda in 1928.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Jacob died in 1928 and Jeannie died in 1956. Alice died in 1982. She was married to Maurice Kramer who died in 1975. They had two daughters, seven grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-grandchildren. Mary died in 1981. She was married to Morris Odes who died in 1978. They had a daughter and a son, five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren. Hilda died in 1997. She was married to Bernard Barron who died in 1986. They had three daughters, five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
See also: KRAMER, Maurice and Alice; ODES, Morris and Mary
Content provided by Janice Bloch and reviewed by Janice Bloch, Lorraine Rabinowitz, Wilma Bass and Myra Bamberger, November 2024 - FRUMER, Jack and Beatrice: Jack was born in Ponevez and came to Cape Town with his family in 1931 when he was about seven years old. The family lived at 1 Dublin Street. Jack went to primary school and cheder in Maitland, and then went to SACS for his high schooling. He qualified as a plumber and later joined his father's business, Frumer and Bennett's Sheet Metal Works. In 1950 Jack married Beatrice who was from Port Elizabeth, and they set up home in Benes Street, where their first son Charles was born, and in 1958 the family moved to Milnerton where two more children were born, Leon and Elaine.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Jack died in 1976 and Beatrice died in 2022. Charles and his wife Thyra (was Selkirk) are living in South Somerset in the UK. Leon died in 2005. He was married to Natalie (was Greenstein). They had a son and a daughter and three grandchildren. Elaine (now Chernotsky) is living in Cape Town. She has a son and a daughter and two grandchildren.
See also: FRUMER, Kalmen and Chaja
Content provided and reviewed by Charles Frumer, October 2024 - FRUMER, Kalmen and Chaja: Kalmen arrived in Cape Town from Ponevez in about 1930. Chaja followed some eight months later in 1931, with their (then) four young children, Duveira, Jack, Benny and Sonny. About eight years later they had another son, Maurice. They lived at 1 Dublin Street, and the children all went to school and cheder in Maitland, while Jack did his high schooling at SACS, and Maurice did some of his high schooling in Villiersdorp. In 1946, Deveirah married Abraham Berman, and they had a son Myer, who also went to school and cheder in Maitland. When Deveirah and Abraham divorced, she and Myer lived with her parents, but Kalmen and Chaja subsequently split, and Chaja moved one street away to Benes Street, with Maurice, Deveira and Myer. After arriving in Cape Town, Kalmen had to find a way to earn a living. He used to go round with a horse and cart collecting scrap metal mostly. Fondly known as Oubaas, he would later tell his grandchildren delightful stories of the times the wheel fell off and the adventure of repairing it. He later went into business in Maitland with a Mr Bennett. The business subsequently became known as Frumer and Bennett’s Sheet Metal Works, and another called Radiant Steel Industries, situated on the Outspan. Primarily they manufactured hot water cylinders, stainless steel sinks, fish fryers and urinals, and many people may remember the distinctive “FRUMEX” branding embossed on their stainless steel products. Jack and Sonny (and later Maurice) all worked in the business. In 1955, Sonny, then married and with a young daughter, relocated to Bulawayo to open a branch of the business. In 1963, Sonny returned to join the family in the business, and some years later he bought them out. It was probably around this time that Kalmen went to stay with Jack and his family in Milnerton, and at some stage Chaja moved to Sea Point. Kalmen later bought a share of the Atlantic Hotel in Muizenberg, and he lived there for his last years. Kalmen was active in the Maitland Shul. He was a big man, and many children will remember going on to the bimah and gathering under his tallis for the birkat kohanim. Chaja commissioned a sofer in Israel to write a sefer Torah on the family's behalf, and in 1952 the Torah arrived in Cape Town. It was used in the Maitland Shul for many years, and with the closure of the Shul and the dispersal of its contents, the Torah found its new home in Phoenix, Arizona in the congregation where one of their great-great-grandsons gets the opportunity to be called for the reading.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Chaja died in 1971 and Kalmen died in 1972. Duveira died in Israel in about 2013. She had a son and three grandchildren. Jack died in Cape Town in 1976. He was married to Beatrice (was Strimling). They had two sons and a daughter (one of their sons died in 2005), four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Benny died in Israel in the late 1980s. He had been married to Buna (Betty) (was Kagan). They had two sons and two daughters (one of their daughters died in 2022), 13 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren). Sonny died in San Diego in 2003. He was married to Gertie (was Kramer) who died in 2000. They had four daughters, 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. Maurice died in Cape Town in 2000. He had been married to Adrienne (was Sternberg). They had two sons.
See also: FRUMER, Sonny and Gertie; FRUMER, Jack and Beatrice
Content provided and reviewed by Shirley Abelsohn, Marcelle Samakosky and Jenni Frumer, October 2024 - FRUMER, Sonny and Gertie: Sonny was born in Ponevez and came to Cape Town with his family in 1931 when he was about a year old. The family lived at 1 Dublin Street. Sonny went to school and cheder in Maitland. It was probably there that he met Gertie, daughter of Rubin and Rachel Kramer, who grew up in Maitland at 13 Camden Street. In 1952 they married, and moved one street away to Benes Street, where their first daughter Shirley was born two years later. By then Sonny was working as an apprentice in his father's business, Frumer and Bennett's Sheet Metal Works, and on the path to becoming a full owner. In 1955, they left for Bulawayo, where Sonny went to start a branch of the family business. Two more children were born in Bulawayo, Marcelle and Jennifer, and in 1963 they returned to Cape Town, this time choosing to live in Milnerton. Sonny probably foresaw the inevitable changes Maitland would go through, and with a growing family, the developing suburb of Milnerton appealed to him, much like Maitland appealed to young couples 10 to 15 years before that. Their fourth daughter Caryn was born a few years later. Sonny and Gertie never broke their ties with Maitland. Gertie still had parents and a sister living in Maitland, and of course with Sonny by then playing a bigger role in the business, their days were spent in Maitland. Gertie later played a full-time role in the business. They continued coming to the Maitland Shul, and in later years they were regulars at the Saturday night double features at the Grand Bioscope. In time, Sonny bought out the business from his father and his brothers Jack and Maurice, and he and Gertie ran the business until they emigrated to the States in 1982, at which time the business was sold to Kwikot. There was another business connected to the family. Sonny’s nephew, Myer Berman, started a glass cutting and decorating business on the Outspan, in the building alongside Frumer and Bennett’s. It was called The Cut Glass Centre, but the name was changed to Brite Glass Decorators a few years later after Sonny bought the business from Myer. It later relocated around the corner to Camp Road. That business, too, was sold a year after Sonny and Gertie emigrated, and it was bought by Gertie’s nephew, David Stodel, in partnership with Alan Katz, who had worked at Frumer and Bennett’s for many years. The business closed in 2011.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Gertie died in 2000 and Sonny died in 2003. Shirley Abelsohn and her husband Rufus are living in San Diego. They have a son and two daughters and eight grandchildren. Marcelle Samakosky is living in San Diego. Her husband Ruby died in 2018. They had two sons and a daughter and five grandchildren. Jennifer Newstein and her husband Neil are living in West Palm Beach. Caryn Levin and her husband Barry are living in Denver. They have four sons and a daughter.
See also: FRUMER, Kalmen and Chaja; KRAMER, Rubin and Rachel; STODEL, Lew and Miriam
Content provided and reviewed by Shirley Abelsohn, Marcelle Samakosky and Jenni Newstein, October 2024 - GOODMAN, Ada: Her late husband Morris had been in the scrap metal business. After he died in 1950 Ada opened a ladies dress shop on Voortrekker Road near Spencer Street and the Grand Bioscope. She employed a driver, and her son Philip who was a lithographer working in the printing industry used to collect the monthly account payments over weekends. She also had a daughter Marion. Ada lived in the City Bowl area. She died in 1965. Marion died in 1993 and Philip died in 2002.
Content provided by Liebe Lagnado and Myeva Brett, and reviewed by Myeva Brett, December 2024 - HAYMAN, Aaron and Edith: Came to Maitland shortly after World War II, as they felt that Maitland had all the right ingredients to raise a family. They had four children, Manuel, Michael, Selwyn and Jennifer. The family lived at 15 Essex Street. Aaron, known as Arka within close family and friends circles, was a dairy farmer in Bloubergstrand, and he had a second farm nearby in partnership with Morris Lessem who lived at 19 Essex Street. Aaron was a staunch shul-goer. The children went to junior school and cheder in Maitland for a few years, after which they went to Herzlia. In the mid-1950s Aaron was involved in a serious car accident which left him mentally incapacitated, and he was subsequently moved to a care facility. Consequently Manuel and Michael went to the orphanage, and Edith stayed on in the house with Selwyn and Jennifer for a while, and in about 1958 they moved to Sea Point.
Where are they now (December 2024)? Edith died in 1976 and Aaron died in 2002. Manuel is living in Cape Town. He has two sons and three granddaughters from his first marriage to Maria (was Naude) who died in 1975, and he has a daughter from his second marriage to June (was Magid). Michael and his wife Marlene (was Fish) are living in Cape Town. They have two daughters and a son and four grandchildren. Selwyn and his wife Robyn (was East) are living in Cape Town. They have two sons and four grandchildren. Jennifer (now Gerson) and her husband David are living in Canada. They have two sons and three grandchildren.
Content provided and reviewed by Manny Hayman, December 2024 - JACOBSON, Basil and Gertie: Basil was born in Maitland. As a teenager, Basil helped his father in the butcher business. Before he got married, he spent some time working in a crayfish factory in Walvis Bay. In 1950 he married Gertie, and they lived in the house on Langham Street next to Basil’s parents, Lew and Diana. They had two children, Selwyn and Sabrina. Basil worked as a butcher in Diep River, and Gertie was a shop assistant at Ackermans. At some stage, they owned a café in Salt River opposite the Junction Hotel, and they lived in a flat above the shop. As a child, Basil injured his knee cap in a fall. There was talk of amputation, but through the intervention of an uncle of his, his leg was saved. He had a steel bolt inserted to replace his kneecap, and hence his leg stopped growing and remained shorter than his other leg. Anyone who knew Basil will remember his characteristic limp. In 1964, Basil took a job as a blockman in Beaconsfield in Kimberley, and the family relocated for about three years before coming back to Cape Town, initially to Milnerton for about a year, and then back to Maitland, where they lived at 13 Regina Court in Coronation Road. Selwyn and Sabrina continued the rest of their schooling in Maitland. Basil then went to work as a collector for Dan Hands. For about two years, Gertie owned a hairdressing business in Voortrekker Road near the Maitland station. She also worked for her sister on the Parade in Cape Town, as well as in her shop in Woodstock. Basil was Chairman of the Maitland Soccer Club for a while. Basil and Gertie moved to Claremont in the late 1970s/early 1980s, after both Selwyn and Sabrina had married and moved out.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Basil died in 2015 and Gertie died in 2022. Selwyn and his wife Hedy (was Hakesberg) are living in Cape Town. They have a son and a daughter and one grandchild. Sabrina (now Witz) and her husband Michael are living in Florida. They have a son and two granddaughters.
See also: BERMAN, Isaac (Issy) and Mabel; JACOBSON, Lew and Diana
Content provided and reviewed by Selwyn Jacobson and Sabrina Witz, October 2024 - JACOBSON, Harold and Sheila: Harold was living in Lamberts Bay at the time of his marriage to Sheila in 1942. Sheila was born in Lithuania. They came to Maitland from Vredehoek in about 1957 with their three children, Bernice, Ivor and Pamela. The family lived at 14 Station Road, previously occupied by the Maisel family. The children went to school and cheder in Maitland. Harold worked as a rep for Rex Trueform. Sheila served on the Bnoth Zion committee and held the role of treasurer for a while. She was also well-known for her outstanding taiglach. Towards the mid-1970s, she opened an outlet on Voortrekker Road called Sheila’s Delicatessen. She closed the shop in 1975 when they moved to Sea Point.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Harold died in 1976. Sheila went on aliyah in 1986 and died in 1987. Bernice died in 2003. She was married to Gerald Schaffer. They had a daughter, three sons, and eight grandchildren. Ivor is living in Israel. He has a son and three daughters, and eight grandchildren. Pamela (now Hartmann) is living in Cape Town. She was married to Ivan who died in 1993. They had two sons.
See also: JACOBSON, Lew and Diana
Content provided and reviewed by Ivor Jacobson and Pamela Hartmann, October 2024 - JACOBSON, Israel: Brother to Lew Jacobson and Luba (was Jacobson) Lang. He lived with Lew on Main Road near Camden Street in the early 1920s. He later bought a house in Muizenberg, and his sister Luba and her children would stay there with him for a few months of the year. Her husband Isaac would visit over weekends, and then when Luba returned to Maitland, Israel would also move back and again live with Lew and his family. Israel had a concession in the Black areas, he did well in business, and he endowed money to a university in Israel. When he was in his mid-50s, Israel married Sonia (was Ulfane). They had no children.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Israel died in 1938 and Sonia died in 1975.
See also: JACOBSON, Lew and Diana; LANG, Isaac and Luba
Content provided and reviewed by Eve Joffe, November 2024 - JACOBSON, Lew and Diana: Came from Lithuania in the early 1900s. It was a time when Jews were being persecuted by the Russians, and like so many others, their parents were left with little choice but to get them out. Lew and Diana got married in South Africa. At the time of moving to Maitland in the early 1920s, they had four children, Harold, Lilly, Norman (Larry) and Ray. Harold was born in Ceres, went to boarding school in Villiersdorp, and later came to Cape Town and went to SACS. Lilly married Sonny Gottheiner, and after he died she married his brother Philip. Sonny and Philip were the brothers of Rose Peltz. Norman was a railway doctor, and spent most of his working life in Windhoek. He was married to renowned sculptress Naomi Goldblatt. Ray married Joe Teper and went to Israel. After Lew and Diana moved to Maitland, they had another child, Basil, who also went to SACS, and attended cheder in Maitland. Like many of that generation, Lew was one of the pillars of the Maitland Jewish community, and he was also one of the founding members of the Maitland Shul. He was a butcher, and later sold his butchery to National Meat Suppliers, where he continued to work as a meat inspector, and even worked as a legal advisor when necessary. At home he was a chef of note, making many Yiddish recipes that he had learnt from his Lithuanian mother. He made bagels, pickled cucumbers and cabbage and other Yiddish delicacies. Diana too was good at making traditional Jewish meals, especially over the Jewish holidays when they hosted huge family gatherings. There was much banter within the family as to who of Lew and Diana was the better cook, and one can only imagine the tasty fare that was provided at their regular cards evenings. Lew and Diana left Maitland probably in the late 1960s. Lew was a brother to Luba Lang.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Lew was resident at the Cape Jewish Aged Home when he died in 1970, and when Diana died in 1971, she was residing in Sea Point. Harold died in 1976. He was married to Sheila (was Ritz) who died in 1987. They had a son and two daughters, 10 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. Basil died in 2015. He was married to Gertie (was Berman) who died in 2022. They had a son and a daughter, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
See also: JACOBSON, Harold and Sheila; JACOBSON, Basil and Gertie; LANG, Isaac and Luba
Content provided and reviewed by Ivor Jacobson, Pamela Hartmann, Selwyn Jacobson and Sabrina Witz, October 2024 - KATZEF, Aaron (Okey) and Fanny: Okey was born in Maitland, and probably went to school in Maitland. He was living at Suffolk Street in 1948 at the time of his marriage to Fanny. For the first few years of marriage, they lived in Killarney, where Okey managed the farm for his brother Reuben, who was living in Johannesburg. Their first two children, Jeanette and Anthony, were born there. The family came to Maitland in 1963, and lived at 136 Coronation Road. Jeanette and Anthony went to school in Maitland. A couple of years later, Marcelle was born. Okey worked at Dan Hands, occupying various positions from sales to administration. The family moved to Green Point in 1973, as they felt the Sea Point area presented a better opportunity for the children to socialize with other Jewish children.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Okey died in 1974 and Fanny died in 2016. Jeanette (now Lewis) is living in Cape Town. Her husband Derrick died in 2019. They had two daughters and four grandchildren. Anthony and his wife Shelley (was Sandler) are living in Atlanta. They have a son and a daughter and one grandchild. Marcelle (now Sadman) is living in Israel. Her husband Anthony died in 1998. They had a son and a daughter.
See also: BERMAN, Isaac (Issy) and Mabel
Content provided and reviewed by Anthony Katzef and Marcelle Sadman, October 2024 - KATZEF, Alter and Freda: Lived at Suffolk Street. They had six children, Hyman, Banard, Hilda, Reuben, Esther and Aaron (Okey). Freda died in 1955. At that time, they were living at 146 Coronation Road. Alter died a year later in 1956, at which time he was living at 5 Station Road. The house was owned by his son-in-law, Morris Shuman.
See also: KATZEF, Aaron (Okey) and Fanny; SHUMAN, Morris and Esther
Content extracted from public records and reviewed by Anthony Katzef, Marcelle Sadman and Avril Rom, October 2024 - KESCHNER, David and Eve: Came to Maitland in 1956. David, a German refugee, was born in Essen. Eve was born in London. They had two children, Diana and Lisa. The family lived at No. 3 Sharon Court in Royal Road. David owned a furniture factory in 16th Avenue, Factreton, called D.K Furnishers. Eve was a stay-at-home mom who dedicated herself to caring for her family. Diana and Lisa didn't go to school in Maitland. Instead, they went to Herzlia School, as David wanted them to have the Jewish education that was not provided by government schools. David was the Shammas of the Maitland Shul. The family moved to Vredehoek in January 1970. Around that time, David closed his factory and went into retirement. He kept the building and rented it out.
Where are they now (September 2024)? Eve died in 1974 and David died in 1981. Diana (now Henning) and her husband Phillip are living in Cape Town. They have one son. Lisa (now Lashansky) and her husband Bryan are living in Melbourne. They have three sons and six grandchildren.
Content provided and reviewed by Diana Henning and Lisa Lashansky, September 2024 - KLEIN, Isaac and Sarah: Isaac came from Plunyan around 1929 and stayed with his uncle in Kimberley. He worked in Zastron for a short while, and then moved to Cape Town and sent for Sarah, who was living in Telsiai. It seems she stayed with her relatives, the Bledins, who lived on Voortrekker Road. It is not clear whether or not Isaac was also staying there, but after they got married towards the end of 1929, they moved to Woodstock. Isaac was a tailor, and Sarah was a photographer. In Woodstock, Isaac opened a tailor shop next to their house. A few years after their daughter Sheba was born, they moved to Observatory, where their daughter Miriam was born. Around 1938 they moved to Muizenberg, where they ran a boarding house called Thalata. Isaac kept his shop in Woodstock, and maybe later he opened another in Salt River. The Muizenberg winters weren’t good for them, so they moved to Kensington, where Isaac had a general dealer shop. They lived in the house next to the shop. The children went to school in Maitland. After a few years they moved to Maitland, where their son Norman was born. The family lived in Cambridge Road, near the corner of Hely Street. In Maitland, they ran a dress shop called Broadway Dress Salon, near Velve Margolis’s fish shop and the corner café, where there was a poolroom in the basement. The family moved to Milnerton around 1952, possibly because they felt they were living too close to the Panther Shoe Factory, which was on the same road. They kept the shop and commuted between Milnerton and Maitland every day, until they closed the shop many years later.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Isaac died in 1985 and Sarah died in 1988. Sheba died in 2012. She was married to Harry Israel. They had a son and a daughter and four grandchildren. Miriam died in 1994. She was married to Alan Miller. They had a son and a daughter and five grandchildren. Norman was married to Carol Edelstein, who died in 1996. They had a son and two daughters. Norman is living in Virginia Beach.
Content provided and reviewed by Norman Klein, October 2024 - KRAMER, Hyman and Becky: Hyman came from Lithuania in 1904. He served in the South African Army from 1914 to 1918. He was one of six siblings who lived (or who would later live) in Maitland, and he was already living there in 1923 when he and Becky got married. They had three children, Ralph, Bella and Esther. The family lived at 13 Essex Street, and the children went to school (and presumably cheder) in Maitland. Hyman was a butcher, and later worked as a meat inspector for National Meats. His younger brother, Rubin, lived at 13 Camden Street, and on Yom Kippur after the fast, when Rubin and his family were returning home from Shul, Hyman’s house served as the half-way stop for them to break their fast on some bulkas, despite the presence of Hyman’s big black dog, Tiger, who was always ready to attack intruders. After Hyman died, and after Ralph and Bella left home, Becky continued to live in Maitland until the late 1950s/early 1960s, at which time she and Esther moved to Sea Point.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Hyman died in 1953 and Becky died in 1962. Ralph died in 2011. He was married to Lottie (was Wachenheimer) who died in 2015. They had a daughter and three grandchildren. Bella died in 1966. She was married to Yisha’yahu Admoni who died in 1998. They had a son and a daughter and four grandchildren. Esther died in 2009. She was married to Jack Levinson who died in 2011. They had a son and a daughter, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Content provided by Liebe Lagnado and reviewed by Robyn Blumenthal, November 2024 - KRAMER, Maurice and Alice: Maurice was born in New York, and came to South Africa with his father in 1903. His mother came with his older sister Annie in 1907. Maurice lived with his family in Maitland, and later worked at National Meats. In 1929 he married Alice (was Freedman). Alice had come to Cape Town from Scotland at the age of 15, and she lived with her father, Jacob Freedman, in the Welcome Hotel in Maitland. She was a sister to Mary Odes and Hilda Barron, both of whom had strong ties to Maitland. After Maurice and Alice got married they lived on Main Road opposite the Town Hall. Alice’s sister Hilda lived with them until about 1935, at which time their sister Mary got married and Hilda then went to stay with her. Maurice and Alice had two daughters, Eunice and Barbara. They went to school and cheder in Maitland. Barbara went to a convent for her early schooling, and in later years she and Eunice both went to Wynberg Girls. The family moved to Wynberg in the early 1940s, where Maurice managed Cogill’s Hotel for a number of years. In the mid-1950s, Maurice and Alice moved back to Maitland, where Maurice was the manager of the newly built Voortrekker Hotel. He was a shareholder, together with his brother-in-law Morris Odes, Mr Feitelson and Mr Baker. Maurice and Alice stayed at the hotel until Maurice retired in the late 1960s, after which they moved to Sea Point.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Maurice died in 1975 and Alice died in 1982. Eunice died in 2018. She was married to Harold Katzin who died in 2013. They had two sons and two daughters, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Barbara died in 2021. She was married to Norman Sandler who died in 1996. They had a son and two daughters, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
See also: FREEDMAN, Jacob and Jeannie; ODES, Morris and Mary
Content provided by Janice Bloch and reviewed by Janice Bloch, Lorraine Rabinowitz and Myra Bamberger, November 2024 - KRAMER, Moshe and Genenda: Moshe came from Lithuania in 1910. It is not known when he came to Maitland, but he was one of six siblings who lived (or who would later live) in Maitland. Genenda followed in 1921 with their two children, Sarah (aged 15) and Barney (Beines) (aged 13). Like most of his family, and like many people living in Maitland over those years, Moshe was a butcher. His son Beines was also a butcher, although not in Maitland. Moshe was a sofer, and wrote at least one Sefer Torah, which was at some stage housed in the Maitland Shul. He did not write mezuzot. When Sarah got married in 1929, she was staying in Essex Street. When Beines got married in 1934, he was staying in Woodstock. As Moshe died in 1932, the assumption is that sometime between 1932 and 1934 Genenda moved to Woodstock with her son Beines.
Where are they now (December 2024)? Moshe died in 1932 and Genenda died in 1948. Sarah died in 1980. She was married to Jack Basker who also died in 1980. They had three sons, nine grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and 38 great-great-grandchildren. Beines died in 1944. He was married to Sadie (was Woolf) who died in 1996. They had two sons and a daughter, 10 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren.
Content provided and reviewed by Bernie Basker, September 2024 - KRAMER, Rachmiel and Leah: Originally from Ponevez, they came to South Africa from London in 1911 with their two young sons Natie and Phil who were born in London. Not much is known about their years in Cape Town, but there is every likelihood that the family settled in Maitland, given that Rachmiel had three brothers already living there, and that like them, he too was a butcher. Rachmiel was thus one of six siblings who lived (or who would later live) in Maitland. About 10 years later, Rachmiel and Leah had a daughter Rose, and while the boys went to school at SACS, by the time Rose was of school-going age in about the mid-1920s, the family had left Maitland and had moved to Johannesburg, where Rachmiel opened a butchery.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Leah died in 1938 and Rachmiel died in 1959. Natie died in 1976. He was married to Sonia (was Jacobson) who died in 2000. They had three daughters, three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Phil died in 1972. He was married to Rae (was Joffe) who died in 1993. They had a daughter and a son, four grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. Rose died in 2004. She was married to Alec Balkin who died in 1989. They had a son and two daughters, eight grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
Content provided and reviewed by Shirley Tomson, November 2024 - KRAMER, Rubin and Rachel: Rubin came from Lithuania in 1914. It is not known when he came to Maitland, but he was one of six siblings who lived (or who would later live) in Maitland, and he was already living there in 1920 when he and Rachel got married. They had a son Myer and five daughters, Miriam, Edie, Gertie, Sylvia and Liebe. The family lived at 13 Camden Street, and the children went to school and cheder in Maitland, and Myer probably went to high school at SACS. Rubin was a butcher, and worked at National Meat Supply in Dock Road. He was a gentle man who took pleasure in his family, and he was a regular attendee at Maitland Shul. One of his proudest moments was when he was given a key to the Shul, and he would be the first one there for the weekday morning minyans. Many ex-Maitlanders will remember that on Yom Kippur, Rubin would stand for the entire day holding onto the Bimah. This was a ritual that he took over from his older brother. Rubin made and supplied wine for Pesach for his family as well as for many Maitland residents. He also made chrain. Rubin kept chickens in the back yard of his house, which for him were somewhat like pets. Although he would never admit it, this was probably the reason that he never ate chicken. He also had a succession of Collie dogs, each named Lassie. Rachel was the homemaker, skilled at all handicrafts – knitting, sewing and crocheting, and people often came to her to pick up a dropped stitch or to shorten a dress. She made school uniforms for her children, and she knitted the most exquisite fair-isle cardigans and beautifully cabled jerseys. With any wool left over, she crocheted afghans or doilies. She had a reputation for making the best taiglagh in Maitland, and the smell of golden syrup and ginger constantly permeated throughout the house. Rachel hosted Pesach seders for family and friends, and even friends of friends, and it was in this way that Miriam met her husband-to-be Lew, when a friend of one of the regular guests asked whether she could bring a friend who had recently arrived from England and had nowhere to go for Pesach. Rachel also made sure that Rubin and his friends were well fed at their card games on Sunday mornings, and for many years she was the honorary secretary and treasurer for the Bnoth Zion group for many years. In 1970, Rubin and Rachel left Maitland to live with their daughter Gertie and her family in Milnerton.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Rubin died in 1970 and Rachel died in 1977. Myer died in 1948. He was married to Ida (was Bloomberg) who died in 1998. They had no children. Miriam died in 1984. She was married to Lew Stodel who died in 1977. They had two sons, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Edie died in 2023. She was married to Leon Radomsky who died in 2007. They had a son and two daughters, six grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Gertie died in 2000. She was married to Sonny Frumer who died in 2003. They had four daughters, 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Sylvia died in 2016. She was married to David Berman who died in 2003. They had a daughter and a son, 11 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren. Liebe was married to Rabbi Elie Lagnado who died in 2020. She is living in Houston and has a daughter and a son and six grandchildren.
An anecdote: Myer served in the South African Army during World War II, and was stationed in North Africa. One day Miriam brought her friend Ida home. On the mantelpiece was a picture of Myer that his parents had just received. Ida was immediately attracted to this good-looking young soldier in uniform, and she approached Rachel and said, "How would you like to have me as your daughter-in-law?" This conversation was later relayed to Myer, and in a letter to his mother soon after, he wrote, “I’m very intrigued and interested in this tall, dark and handsome woman who’s about to enter my life.” Fast forward to 1947, and Myer and Ida did indeed get married!
See also: FIRER, Louis and Miriam; FRUMER, Sonny and Gertie; STODEL, Lew and Miriam
Further reading: L/Bdr Myer Kramer: Army Service; Kramer, Myer: Letters Home
Content provided and reviewed by Liebe Lagnado, November 2024 - LANG, Isaac and Luba: Isaac arrived in Cape Town from Lithuania in 1925. Luba followed a year later with their nearly two-year-old son Michel (Mike). They decided to settle in Maitland because Luba had two brothers living there already, Israel and Lew Jacobson. Initially the Langs lived somewhere off Main Road, and then upgraded across Main Road to a house adjoining the house where Israel lived with Lew and his family, near Camden Street. Luba, having come to Cape Town from a cold country, suffered extreme headaches in the heat, and was advised by her doctor to swim in the cold ocean. Israel bought a house in Muizenberg, and for a few months of the year, Luba would go there with the children, and Isaac would visit over weekends, and then when she came back to Maitland, Israel also came, where he again stayed with Lew and his family. Isaac and Luba had three more children, Jacob (Jacques), Eve and Chaim, who all went to school and cheder in Maitland, though Jacques matriculated in Villiersdorp. In 1935 Isaac built the house on the corner of Colin Street and Langham Street. The family moved there in 1936. In building the house, Isaac reserved about a quarter of the plot for garaging the three eight-ton flatbed trucks used in the business, and he installed an underground fuel tank. Refuelling was done using a hand lever to manually pump the fuel. Isaac had started out in the coal business in the early 1930s with one second-hand truck which gave him endless trouble, and eventually he heeded the advice of his brother-in-law Israel to invest in new vehicles instead, which he did over time. As the business grew, he needed a railway siding to offload the coal, and hence the location of the business at the far end of Station Road between the railway line and the school and sports fields. Isaac ran the business on his own, with a small staff complement comprising a lady in the office and some drivers and laborers. In 1960 after Isaac had a heart attack, and to take some of the load off Isaac, Chaim stepped into the business, learnt and managed it well, and always with Isaac maintaining a presence. Chaim eventually took over the business, and he was joined later by his brother-in-law Dave Joffe, and sometime after that Eve also joined. Some years later Chaim left and Dave took over the management of the business, with Chaim retaining his interest in the business. Langs Wood and Coal later amalgamated with its two neighboring Jewish-owned coal merchants, Warner Coal (owned by Mike Hoberman) and Premier Coal (owned by Eli Goldblatt) and it became known as Cape Coal. Isaac was also involved in property development. In partnership with Ronnie Freedman he bought Regina Court from the Joffe’s, and in 1968/1969, he and Wolf Margolis built Langmargo on the huge site where the Margolis family had lived at 15 Station Road. Isaac also built Jacobs Court on the corner of Coronation Road and Station Road. Ja-Five was another block of flats associated with the Lang family. It was an investment for Joan after Jacques died in 1963. Like many other families in Maitland at that time, the Langs hosted cards sessions. On Sunday mornings, Luba would serve the men tea and fresh home-made bagels. The men played poker and solo, and Luba would play rummy at her cards evenings. In later years she learnt to play bridge. Luba was a member of the Maitland Bowling Club, and being one who excelled at everything she did, she won a number of medals over the years. In the mid-1970s as Maitland was starting to lose its flavor, Isaac and Luba moved to Sea Point. It was the time when people were generally starting to move. University students wanted to be in the southern suburbs, the younger generation moved away when they got married, and even the older generation wanted something new, and so friends followed friends. But even after the move, Isaac still maintained a daily presence in the business.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Isaac died in 1979 and Luba died in 1997. Mike died in 2021 He was married to Rose (was Rosen) who died in 1997. They had a son and two daughters, six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Jacques died in a motor accident in 1963. He was married to Joan (was Levit) who died in 2015. They had three children, five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren. Eve is living in Cape Town. She was married to Dave Joffe who died in 2017. They had two sons and a daughter, seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Chaim died in 2015. He was married to Rosalind (was Abel) who died in 2023. They had two sons and one grandchild.
See also: JACOBSON, Lew and Diana; MARGOLIS, Wolf and Sophie
Content provided and reviewed by Eve Joffe, November 2024 - LEVENBERG, Sam and Greta: Greta grew up in Maitland, and went to school and cheder there. At the time of her marriage, she was living at 7 Langham Street with her parents, Gerson and Brina Joffe. Sam and Greta moved into Regina Court in Coronation Road, and their daughter Avril was born a year later. In 1955 Greta was expecting twins, and they realized that the flat would be too small for them, so they moved to Sea Point, where Marc and Marcelle were born. Sam was a rep for Lewis Stores. Greta worked there too, in the office, and that is how they met.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Sam died in 2015. Greta is living in Cape Town. Avril (now Green) and her husband Arnold are living in Sydney. They have two sons. Marc is living in Cape Town. Marcelle (now Chomse) is living in Sedgefield along the Garden Route. She has a son and two daughters and two grandchildren.
Content provided and reviewed by Avril Green, October 2024 - LEVIN, Max and Janie: Were residents of Maitland at the time of their marriage in 1916. They owned a butchery and were very involved in the community. They lived at 11 Milner Road. Max and Janie had three sons, Solly, Marcus (Marky) and Aubrey. and a daughter. Aubrey was married to Mildred (Bubbles). They had a son and two daughters. Janie continued to live in Maitland for many years after Max died, and moved to Sea Point around 1977.
Where are they now (September 2024)? Max died in 1966 and Janie died in 1986. Marcus died in 1978. He was unmarried. Aubrey died in 1986 and Bubbles died in 2023.
See also: LEVIN, Solly and ????
Content provided by Rojene Levin and extracted from public records, September 2024 - LEVIN, Solly and ????: Solly was one of the sons of Max and Janie Levin. Solly and his wife had a daughter, Cheryl. The family lived in 1 Regina Court in Coronation Road for a while during the 1960s.
See also: LEVIN, Max and Janie
Content provided by Philip Stodel, September 2024 - LEVITT, Jack and Esther: They were both born in Lithuania. Jack came to South Africa in the late 1920s. He ran a dairy in Kensington. He and Esther got married in 1932, and they moved to their house in Royal Road soon after that. They then had a daughter Corinne, followed by twin boys Harold and Cecil, who went to school and cheder in Maitland, and then to boarding school in Villiersdorp where they attended De Villiers Graaff High School. In the early 1950s, Jack opened a second-hand furniture shop in Maitland, and he later opened a shop for each of the boys – a bicycle shop for Harold and a record shop for Cecil. They later took over Jack’s shop. Harold and Cecil were well known for their tap-dancing routines which entertained many Maitlanders. It would seem that the family left Maitland in the early 1960s and moved to Sea Point, but they still had the shop in Maitland until the early 1980s.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Jack died in 1963 and Esther died in 1995. Corinne died in 2023. She was married to Solly Rubin, and they had a son and two daughters. Harold died in 1998. He was married to Jocelyn. They had three daughters. Cecil died in 2015. He was married to Berenice, and they had a son and two daughters.
Content provided and reviewed by Berenice Levitt, November 2024 - MAISEL, Morris and Becky (to 1945), later Morris and Betty (from about 1949): Morris was the third of the three Maisel brothers who came to Maitland from Lithuania. Conditions were bad, serving in the army wasn’t desirable, and so Morris came from Yalok in the 1930s and settled in Maitland. He was a butcher, and he was living on Main Road at the time of his marriage to Becky in 1940. They lived at 14 Station Road, later to be occupied by the Jacobson family. They had two children, Julius and Cynthia, who both attended junior school in Maitland. Julius went to cheder and then on to high school in Maitland, while Cynthia went to Good Hope. Becky died in 1945 when the children were very young. Morris’s sister-in-law Sarah was a wonderful lady, and played an active role in caring for Julius and Cynthia. In about 1949 Morris married Betty (was Loon). Morris owned Maitland Meat Market on Voortrekker Road, and he later went into dairy farming. He served on the Shul committee, and when Julius was old enough, he too served on the committee. Betty was involved with Bnoth Zion. In 1957 the family moved to Milnerton, by which time Julius was already at university. Even though he had left Maitland, Morris still had the butchery, and he remained a regular at the Maitland Shul. Julius closed the butchery about five years after Morris died.
Where are they now (December 2024)? Becky died in 1945 and Morris died in 1974. His second wife Betty died in 1980. Cynthia died in 1970. She was married to Cecil Frankal who died in 2022. They had one child and one grandchild. Julius is living in Cape Town. He is married to Elizabeth (was Cooper). They have a son and a daughter, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Content provided and reviewed by Julius Maisel, December 2024 - MANTA, Bernard (Benny) and Eva: Eva was born and raised in Maitland. Benny was from the Gardens. After they got married in 1949, they continued to stay at 140 Coronation Road, Eva’s childhood home. They had three children, Gary, Lynn and Fiona. Benny worked in the family shoe shop in District Six. The children all went to school and cheder in Maitland. Eva continued to live in Maitland for a number of years after Bennie died, and moved to Table View in 1992.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Bennie died in 1985 and Eva died in 2020. Gary is living in Cape Town. Lynn (now Leslie) is living in Cape Town. Her husband Peter died in 2021. They have a son and two daughters, and five grandchildren. Fiona (now de Kock) is living in Cape Town. She has a son and two daughters, and one grandchild.
See also: SHARANOWITZ, Joshua and Fanny
Content provided and reviewed by Lynn Leslie, October 2024 - MARGOLIS, Wolf and Sophie: Born in Lithuania, they were married in Cape Town in 1937. It was a second marriage for both of them, each having lost their first spouses. Wolf had three children, Rose, Aimee and Abie. Sophie had a daughter Fanny. Together they had a son Jeff. They lived in Cambridge Road until about 1945, and then moved to 15 Station Road, which was a very large Victorian house which Wolf bought from the Singers who moved to Muizenberg. The children all went to school and cheder in Maitland. Wolf owned Koeberg Fisheries on Voortrekker Road, opposite the Welcome Hotel. It was a well-known outlet, selling fresh fish and a range of other deli style foods, including fresh bread. Once a year on the day before Good Friday, thousands of hot cross buns moved across the counter. As Easter often clashed with Pesach, hot cross buns were a rare treat for most in this vibrant Jewish community. In the early 1950s, Wolf sold Koeberg Fisheries and went into the produce business with the Gootkins. The venture didn’t really work out and in the mid to late 1950s, Wolf bought Goodwood Fisheries, next to the shoe shop owned by the Bub family. After some years Wolf sold that shop and retired, and feeling that Sea Point had more to offer a retired Jewish couple, he and Sophie left Maitland. Abie was a qualified electrician, and he was in partnership with Issy Herman (Hermes Electric) for a while, and then he later went into partnership with Isaac Zieff. In 1968/1969, the house at 15 Station Road was demolished, and Wolf, in partnership with Isaac Lang, built a block of 12 apartments called Langmargo.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Sophie died in 1971 and Wolf died in 1996. Rose was married to Leon Lipshitz. They have both died. They had two sons and a daughter, four grandchildren and two great-grandsons. Aimee has died. She was unmarried. Abie died in 2008. He was married to Bessie (was Miller) and they had three sons and a daughter and six grandchildren. Fanny was married to Maish Levin. They have both died. They had a son and a daughter and four grandchildren. Jeff and his wife Valerie (was Moss) are living in London. They have two sons and a daughter and three grandchildren.
An anecdote: Even though Jeff left Maitland in 1965, he still feels that his roots are in Maitland. In 2005, he and Harold Cohen mooted the idea of the Maitland reunion that ultimately took place six months later. Jeff flew in from London, unexpectedly and specifically for the event, to the delight of all the guests there.
See also: LANG, Isaac and Luba
Content provided and reviewed by Jeff Margolis, November 2024 - MEYFARTH, Albert and Sandra: Came to Maitland from Milnerton in 1979. They lived in a block of flats in Lawrence Road, just off Station Road. They have one daughter, Michelle. The family left Maitland in 1992 and went to Goodwood.
Where are they now (September 2024)? Albert died in 2007 and Sandra died in 2023. Michelle is living in England.
See also: BERMAN, Isaac (Issy) and Mabel
Content provided and reviewed by Michael Berman, September 2024 - ODES, Morris and Mary: Morris came from Plunyan in about 1926. It seems he was the first of his generation to be brought to Cape Town by an uncle who was living in Maitland, and he probably boarded with the Singers who rented rooms in their house to new immigrants such as himself. Morris was a butcher, and it was in the shop where he was working that he met Mary, who was a bookkeeper in that shop. Mary had come to Cape Town from Scotland at the age of 12, and did some of her schooling in Maitland. Mary was a sister to Alice Kramer and Hilda Barron, both of whom had strong ties to Maitland. Morris and Mary married in 1935 and moved to 1 Station Road. They had two children, Janice and Charles. The children went to junior school and cheder in Maitland. The principal of the school, Mr Ross, allowed the Jewish pupils to go to Shul for morning prayers, as the Shul was so close to the school. Janice went to high school at Good Hope, and Charles went to SACS. Morris and Kalman Maisel, another Maitland resident, worked together as wholesale butchers at the abattoirs, and some years later Morris started Maitland Timbers in partnership with Kalman Maisel, Mr Munitz, Isaac Kagan from Goodwood, Mr Glass from Parow and Mr Weiner from Sea Point. In a separate venture, Morris and his brother-in-law Maurice Kramer were in partnership as owners of the Voortrekker Hotel. As chairman of the Maitland Shul and cheder for some 25 years, Morris is probably one of the more well-known Maitland personalities of that era. He was instrumental in building the new Shul, and he laid the foundation stone that was so prominently displayed at the corner of the building at the top of the stairs near the entrance. Morris and Mary were charity workers within the Jewish community, and Mary was chairlady of Bnoth Zion and the Ladies Benevolent Society. After Morris died, Mary felt the house was too big for her and she didn’t want to live there alone, so she moved to a residential hotel in Sea Point.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Morris died in 1978 and Mary died in 1981. Janice is living in Cape Town. She was married to Stanley Bloch who died in 2013. They had two sons and a daughter, nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Charles died in 2017. His wife Rainer (was Daniells) is living in Cape Town. They had a son and a daughter and three grandchildren.
See also: KRAMER, Maurice and Alice; ODES, Solomon and Sarah
Content provided and reviewed by Janice Bloch, November 2024 - ODES, Phillip and Becky: When Phillip arrived in Cape Town from Plunyan in 1929 at the age of 17, he came to Maitland and stayed with his uncle who lived on Voortrekker Road. His uncle found work for him in Stellenbosch, and Phillip went to stay there for a while. He later moved back to Maitland, where he stayed on his brother’s property at 112 Royal Road. In 1943 he married Becky Weiner. They bought the two semi-detached houses on the corner of Langham Street and Highclere Street, which they rented out, and they themselves lived in the Levitt’s house on the corner of Royal Road and Norfolk Street. Their son Hymie was born in 1953, and around 1955 the family moved to 12 Station Road, on the corner of Coronation Road. Hymie went to school and cheder in Maitland. Phillip was a cattle dealer. Becky was involved in community affairs, and was treasurer of the Bnoth Zion for many years. Phillip and Becky were central figures within the Maitland community, and had a constant flow of people through their home, whether it was the brocha gatherings after Shul, cards evenings, or people just popping in for a visit or to have a taste of the delicious chocolate cakes for which Becky was so well known. They invariably had a house full of guests for the holiday dinners and the breaking of the Yom Kippur fast. The proximity of their house to the Shul made them the ideal place for the young children, who came to Shul on Yom Kippur, to go to for lunch while their parents were still in Shul. Phillip used to make wine and chrain (horseradish) for Pesach.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Becky died in 1985 and Phillip died in 1990. After Phillip died, Hymie came back to Maitland to live in the house. He is one of the only three known Jewish people still living in Maitland. He has maintained the wonderful tradition of making chrain for Pesach, and he is usually assisted by a couple of other ex-Maitlanders.
See also: ODES, Samuel Louis and Sarah; ODES, Solomon and Sarah
Content provided and reviewed by Hymie Odes, October 2024 - ODES, Samuel Louis and Sarah: Louis, as he was more generally known (and called SL by some), arrived in South Africa from Plunyan in 1928 as a teenager and with no knowledge of English. He carried his worldly possessions in a little wooden suitcase. With the assistance of his uncle, he was able to get a job in a butcher shop owned by a Plunyaner. He did menial labor until he was able to learn a smattering of English, at which stage he was allowed to serve customers. He eventually managed the shop. By the time he and Sarah married in 1938, Louis was working as a cattle speculator, and he later became a cattle farmer, owning farms in the Cape and the Transvaal. They settled in Maitland because Louis had cousins and an uncle already living there. Louis and Sarah lived at 112 Royal Road. From his earnings, Louis brought out his brother Phillip in 1929, and later he brought out his sister Helen, aged 18 at the time, just before the doors to South Africa were closed to all Jews. She arrived on what must have been one of the last ships to South Africa before the outbreak of World War II. Helen lived with Louis and Sarah, and was later to become like a mother to their children and an integral part of the family. It speaks volumes for Louis and Sarah that as a newly married couple, Helen was accepted (especially by Sarah) as a daughter, and they became inseparable. Louis and Sarah had three children, Michael, Alan and Charles. They went to school and cheder in Maitland, but Michael went to high school at SACS as he needed Latin to study for his law degree, which Maitland didn’t offer. Louis and Sarah were both active in the community for most of their years in Maitland. Louis served as vice chairman, and later chairman, of the Maitland Shul for a number of years. Sarah was active in Bnoth Zion. Louis, Sarah and Helen all died while still resident in Maitland.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Sarah died in 1981 and Louis died in 1989. Helen died in 1986. Michael is married to Julia (was Movsowitz). They are living in Australia. They had two sons and a daughter, and nine grandchildren. Alan died in 2010. He was married to Lucille (was Lazarus) who died in 2004. They had two daughters and four grandchildren. Charles is living in Australia. His wife Dawn (was Assin) died in 2023. They had a son and a daughter and four grandchildren.
An anecdote that shows the role played by fate in one’s life: At the time of Louis’ immigration to South Africa, it was required by law that all new arrivals have a guarantor sign for them to enable them to disembark, failing which the immigrant would be sent back home. Louis’ parents had written a letter to his uncle in Maitland informing him of his arrival in Cape Town. That letter was never received by the uncle, and hence there was no one to sign for Louis to enable him to disembark. Being the last remaining passenger on the ship, Louis stood alone at the railing, and while waiting for his uncle (who would never arrive), he was noticed by a man on the quayside who, in Yiddish, asked who he was. The man happened to know who Louis’ uncle was and signed as guarantor for him. It was never established why that man was there in the first place, but, if not for that man, Louis would have been sent back to Plunyan to suffer the fate of his family. But who was that man on the quayside? None other than Mr Emdin, who would later become the caterer so well known by the entire Jewish community in Cape Town.
See also: ODES, Phillip and Becky; ODES, Solomon and Sarah
Content provided and reviewed by Michael Odes, November 2024 - ODES, Solomon and Sarah: Solomon came to South Africa from Plunyan. He was living in Brooklyn or Maitland at the time of his marriage to Sarah in 1919. They had two children, Jack and Sheina (Leah). They lived at Villa Manchester(?) on Main Road near the Police Station. Solomon worked as a cattle dealer. It is believed that Solomon brought out three of his nephews from Plunyan. First Morris Odes in 1926, then in 1928 his young nephew Samuel Odes arrived from Plunyan, and Solomon assisted him to get a job. A year later another young nephew Phillip Odes arrived from Plunyan and stayed with the family until Solomon found work for him. They were referred to by their family as “Tante Sarah” and “Der Onkel”. Little else is known of this family. They were somewhat reclusive, and it seems they did not participate in communal life in Maitland. The family was still resident in Maitland when Solomon died in 1943. Jack worked at OK Bazaars as a floorwalker. Jack and Sheina later moved to Johannesburg.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Solomon died in 1943 and Sarah died in 1971. Jack died in 2007. He was unmarried. Sheina died in 2009. She was married to Louis Lessick. They had two children and one granddaughter.
See also: ODES, Morris and Mary; ODES, Phillip and Becky; ODES, Samuel and Sarah
Content provided by Janice Bloch and Hymie Odes and reviewed by Janice Bloch, November 2024 - OZINSKY: Zalman Ber and Rachel: Zalman Ber (called Salomon by his family) was born in Sviencian, Lithuania. He and Rachel got married in Poland, Rachel’s country of birth. Zalman Ber came to South Africa in 1927, and Rachel followed a year later with their three young sons, Phillip, Julian and Joseph (Jossie), all of whom were born in Vilna. They were one of five related families who were apparently sponsored by the Max and Ruben Kuritzky families and who were already well established in Cape Town and involved in the meat trade (Imperial Cold Storage). So it was that they settled in Maitland where several other families had already settled, most of whom were involved with meat in some or other way, as the main Cape Town abattoir was located in Maitland. Zalman Ber and Rachel initially lived on Voortrekker Road, where their son Meyer was born, and later their daughter Naomi. They moved to 1 Lawrence Road in about 1937. The children went to primary school and cheder in Maitland, and Naomi went to the Holy Cross Convent in Coronation Road for piano lessons. Julian and Meyer went to Maitland High School, Phillip and Jossie went to SACS, and Naomi went to Good Hope. Although Zalman Ber worked as an abattoir dealer, most will remember him for his presence in Maitland Shul as the chazzan or ba’al tefilah. An abiding memory of him that many will have is seeing him on the bimah at the end of Yom Kippur day, leading the Neila service, his watch laid out to the side, repeating and drawing out several more lines of Avinu Malkeinu according to the time in hand. Zalman Ber was very keen on the circus and frequently took one or more of his children to the large vacant site on the corner of Coronation Road and Koeberg Road. During preparations before the circus opened to the public, the usual crowd of children would gather to see the caravans and assorted animal cages. Zalman Ber and Rachel spoke mainly Yiddish, but switched to Polish or Russian if they wanted privacy. Zalman Ber was keen on chazonos music and sang songs in Russian, and sometimes even played the violin. Rachel was involved with Bnoth Zion, and she spent most of her time at home, cooking, baking, and frequently with one or more of her neighbors sitting around and chatting. She never visited anyone without taking biscuits or challot to them. Fondly referred to as the Bagel Queen, Rachel turned out teiglach, some plain and some filled with raisins or dates. She also made lokshen, kreplach, challah, bagels, stuffed monkey biscuits, lekach, putchar, chopped liver, cholent with kishka, kneidlach, and all the usual traditional foods associated with the chaggim, like hamentashen for Purim and cheese blintzes for Shavuot. Needless to say, Pesach seders in the Ozinsky home were traditional, with many relatives around the table, and Zalman Ber at the head, with two enormous feather pillows to the side. On the morning of erev Pesach, it was Naomi who was sent to the home of Rev Kaufman to collect a small bowl of charoset. Like so many households in Maitland, Sunday nights were reserved for the women playing rummy and the men playing chess or klabberjas or some other card game. After Zalman Ber died, Rachel continued to live in Maitland until she moved to Sea Point a few years later.
Where are they now (December 2024)? Zalman Ber died in 1966 and Rachel died in 1978. Phillip died in 1997. He was married to Becky (was Gootman) who is living in Israel. They had one daughter and two grandsons. Julian died in 2009. He was married to Mary (was Epstein) who died in 2024. They had three children and four grandchildren. Jossie died in 2017. He was married to Poppie (was Rautenbach). They had two sons and four grandchildren. Meyer died in 2023. He was married to Batya (was Bessie Berger) who died in 2009. They had three children and seven grandchildren. Naomi (now Stone) and her husband Victor are living in London. Naomi was previously married to Joe Loon who died in 2014. They had two sons and a daughter, seven grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
Content provided and reviewed by Naomi Stone, December 2024 - RICHFIELD, Leslie and Helen: Married in the UK in 1941, they came to South Africa in 1947 and by 1951 they were living at 6 Regina Court in Coronation Road. They had one son Julian who started school in Sea Point in 1956, so it is assumed that the family moved out of Maitland around that time, or possibly as early as 1953. Leslie was a radio announcer for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, working together with other personalities on many Springbok Radio programmes.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Leslie died in 1994 and Helen died in 2022. Julian died in 2023. He was married to Rosalie (was Shap). They had a son and a daughter and three grandchildren.
Content provided by Rosalie Shap and extracted from public records and reviewed by Rosalie Shap, November 2024 - SAACKS, Abraham and Freda: Abraham was from Rietevas and was living in Maitland at the time of his marriage in 1913 to Freda who came from Ponevez. She was the daughter of Elyah and Risha Sieff who also lived in Maitland, and one of three siblings who lived (or who would later live) in Maitland. Abraham and Freda had four children, Lilian, Sydney, Gladys and Herbert, who all grew up in Maitland. Lilian and Gladys went to Good Hope, Sydney went to SACS and Herbert went to Sea Point Boys High. Abraham and Freda had a general dealer shop on Voortrekker Road. One of Freda’s sisters, Gertrude, married Joe Saacks, a brother to Abraham. Joe was living in Maitland at the time of their marriage in 1924. Gertrude died in 1938, and three years later Joe married Leah Kramer from Maitland. In 1947, Gladys married Wolfe Fish. His family was from Salant, and his mother Sara Cohen (name was changed from Zagenkahn) was a sister to Minnie, mother to Solly Urdang and Ray Barlin. Wolfe was from Ceres, and stayed with them in Maitland for a number of years while he was at university.
Where are they now (December 2024)? Abraham died in 1967 and Freda died in 1985. Lilian died in 2005. She was married to Richard Katz who died in 1989. They had a son and a daughter, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Sydney died in 2000. He was married to Brenda (was Buirski) who is living in Cape Town. They had a son and a daughter and one granddaughter. Gladys died in 2017. She was married to Wolfe Fish who died in 1986. They had two sons and two daughters, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Herbert died in 2002. He was married to Maureen (was Kay). He was previously married to Ruth (was Marin), and they had two daughters and one grandson.
Content provided and reviewed by Renee Krantz and Sylvia Vichter, December 2024 - SCHWABSKY, Ben and Bloomah: Ben was born in Lithuania. He and Bloomah were married in England. It is not known whether or not they lived in Maitland, but when Ben died in 1954, he had been living in Oranjezicht, and at that time he owned two houses in Maitland – 17 Spencer Street and 16 Lawrence Road. Ben was a dress manufacturer. Ben and Bloomah had six children, two of whom are known to have lived in Maitland at some stage. Their daughter Pearl, also born in England, was living in Maitland at the time of her marriage to Harry Opwald in 1940. Pearl was a bookkeeper. Their son Isadore, five years younger than Pearl and also born in England, was living at 17 Spencer Street at the time of his marriage to Dora in 1947. Isadore worked as a clothing manufacturer. It is assumed that Ben Schwabsky was once a chairman of the Maitland Shul.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Ben died in 1954 and Bloomah died in 1971.
See also: SWABSKY, Noah and Naomi
Content extracted from public records, October 2024 - SEIDLE, Philip and Janey: After working in the forests in Vilna and hearing of the growing anti-Semitism, Polish born Philip and Janey decided to come to South Africa, and arrived in Cape Town in 1929 with their two young sons Barney and Hymie. Initially settling in Simonstown, Philip bought a bookshop, and Janey and the boys delivered milk from a cow that they kept. Three months after their arrival, Philip took some helpers off the streets and built three houses, which he sold. The family left Simonstown in the early 1930s after the boys’ Barmitzvahs and came to Maitland, where they ran a dairy. Janey worked in their dairy in Maitland while Philip focused on building blocks of flats in Brooklyn, which he named after his family (Philjan, Hildor). The family lived in Chapel Street until at least 1945, and later moved to 1 Royal Flats. Barney and Hymie went to Rondebosch Boys’ school. Philip and Janey were very active in community affairs. Philip played an active role in the building of the new Maitland Shul, he was chairman of its Building Fund, and he was on the committee of Oranjia Orphanage. Janey belonged to various women’s groups.
Where are they now (December 2024)? Philip died in 1965 and Janey died in 1982. Barney died in 1992. He was married to Hilda (was Hoffman) who died in 1999. They had two daughters and four grandchildren. Hilda was a sister to Ruth Bloch. Hymie died in 1999. He was married to Doreen (was Hotz) who is living in Cape Town. They had a daughter and two sons, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
An anecdote: The key to the Maitland Shul, presumably the original key that opened the door in 1954, was left in Hymie’s custodianship, and he gave it to the Gardens Shul before he died in 1999.
See also: BLOCH, Dr. David (Bobby) and Gertruth (Ruth)
Content provided and reviewed by Sharon Adler, December 2024 - SHARANOWITZ, Joshua and Fanny: Joshua escaped from Lithuania and came to Cape Town and settled in Maitland. Legend has it that there were women waiting at the docks when the men arrived, and Joshua pointed at a woman and said, "I will take that one," and so it was that he married Fanny in 1914. Joshua opened a butcher shop on Voortrekker Road, somewhere across the road from the Grand Bioscope, and initially they lived in Voortrekker Road, presumably close to the shop. He later built three houses in Maitland, and the family moved into 140 Coronation Road. They had a daughter Eva who went to school and cheder in Maitland. At home, Joshua kashered the meat. He was a pious man, and the Shul was a central part of his life. He regularly took his grandchildren to Shul, and also did cheder homework with them. Joshua continued to live in the house with his family after Fanny died.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Fanny died in 1951 and Joshua died in 1974.
See also: MANTA, Bernard (Benny) and Eva
Content provided and reviewed by Lynn Leslie, October 2024 - SHUMAN, Abraham and Annie (Elli): Little is known about them, when they came to Maitland, and how long they stayed there, if indeed they did. It appears they lived in Johannesburg, but they owned the house at 5 Station Road. They had three children, Morris, Lily and Isadore. Morris married Esther Katzef.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Abraham died in 1946 and Annie died in 1952.
See also: KATZEF, Alter and Freda; SHUMAN, Morris and Esther
Content extracted from public records and reviewed by Avril Rom, October 2024 - SHUMAN, Morris and Esther: It is likely that Esther lived at 11 Suffolk Street and went to school in Maitland while she was growing up. After she and Morris married, they lived at 5 Station Road, and stayed there for a while after their daughter Avril was born. Morris and Esther had a grocery store in Kensington. Around the early to mid-1950s, the business burnt down. They then moved out of the house in Station Road and went back to Suffolk Street. In later years Esther worked at Dan Hands. Avril went to school in Maitland, and lived there until she got married.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Morris died in 1966 and Esther died in 1973 while still residing in Maitland. Avril (now Rom) and her husband Steven are living in Sydney. They have two sons and two grandchildren.
See also: KATZEF, Alter and Freda; SHUMAN, Abraham and Annie
Content provided and reviewed by Avril Rom, October 2024 - STODEL, Lew and Miriam: Miriam was the third-generation of her family to make Maitland her home. The oldest daughter of Rubin and Rachel Kramer, she grew up in Maitland at 13 Camden Street, and went to school and cheder in Maitland. She was in the first Standard 6 class at Maitland High School in 1936. In her adult years, Miriam was a regular tennis player at the Maitland Tennis Club. Miriam married Lew in 1952, and for the first two years of their marriage they stayed with her parents, Rubin and Rachel Kramer, in their house in Camden Street, where their first son David was born. In 1953 the family moved to 9 Regina Court in Coronation Road where their second son Philip was born three years later. David and Philip both went to school and cheder in Maitland. Lew was born in the UK, and came to South Africa in 1947 after having served in the RAF for five years during the war. A cabinet maker by trade, he worked at South African Cabinet Works in Parow. He had been a drummer in a band for many years in the UK, and he continued drumming in Cape Town, playing for Vic Davies at Hotel Assembly and other venues. As these gigs generally meant very late nights, Miriam would often accompany him to an event, and they would spend time together afterwards. Before Miriam was married, she and her sister Edie both worked as telegraphists in the Post Office, and they were very adept at Morse code. When they were together in a group and wanted to communicate secretly, they would tap messages on the table or on their cheeks in Morse code. Miriam later worked half-days at Hellas on Voortrekker Road, and for a while she also worked on Saturdays for Solly and Florrie Barr at their grocery shop on Voortrekker Road. After leaving Hellas in the mid-1960s, she worked in the Cape Town CBD for Katz and Zinn Furnishing Company for about 10 years, after which she again worked in Maitland, this time for her brother-in-law Sonny Frumer in his business on The Outspan (Frumer and Bennett's Sheet Metal Works). When the business was sold, Miriam went to work for Springbok Electric in the Cape Town CBD. After Lew died, and after David and Philip left home, Miriam continued to live in Maitland until 1982, at which time she moved to Sea Point.
Where are they now (November 2024)? Lew died in 1977 and Miriam died in 1984. David is living in Cape Town. He has a daughter and two grandsons from his previous marriage to Angela (was Roy). He is married to Tina (was Meier), and they have a daughter. Philip and his wife Michele (was Ehrlich) are living in Israel. They have two daughters and four grandchildren.
See also: BARR, Solly and Florrie; FRUMER, Sonny and Gertie; KRAMER, Rubin and Rachel
Content provided by Philip Stodel and reviewed by Liebe Lagnado, November 2024 - SWABSKY, Noah and Naomi: Records were found for a few people who lived in Maitland, but a coherent story can only be written once more facts materialize. Noah was born in Lithuania in 1868 and he was married in Lithuania. He was married to Naomi (was Drus) who died in 1924. Noah had three children, Ada, Leah and Max, all of whom were born in South Africa. Ada was born in 1903. She married Zundel Kaplan in 1928, and at the time of their marriage, Zundel was residing on Beach Road. Leah was born in 1904 and died in 1996. She was married to Alexander Goldstein. Max was born in 1908. He later changed his name to Swade. He married Ruth (was Rosenberg) in 1943, and at the time of their marriage he was residing at “Repose” on Main Road. Noah was more than likely a brother to Ben Schwabsky, who was born in Lithuania in 1889. Noah was known to be living at Beach Road in 1943. He died in 1952. Other names are Nahama Swabsky who was born in 1870. She was a sister-in-law to Ben Schwabsky, and she was residing at Main Road or possibly Beach Road when she died in 1925. Miriam Schwabsky appears as a young girl in a 1930 cheder group photograph. Hymie Swabsky appears as a young boy in a 1941 cheder group photograph.
See also: SCHWABSKY, Ben and Bloomah; SWADE, Dr. Max
Content extracted from public records, November 2024 - SWADE, Dr. Max: For a short period of time around 1949, he practiced at 305 Voortrekker Road, near Camden Street. He was the son of Noah Swabsky, but changed his name. At the time of his marriage to Ruth (was Rosenberg) in 1943, Max was residing at “Repose” on Main Road.
See also: SWABSKY, Noah and Naomi
Content extracted from public records, November 2024 - WALLACE, Joe and Rae: They first lived in Coronation Road near to the Talmud Torah hall, and then later in Lawrence Road in one of the houses belonging to Mrs Singer. Ray worked at Oblowitz in Salt River. Joe died in 1964. In the early 1980s Rae moved into Hillary Court, where she and Flo Zagnoiev shared the flat that Flo was living in. Some years later Rae left Maitland and went to Highlands House where she died in 2002.
See also: ZAGNOIEV, Cecil and Flora (Flo)
Content provided by Hymie Odes and extracted from public records, November 2024 - WOLSON, Rabbi: Was the rabbi in Maitland for a few years from the late 1970s after Rabbi Franklin left. He stayed in a block of flats on the corner of Lawrence Road and Patton Street. When he left Maitland, he went to Highlands House. He had a son Colin, who was a dentist in Cape Town.
Content provided by Hymie Odes, September 2024 - YUTAR, Joel and Roy: There were three brothers living together in their family house in Green Point. David died in 2017, and the following year Joel and Roy sold the house and moved to Maitland.
Where are they now (September 2024)? Joel and Roy are living in Royal Road. They are retired, and are two of the only three known Jewish people still living in Maitland.
Content provided by Hymie Odes and extracted from public records, September 2024 - ZAGNOIEV, Cecil and Flora (Flo): When Cecil left Russia around the mid-1920s with his parents Hirsch and Ethel Zagnoiev, his two older brothers Solly and Pincus, and his younger brother Issy, their destination was America. En-route, the ship docked in Cape Town. Cecil’s father said, “This looks great, let’s get off here,” which the family did. Pincus stayed in Cape Town, while the rest of the family went to Johannesburg. It was there that Cecil met Flo, and they got married in 1940. They had a son Brian. Cecil was by trade an upholsterer, one of the proper craftsmen of that time. It seems that Pincus suggested at some point that they come to Cape Town, and so it was that the family came to Maitland in 1958 and moved into 1 Hillary Court in Langham Street. Brian, already post Barmitzvah, went to the high school. Cecil opened a little dairy in Maitland. Brian would help to load milk and cheese into the boot of Cecil’s 1948 Plymouth, and they would go off on deliveries in the family car. But the dairy business didn’t really work out for Cecil, and he was offered a position in the Cape Town CBD as a foreman at Castle Upholsterers, where he worked for many years until the factory closed. He was then offered a position at SA Picture Framing, where he remained until he died. In his own time, Cecil did upholstery work in his garage. Re-covering furniture was a service that he provided to the Maitland community. He was one who would always lend a helping hand where he could. Cecil made wine at home for Rosh Hashanah and Pesach, and would give bottles to members of the community. Cecil was a regular Shul goer, and many will remember him at his seat in the front row, standing and loudly reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish at every service. Flo was born in the Eastern Transvaal and went to school in Ermelo. She matriculated in Afrikaans and was very proficient in the language. She would listen to Afrikaans programs on the radio, and later with the advent of television, she watched Afrikaans shows. People who met her were surprised to learn that she wasn’t a native Afrikaner. Flo worked as a secretary at Farber Motors in the Cape Town CBD. In the early 1980s after Cecil had died, Rae Wallace, who had been living in Lawrence Road, moved into Hillary Court and shared the flat with Flo. In the early 1990s, Flo felt the need to be in a safer place, somewhere where she could walk freely, have access to a social group and activities, not feel that she was alone, have easy access to a library, and so it was that she moved to Sea Point Place.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Cecil died in 1980 and Flo died in 2005. Brian and his wife Marcelle (was Sher) are living in Cape Town. They have a son and a daughter and three grandchildren.
An anecdote: In 1974, Cecil’s brother Solly came down from Johannesburg to visit. He couldn’t find their flat, and while wandering somewhere along Coronation Road, he was attacked. He wasn’t seriously hurt, but one can’t help wondering whether this was one of the first and few crimes in Maitland in those years.
See also: WALLACE, Joe and Rae; ZAGNOIEV, Pincus (Pinky) and Katie
Content provided and reviewed by Brian Zagnoiev, October 2024 - ZAGNOIEV, Pincus (Pinky) and Katie: When Pinky left Russia around the mid-1920s with his parents Hirsch and Ethel Zagnoiev, his older brother Solly and his two younger brothers Cecil and Issy, their destination was America. En-route, the ship docked in Cape Town. Pinky’s father said, “This looks great, let’s get off here,” which the family did. Pinky stayed in Cape Town, while the rest of the family went to Johannesburg. In 1940 Pinky married Katie. It is not known whether they immediately came to live in Maitland, but they ultimately lived in Norfolk Street. They had no children. Pinky was a butcher, and owned Royal Meat Market on Voortrekker Road, on the Kensington side of Camden Street. He was active in the Shul, and for a time he served as the secretary. Katie was involved with Bnoth Zion Affairs. Pinky and Katie hosted large family gatherings at their home for Shabbat and holiday meals. Katie went to Highlands House some years after Pinky died.
Where are they now (October 2024)? Pinky died in 1972 and Katie died in 1995.
See also: ZAGNOIEV, Cecil and Flora (Flo)
Content provided and reviewed by Brian Zagnoiev, October 2024 - ZIEFF, Bernard (Bentze) and Dora (to 1967), later Bentze and Julia (from 1974): Bentze and Dora were married in Plunyan. Their original surname was Civje, which they changed to Zieff after their arrival in South Africa in 1929. They settled in Maitland more than likely because there were already other families from Plunyan already living there – Klein, Margolis, Odes, Singer, and Diamond in Kensington. Upon their arrival in Maitland, they initially found a room in the home of Alter and Freda Katzef in Suffolk Street, and later moved to 55 Coronation Road. They had four children, Izzy, Isaac, Masha and Solly, and in 1946 the family moved to 11 Patton Street. The children all went to school and cheder in Maitland. During the war years, Bentze was a member of the Civilian Protective Services (CPS) who nightly patrolled the streets of Maitland, a duty performed by most Jewish fathers during that era. Solly’s Barmitzvah was the last in the old Shul, following which services were held in the Talmud Torah hall until the new Shul opened in 1954. Bentze came from a family of butchers and his brother Max was a butcher in Cape Town. Bentze worked at National Meat Suppliers. In 1947, in a vain attempt to rival Wolf Margolis’s Koeberg Fisheries, Bentze bought a fish shop on Voortrekker Road. In 1950 Dora underwent surgery, and Solly worked in the fish shop for three weeks. As he was under age at the time, special permission had to be obtained from Mr Ross, the principal of Maitland Public School. After Dora died in 1967, Solly, by then married with two children and living in Sea Point, moved back to Maitland for two years to be with Bentze while he (Solly) specialized and worked at Red Cross Children’s Hospital and Groote Schuur Hospital. In 1974 Bentze married Julie (was Stein) and they continued to live in Maitland until they moved to Sea Point in about 1978. Isaac was a qualified electrician and was in partnership with Abie Margolis in Goodwood Electrical for over 50 years.
Where are they now (December 2024)? Dora died in 1967 and Bentze died in 1982. His second wife Julie died in 1991. Izzy died in 2000. He was married to Renee (was Cywes) who is living in Cape Town. They had three children and six grandchildren. Isaac died in 2007. He was married to Dorothy (was Kesler) who is living in Cape Town. They had a son and a daughter and six grandchildren. Masha (now Adar) is living in Israel. She was married to Uri who died in 2020. They had two sons and six grandchildren. Solly is living in Cape Town. He is married to Joan (was Helman). They have a son and three daughters and eight grandchildren.
An anecdote: Solly recalls the Maitland community being by and large a tokenly Orthodox one, with the Shul playing an essential role. He remembers his mother being on visiting terms with a Colored family, and while he was probably too young to experience expressions of anti-Semitism at a public level, he recalls his Sub B teacher smacking him across the back of his knees with a stern “If you make that mistake again I will drop Hitler’s bombs on you”. Habonim and Shtilim were established youth groups, followed by YI (Young Israel) and Bnei Zion in the 1950s.
See also: KATZEF, Alter and Freda; MARGOLIS, Wolf and Sophie
Content provided and reviewed by Solly Zieff, December 2024
