Memoirs
Many South Africans have written personal or family memoirs to remember and document the past for future generations. Click the entries below to read these fascinating memoirs (the majority of which have not been commercially published). This is yet another way of engraving the footprint of our people into the 'clouds' of our common sky.
Memoirs are listed in alphabetical order by title. Clicking the title will bring up the memoir. There is also a 'search' feature on the top right of the table that allows you to search the table for a writer or a topic.
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| Title | Writer and place, and date written/published | Topic, period covered and no. of pages | Date posted |
|---|---|---|---|
| South African Jews in World War II | Published by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies 1950 |
A permanent record of the part played by the small SA Jewish community of, at the time, around 100,000 souls, towards South Africa's war effort. Not a 'history' but rather a collection of personal records and experiences from Kenya to the Appenines in Italy. (military) | 2025.03 |
| [Jewish Women of] South Africa | Frankenthal, Sally 2021 |
From the Shalvi/Hyman encyclopaedia of Jewish women, highlighting Jewish women in South African life. 'They used their organizational skills in Zionist and welfare fields in particular. By the early twenty-first century, many more women had attained leadership and/or senior positions both within and beyond the Jewish community'. (women) | 2024.12 |
| Union of Jewish Women, Kimberley Branch | Kretzmar, Beryl Kimberley, 1986 |
This illustrated article, written by Beryl Kretzmar and compiled by Geraldine Auerbach, traces nearly 50 years of the history of the Kimberley branch of UJW from its inception in 1939 to about 1986. It highlights the people involved and the projects they undertook for the Jewish community as well as Afrikaans, Coloured and other communities in Kimberley. (43 pp) (women, community) | 2024.12 |
| Growing Up in Taung | Freeman, Freda Oral History Archive, Kaplan Centre, UCT |
Life at Taung Station from 1925, and how it was for Jewish immigrants who had shops along the railway line or a farm. They were at last free men, working for themselves and owning their own shops or livestock. (10 pp) (community) (See also Taung in Communities) | 2024.12 |
| Wits Medical Graduates of 1960 | Auerbach, Geraldine (editor) London, 2020 |
A website with newsletters and 50 biosketches of medical graduates from Witwatersrand University in 1960 written by themselves or their families on the Diamond Jubilee of their graduation. They practised in South Africa, Israel and the English-speaking world where 22 became professors, three deans of medical schools, one a CBE and member of the Royal Society. (Wits, medical) | 2024.09 |
| Partners in Primary Care: Jewish Doctors and Pharmacists in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, 1930-1980 | Loon Lustig, Gail Givatayim, Israel, 2020 |
A website with several memoirs of Jewish doctors and pharmacists in Bellville and Parow, of their lives and work as told by themselves, their spouses, and their children. This project was mounted as a permanent web exhibition on the Kaplan Centre (UCT) website. (medical) | 2024.09 |
| They Fought for South Africa | Sacks, F/Sgt Julius South Africa, 1945 |
Scan of a booklet written and published immediately after the war, outlining the lives and activities of some of the South African Jewish participants in the Second World War in the Army, Navy and Air Force. (35 pp) (military) | 2024.09 |
| Beiles, Sgt Cyril 29023 'V' | Stodel, Philip Israel, 2024 |
An illustrated short biography of Cyril Beiles (1922-1995) of Cape Town with military documents and many photographs of his active service in East Africa, Egypt and Libya. (14 pp) (military) | 2024.09 |
| Stodel, Lewis RAF | Stodel, Philip Israel, 2024 |
Short biography of Philip Stodel's father, who served in the RAF in the Middle East in the Second World War from 1942-1945. After joining the RAF and completing his training, they travelled to Egypt via South Africa, stopping in Cape Town for a short while. Lewis came to settle in South Africa after the War. (9 pp) (military) | 2024.08 |
| Kramer, Myer: Letters Home | Stodel, Philip Israel, 1998-2024 |
A booklet created from the letters home of Lance Bombardier Myer Kramer 329491 V, who served as a surveyor in the Artillery Division of the 6th South African Armoured Division in the Second World War (4th/22nd Field Regiment) from August 1942 to December 1945. He served in Egypt and Italy. He was awarded five medals. (78 pp, military.) See also a short biography of Myer Kramer (4 pp). | 2024.08 |
| Military memoirs | Various | There are several memoirs of people involved in military matters, as soldiers in the Boer War, volunteers and prisoners of war in the Second World War and those fighting in wars in Israel. These can be identified by entering 'military' in the search bar at the top of this table. | 2024.07 |
| Medical memoirs | Various | There are several memoirs of people involved with medicine or medical practice that can be identified by entering 'medicine' in the search bar at the top of this table. | 2024.07 |
| Schamroth, Professor Leo (1924-1988) | Schamroth-Rapeport, Naomi Johannesburg, 2024 |
Biography of Leo Schamroth, MB BCh 1948 Wits, revered and honoured teacher, clinician and author. Especially known as a world expert in electrocardiography. Appointed in 1973 as Professor of Medicine at Wits and Chief Physician of the Department of Medicine at Baragwanath Hospital. (13 pp) (medical) | 2024.07 |
| Pamm, Matthew: Arts Critic and Businessman | Pamm, Anthony Cape Town, 2014-24 |
Biography of his father, Matthew Pamm (1914 – 1979), arts reviewer for The Cape Times and businessman in the clothing trade in Cape Town. Includes information and pictures of relatives: Abba Eban, Phillys Spira and the Braudo, Lynn, Pamm, Ruch and Solomon families. (20 pp) (arts, business) | 2024.07 |
| Journal of a POW in WW2 | Josselowitz, Israel Italy, c.1943-6 |
Transcription, and also the original pencil handwritten version on flimsy paper, of the diary written by Issie Josselowitz, describing his experiences and how he felt as a prisoner of war in Italy 1943-1945. (Kindly transcribed by Jeremy Hodes.) (63 pp) (military) | 2024.07 |
| Sanders, Dr Hannah-Reeve (1928-2024) | Bloch, Leila Stellenbosch University (thesis), 2022 |
The first female Chief Medical Superintendent of Groote Schuur Hospital (1976-1986). This thesis serves as a critical lens from the perspective of a female doctor into notions of 'achievement' and 'success' within the medical field in South Africa during the middle to late 20th century. (188 pp) (medical) | 2024.07 |
| The Israeli War of Independence | Hodes, Lionel 1950, updated 2024 |
Lionel Hodes's experience as one of the 800 South African mahal who fought in the Israeli War of Independence. It includes information on how he organised his group of South African volunteers, how they left South Africa and how they managed to evade the British and get into Palestine. (136 pp)(military) | 2024.07 |
| From Riga to Rishpon | Hodes, Leon Moshav Rishpon, Israel, 1963 |
Beautifully written memoir of Leon Hodes, born in Latvia in 1893, killed 1963, soon after the memoir was completed, by a truck when crossing the road. Covers travel to and growing up in Scotland before going to South Africa and then making Aliyah in the 1950s. (100 pp) (agriculture) | 2024.07 |
| South African Prisoner-of-War Experience during and after World War II: 1939 - c. 1950 | Horn, Karen Stellenbosch University (thesis), 2012 |
750 Jewish men were taken prisoner at Tobruk and others at Sidi Rezegh. For her thesis Karen Horn interviewed many soldiers, Jewish and not, who were taken PoW. Gives one a true picture of the terrible ordeal that the soldiers underwent. (245 pp) (military) | 2024.06 |
| The Jewish Contribution to South African Military History and Other Interesting Facts | Bergman, Lt Col William J. Johannesburg, 2020 |
A personal view of the Jewish contribution to South African military and war history, 1668 to 1998, by Bill Bergman, who spent 25 years in the permanent South African National Defence Force, as the Staff Officer, Electrical Engineering Services. Bill has also lectured at Wits on electrical engineering in the building industry. He was awarded the South African Institute of Electrical Engineering 'Engineer of the Year Award' in 2011. (88 pp) (military) | 2024.06 |
| Pietersburg / Polokwane | Shem-Tov, Richelle Kyriat Ono, Israel, 2024 |
Memories of life for all its peoples in her hometown, Pietersburg, when growing up there (b. 1939) before making Aliyah in 1962, and the changes Richelle found when visiting parents and friends thereafter. (12 pp) (community) | 2024.06 |
| The Jewish Country Communities of Limpopo / Northern Transvaal | Weiner, Charlotte Israel |
History and personal stories of Jews who lived in the dorps in the areas around Limpopo, Pietersburg, Houtbosdorp / Haenertsburg and Louis Trichardt. (232 pp) (community) | 2024.05 |
| History of the Pietersburg / Polokwane Jewish Community | Weiner, Charlotte 2006 |
Covers the full span from establishment in 1867 through its heyday from 1930s to the 60s and its slow decline thereafter until 2003. Includes chapters on the Boer War, occupations, religious provision, the Chevra Kadisha, women, Zionism, and relations with surrounding population. Written for the author's MA degree in Judaica at the University of South Africa. (340 pp) (community) | 2024.05 |
| Maraisburg Recollections – the Schneider Family | Schneider, Robert Sydney, 2024 |
Lewis and Gertie Schneider and their family in Maraisburg from c1900 to 1950. (11 pp) (community) | 2024.05 |
| From Magachan to Merced | Isakow, Leiz c2018 |
The Isakow family story – a microcosm of the Jewish families who escaped poverty and restricted life in Lithuania and Latvia at the turn of the 20th century to start a new life to South Africa and in just one or two generations are making major contributions to science, agriculture, and life in general around the world. (162 pp, illustrated) (agriculture) | 2024.05 |
| My Dear Papa – Letters from a Farm in Africa | Shem-Tov, Richelle 2016 |
In this moving 'memoir' of her own family Richelle-Shem Tov has cleverly constructed in her mind the voices of her parents and grandparents and their siblings as they describe their travels, travails and triumphs in moving from Courland to Cape Town and thence to the northern Transvaal to farm in the Pietersburg area. (123 pp) (community) | 2024.05 |
| The Bus Stop Doctor | Kerbel (Kaye), Dr Brenda 2022 |
The life and character of Dr Solly Kaye, a medical practitioner, a family man and friend, in Cape Town in apartheid South Africa, written by his daughter, Brenda. (107 pp) (medical) | 2024.03 |
| My War Memoir | Shem-Tov, Richelle Israel, 2024 |
The period between 1967 and 2023 is covered in this memoir of wars in Israel. Told from a personal point of view. (17 pp) (military) | 2024.02 |
| Segal, Charles, Prolific Pianist and Composer | Salmenson, Herman; edited by Geraldine Auerbach London, 2024 |
Charles Segal (1929 – 2021), pianist and composer, Johannesburg, then Cape Town, then Boston and California. In 2017 in the Guinness Book of Records as the most recorded pianist. (2 pp) (music) | 2024.02 |
| Ryss, Olga, Opera Singer and Vocal Coach | Gross, Beulah; edited by Geraldine Auerbach Australia/London, 2024 |
Olga Ryss (1893 – 1980), from opera star in Europe to opera production and voice coach in South Africa from 1935 to 1956, then a renowned voice coach in America. (7 pp) (Music) | 2024.02 |
| Rosenthal, Chayele, Yiddish Diva | Shuman, Zola Cape Town |
A beautiful website tribute to world-famous Yiddish singer and Holocaust survivor from Vilna, Chayele Rosenthal, created by her daughter Zola, including the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre exhibition, biography, programmes, reviews, photos and videos. (music) | 2024.02 |
| Pelham, Aviva, Opera Singer | South African Jewish Report interview May 2023 |
Published interview with acclaimed opera singer Aviva Pelham, who has performed around the world, bridging many genres, on the release of her autobiography, My Musical Odyssey.(Music) | 2024.02 |
| Muizenberg as a Visitor | Cramer, Daniel Welwyn, UK, 2023 |
Visitor from Johannesburg, 1940 – 1944. The train trip, the beaches and entertainment. From Cape Town after 1945, day trips. (10 pp) (community) | 2024.01 |
| Scenes from a World Long Gone | Hoffmann, Jack Denmark, 2015 |
Covers Jack's early life in Johannesburg from 1945-1972. It depicts scenes from nursery school, primary school, cheder, King David High School, Betar, Wits medical school and surgical specialisation. (207 pp)(medical) | 2023.08 |
| Johannesburg – A Memoir | Moss, Stanley Boston, 2000 |
Stanley Moss (1936-2000) was an architect, pianist, archivist and conservation specialist involved in the Big Dig Boston program. The memoir covers the period when he lived in Johannesburg. The memoir was submitted by Leon Moss, Stanley's older brother. (103 pp) (Music Architecture) | 2023.08 |
| From Butcher to Professor to Professor. Journeys from Papile to Bloemfontein to Johannesburg to Ughill | Brown, Colin Bertram England, 2023 |
Adventures of father and son, both professors of medicine in South Africa and England in the 20th century, as well as the history of their forebears. Colin studied medicine and specialised in nephrology in England. (19 pp)(medical) | 2023.08 |
| History of the Louis Family in South Africa | Louis, Lionel 1975 |
The memoir covers several decades of the history of the Louis family from the turn of the 20th century. It includes their experience in the Boer War and relates their history until 1939. Submitted by Lionel Louis's son, Peter Louis, who lives in San Diego.(7 pp)(military) | 2023.08 |
| Letters in a Shoe Box, 1940-1945 | Rapeport, Naomi Schamroth | Julian Meyer, from Pietersburg, was a POW in WW2. He sent letters home to his mother, Fanny, which were kept in a shoe box. Julian died in 1993 and Naomi Schamroth Rapeport compiled this memoir from the letters, which were scanned in 2015. (108 pp)(military) | 2023.08 |
| Bubba Meise – My Jewish Johannesburg | Nathanson, Saul David MD Detroit, 2023 |
Tales of my Jewish youth, growing up in Johannesburg from the mid-1940s to mid-1970s. Incudes his medical studies and practice of medicine in South African and the USA. (16 pp)(medicine) | 2023.08 |
| Malmesbury: Shtetl Life in the Swartland - A Vanished Era | Kretzmar, Julius H. Cape Town, 1986 |
Growing up in the Jewish community of Malmesbury, Western Cape in the 1920s. (12 pp) (community) | 2023.07 |
| Family Chronicle, Cohen | Wollach, Clare Tel Aviv, 1992 |
The story of the extended Cohen family who left Agustov, Poland, and settled in Cape Town at the turn of the 20th century. Their story is one of passion, adventure and a deep connection to the tradition of their Jewish roots. (98 pp)(community) | 2023.06 |
| Jewish Life in District Six in the 1920s | Wilkin, Esther, based on interviews with Gwynne Robins Cape Town, c1990s |
Jewish life in District Six in the 1920s. (17 pp)(community) | 2023.05 |
| Rev Pulver’s Plight | Robins, Gwynne Cape Town, 2010 (first published in Jewish Affairs, 65:1, Pesach 2010) |
Kosher meat or a complacent congregation – ministering to the fledgling Cape Town Jewish Community, 1849-1851 (religion) | 2023.05 |
| From Eastern Europe to South Africa | Schrire, Gwynne Cape Town, 2007 (published by Jacob Gitlin Library and Western Province Zionist Council) |
Memories of an epic journey over land and sea from Eastern Europe to South Africa, 1880-1937. (59 pp) (travel) | 2023.05 |
| Right Moves | Kaplan, David E. Israel, 2021 |
Fonda Dubb's teaching in Port Elizabeth at the Toynbee, Gelvandale School for Coloured students during the 1960s-70s (6 pp)(arts) | 2023.04 |
| Debutante Ball | Dubb, Fonda Israel, 2023 (updated 2024) |
Teaching ballet and fund-raising for this purpose in Port Elizabeth in the 1960s-70s at the Gelvandale School (13 pp)(arts) | 2023.04 |
| Soldier and His Diary | Green, Harris Zvi Israel, 2023 |
Biography of Corporal Solomon Green (1911-1982) and his war diary in Libya of 1942 (190 pp - large print)(military) | 2023.02 |
| Birzh Family Saga | Sheinbaum, Miriam As told to her niece Doris Hersch, Johannesburg, 1973 |
Tumultuous and dangerous life in northern Lithuania and Courland in the early 20th century (9 pp)(Lithuania) | 2023.02 |
| Borkum, Philip: Hidden Life of a Smous | Levy, Lorna Cape Town, 2016 |
Trial of two men for the murder of her grandfather, a smous from Kimberley, Philip Borkum. He was married to Ella Heydenreich – see Heydenreich Family Saga. (63 pp) (agriculture) | 2023.02 |
| Letters to My Wife in Lithuania | Kretzmar, Tuvye Edited by Gwynne Schrire and Phil Kretzmar, Kaplan Centre, UCT, 2021 |
'Trying' 1899-1903 - to make his way in the Cape, so the family could be reunited in Malmesbury (web format) (Lithuania, community) | 2023.02 |
| Letter to My Grandchildren | Chazan, Pearl Jerusalem, 2011 |
Describes the rich Jewish life in Upington of her Nurick (from Goldingen, Courland) and other Upington families from the early 20th century to early 1940s (128 pp) (community) | 2023.02 |
| Family Saga: Harris | Mirvish, Sidney Nebraska, c2002 |
Extensive saga of family from Ospezin, Poland, who emigrated to South Africa in 1880s, to 2002. Covers Kimberley, Zwartmodder, Upington and Cape Town; Waverley and South African Woollen Mills (1912). (c50 pp) (agriculture) | 2023.02 |
| Family Saga: Heydenreich | Hoffman, Anna (née Heydenreich) Johannesburg, 1954 (aged 83) |
A learned, well-to-do and well-connected family in business, arts and professions from Courland (Mitau and Goldingen) across Europe to the UK. Some emigrated to Southern Africa, Kimberley, Johannesburg and Bulawayo (1880s to 1950s). (c8 pp) Courland) | 2023.02 |
| Kimberley Jews and the Second World War | Auerbach, Geraldine MBE London, 2020/2021 |
The stories of most of the 50 Jewish men who joined the South African or British army and served ‘up north’ in army, air force and navy and who all thankfully came home safely. (49 pp) (military) | 2023.02 |
| Beit, Alfred, Part 1: Diamonds in Kimberley | Auerbach, Geraldine MBE London, 2017/2023 |
Much admired strategist and financier on the diamond and gold fields. Great friend and associate of Cecil John Rhodes, responsible for the financial deals and strategy of the amalgamation of the mines and establishment of De Beers Consolidated Mines. Randlord from a Jewish family in Hamburg became a British citizen and benefactor. (79 pp) (mining) | 2023.02 |
| Durbanville | Scher, Vicky Israel, 2023 |
Living in Durbanville, 1950s to 1970s (13 pp) (community) | 2023.02 |
| Loon, Celia née Antonis | Lustig, Gail née Loon, and her family Israel, 2020 |
A tribute to her grandmother Celia, Dvinsk/Johannesburg, 1903-1988 (39 pp) (Latvia) | 2023.02 |
| Levy, Hazel: Physiotherapist | Lustig, Gail née Loon Israel, 2021 |
A tribute to her aunt, Hazel Levy (1926-2001), who helped rehabilitate child polio victims in Israel in the 1950s.(medical) | 2023.02 |
| Family Saga: Bergman, Jacob and Amalie | Auerbach, Geraldine London, 2018 |
The story of her grandparents and their family from Courland in the 1870s via Schmidtsdrift to Kimberley and diamonds plus contemporary feedback. (26 pp) (Latvia, mining) | 2023.02 |
| My Life as an African - an online memoir | Derman, Emanuel New York, 2021-2 |
Growing up in Cape Town in the 50s-60s. The memoir consists of 33 essays written between November 2021 and May 2022 and may be read on the Substack website. An introductory page telling about the writer and his memoir follows, together with a link to the site. (community) | 2023.03 |
| Education - My Life: Memoirs of a Hebrew Teacher | Levin, Alexander C. Translated from Hebrew by Michael Belling |
Born in a Lithuanian shtetl in 1882 Levin describes with great perceptive detail, his early life becoming a Hebrew teacher and travelling widely in the Russian Empire. He arrived in South Africa in 1928. He was a pioneer in Jewish education, became the founding headmaster of Herzlia School in 1940, eight years originally proposing the idea. First published 1954, new translation published on the Kaplan Centre website 2019. (310 pp) (Lithuania, education) | 2023.03 |