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.
We would love to have your feedback on the memoirs uploaded onto these pages. Please email us with your comments, questions or suggestions at info@chol.website.
To read the many creative stories that we have posted on CHOL, go to the Share Your Stories page.
| Title | Writer and place, and date written/published | Topic, period covered and no. of pages | Date posted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 2023.05 |
| Rev Pulver’s Plight: Kosher Meat or a Complacent Congregation | Robins, Gwynne Cape Town, 2010 (first published in Jewish Affairs, 65:1, Pesach 2010) |
Ministering to the fledgling Cape Town Jewish Community, 1849-1851 | 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 | 2023.05 |
| The 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) | 2023.04 |
| The Debutante Ball | Dubb, Fonda Israel, 2023 |
Teaching ballet and fund-raising for this purpose in Port Elizabeth in the 1960s-70s at the Gelvandale School (13 pp) | 2023.04 |
| Green, Solomon: A 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) | 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) | 2023.02 |
| Borkum, Philip: The 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) | 2023.02 |
| Kretzmar, Tuvye: 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) | 2023.02 |
| Chazan, Pearl: A 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) | 2023.02 |
| Harris Family Saga | 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) | 2023.02 |
| Heydenreich Family Saga | 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) | 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) | 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) | 2023.02 |
| Durbanville | Scher, Vicky Israel, 2023 |
Living in Durbanville, 1950s to 1970s (13 pp) | 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) | 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. | 2023.02 |
| Bergman, Jacob and Family | 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) | 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. | 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 African 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) | 2023.03 |