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The Namaqualand Jewish Communities Collection

  • Collection
  • 2013

The Namaqualand Jewish Communities Collection comprises a number of photographs, both originals and photocopies that were sourced from various families, community and institutional repositories for use as illustrations in the book "Into Kokerboom Country: Namaqualand's Jewish Pioneers" (2004) by Phyllis Jowell and Adrienne Folb.

Whenever possible research has been conducted to enrich the information in these collections, if you would like to add any additional information please contact us.

The Recollections of Dr Solly Jacobson Collection

  • Collection
  • 2021-

Solly begins his narrative with his birth in 1918 as the first child of Jewish immigrants from Latvia and Lithuania with a meagre education and poor career prospects. Solly’s family struggled to establish a footing in South African society. The twists and turns in its fortunes and through the first half of Solly’s life are enlivened by over 200 complementary photographs and documents, which give his autobiographical account a rare immediacy. Readers are allowed to eavesdrop on intimate moments in Solly’s life. He offers enthralling pen portraits of relatives, some of them highly entertaining, but others are tragic. Several of the incidents that he describes with disarming frankness lay bare his own character flaws. Solly relates that, as a medical student in South Africa, he enjoyed the company of a galaxy of talented individuals, including the famous anthropologists, Professor Raymond Dart, who personally supervised his dissertation at the University of Witwatersrand; and Phillip Tobias, and the polymath George Findlay. He was also acquainted with the future Nobel laureate, Sidney Brenner, a fellow student at the Witwatersrand Medical School.

After graduation, Solly describes volunteering for army service and then going to London for four years to gain higher medical qualifications and specialisation in Psychiatry. Returning to South Africa, as he notes, he added neurology to his specialities, under the tutelage of that country’s most accomplished neurosurgeon, Roland Krynauw. Through the 1950s, he mixed in intellectual and political circles and became acquainted with colourful figures such as Sailor Malan, Joe Slovo, and Harry Bloom, the author of the successful South African musical, ‘King Kong’. His literary activities brought him into close contact with the country’s foremost writers and poets, and he includes intimate sketches of Herman Bosman, Nadine Gordimer, Uys Krige and Lionel Abrahams, among others.

Solly was highly sensitive to the institutionalised racism that permeated South Africa and squarely aligned himself with the opponents of Apartheid in all its forms. In these ‘Recollections’, he describes the horrendous conditions that existed in hospitals assigned to the non-white population, in which he began his medical career.

Throughout his narrative he expresses his repugnance for the colour bar that operated in South Africa and wonders why so few of his colleagues did not share his revulsion. It was the repressive fallout from the Sharpeville massacre orchestrated by the regime, including the arrest and indictment of close friends of Solly, that resolved him to move abroad, as he explains. Before he left for Britain, at which point he ends his narrative, he had one important duty to perform. In April 1960, an attempt was made on the life of the principal architect of Apartheid, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd by a South African businessman of English descent, David Pratt, Pratt had been a psychiatric patient of Solly. At the trial, as expert witness on behalf of the defence team, Solly persuaded the Court to allow Pratt to speak in his own defence and here he reliably reports Pratt’s address to the judge and jury for the first time, in which he castigates the Apartheid system.

The S.A. Jewish Board of Deputies Collection

  • Collection
  • 2012-

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies Collection holds a number of photographs of notable people in the Jewish and broader South African community, as well as documenting various events held and attended by the board and board members.

Whenever possible research has been conducted to enrich the information in these collections, if you would like to add any additional information please contact us.

The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings Collection

  • Collection
  • 2013

This Collection consists of twenty consecutive pages from one Issue of the South African Jewish Chronicle (SAJC), one of the newspapers aimed at a Jewish readership in South Africa around the beginning of the 20th century. This is specifically from the Johannesburg circulation of this newspaper, which is where the largest proportion of Eastern European (especially Lithuanian) Jewish immigrants settled. These pages - numbered 1062 to 1081 - consist of fifteen pages of articles and snippets from articles, and five pages of pre-paid advertisments, taken from Volume IV, Issue 65 of the New Series of the SAJC. This specific issue was distributed on the 29th of December, 1911, meaning that is one of the earlier Editions of this newspaper, reflecting the newsworthy content for South African Jews in the period before World War I.

Each item represents one page from this Issue of the newspaper, with multiple articles or advertisments on each page. While these page numbers are in the early thousands, it should be noted that it is characteristic of this newspaper to continue with the previous Issue's last page number as the precursor to the first page of the next Issue. The item descriptions aim to capture what the main highlights of that page are and what attitudes and norms are portrayed by these pages.

The SAJC was a weekly newspaper that was established in 1902 in Cape Town as an offshoot of the London Jewish Chronicle, later transferring to Johannesburg in 1905.

It is believed that these pages were preserved as they are a full Issue of the SAJC, from the first page to the back page. The Issue progresses from a Publisher's Notice, to other adminstrative details at the beginning of the Issue, to current affairs, a recurring theme of addressing and combatting anti-Semitism, promotion of Jewishness, a social & fashion section, Jewish Diaspora news, provincial/local news, arts & culture updates, political questions, opinion pieces, fiction writing, mining & financial news, and ending off with pre-paid advertisments.

Some notable examples in this Issue of Anglo-Jewish undertones, representing the general theme throughout the SAJC newspapers, can be found in articles specifically about charities that support British colonies, reporting on media and theatre that the King and Queen approve of or commend, and most notably the article about a former British Prime Minister (Benjamin Disraeli) as part of the longest article in the Issue.

The Union of Jewish Women Collection

  • Collection
  • 2023

The Union of Jewish Women (UJW) Collection contains the digital photographic experience element linked to the South African Jewish Museum’s 2023 exhibition Women of Action: A History of the Union of Jewish Women (2023).

The Union of Jewish Women was founded by Toni Saphra and Edna Nussbaum in 1931. It was initially formed as an umbrella association for the several other similar societies which were active around the country.

This collection documents several decades of service by hundreds of women in the South African Jewish community. UJW is a female led organisation which works through its branches across South Africa to assist those in need of food, health and education. In recent years, the society has dedicated itself to outreach programmes for underprivileged communities.

The Union of Jewish Women Collection is arranged by place, each series covering a branch of a geographic area in which the UJW worked over the course of its history. Go to Durban to witness their National Conference, or Johannesburg for historical insight into their events and initiatives. Smaller towns such as Springs, George and Vereeniging were host to meetings and outreach. The photographs from Cape Town are more contemporary, documenting charity festivals, challah bakes and birthday celebrations.

Union of Jewish Women organised several flagship projects, which include Kosher Mobile Meals, Kensington Crèche, Hebrew Nursery schools, and bursaries.

Whenever possible research has been conducted to enrich the information in these collections, if you would like to add any additional information please contact us.

The Zwarenstein Boer War Prisoner Collection

  • Collection
  • 2014-

The Zwarenstein Boer War Prisoner Collection, donated by Anthony Pamm, brings together a variety of photographs, a certificate, and wedding memorabilia concerning the Dutch Zwarenstein family around the 1900s. Important to note is the presence of one of the family members – a Dutch Jew – who fought for the Boer forces.

Todres and Kriger Family Collection

  • Collection
  • 2014-

The large Todres and Kriger Family Collection includes photographs taken at a graduation ceremony at the University of Cape Town, numerous photographs of family and individual family portraits, wedding and travel photographs, and several images from Lithuania.

Whenever possible research has been conducted to enrich the information in these collections, if you would like to add any additional information please contact us.

Ulfane Family Collection

  • Collection
  • 2011-

The Ulfane Video Collection contains digitised footage. It was donated by Henry Ulfane and contains videos of the Ulfane family at the beach and swimming in pools.

Whenever possible research has been conducted to enrich the information in these collections, if you would like to add any additional information please contact us.

Victor Kaplan Collection

  • Collection
  • 2023-

The Victor Kaplan Collection (donated by Robert Kaplan) showcases a variety of World War I memorabilia relating to Pvt Victor Kaplan.

Victor Kaplan died at the age of 23 during World War I combat at Delville Wood in 1916. He was awarded several medals to commemorate his military sacrifice, including a bronze Memorial medallion, a Victory Medal, a British War Medal, and a 1914-15 Star. His name also appears on the cornerstone and Roll of Honour at the National Jewish War Memorial in Johannesburg.

The bronze Memorial medallion depicts an engraving of a Greek goddess and a lion. The inscription reads, "He died for freedom and honour: Victor Kaplan".

This collection shows the front and back views of Pvt Kaplan's medals. On the front of the Victory Medal is a female winged figure representing Nike, the mythological Greek goddess of victory. The back view of this medal reads, "The Great War for Civilisation – De Grote Oorlog voor de Beschaving 1914-1919".

The front of the British War Medal shows King George V, who was King of the United Kingdom and British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 1910 until 1936. The back view of the medal has an engraving of Saint George, naked on horseback and armed with a short sword.

The front of the 1914-15 Star is engraved with a crown, swords, and a wreath. The back is inscribed, "V. Kaplan: 10th Infantry".

This collection also includes delivery notes from the Gerald and Marc Hoberman Collection to Robert Kaplan and Ms Sheila Kaplan of the Kaplan-Kushlick Foundation. These document the return of several books and Victor Kaplan's medals, respectively. The items had been on loan for use in the book, "Tzedakah".

A series of photographs in this collection shows the National Jewish War Memorial in Johannesburg. The cornerstone of the Memorial was unveiled by the Mayor of Johannesburg, Les Dishy, on Sunday, 19 September 1993. Particular mention is made to the Kaplan-Kushlick Foundation, who contributed to the Memorial in memory of Pvt Victor Kaplan. The photographs of the Memorial show a beautiful sunny setting: the gravestones are on an elevated piece of land, overlooking a lawn with pathways. Behind the graves are many trees on a hill. The cornerstone and Roll of Honour are on the brick wall which separates the graves from the lawn.

Other items of interest in the collection are Pvt Victor Kaplan's receipt for his awarding of the 1914-15 Star and a letter from King George V of Buckingham Palace, which reads, "I join with my grateful people in sending you this memorial of a brave life given for others in the Great War."

This fascinating collection traces the history of Pvt Victor Kaplan's World War I efforts. Besides his accolades and their related documents, the collection also highlights the contributions made by Victor Kaplan's family to the National Jewish War Memorial in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Written by Alex Abrahams

Walt and Jawitz Family Collection

  • Collection
  • YYYY

The Walt and Jawitz Family Photograph Collection comprises a number of photographs of family ocassions, school and sports, and the various family members travels around South Africa.

Whenever possible research has been conducted to enrich the information in these collections, if you would like to add any additional information please contact us.

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