Editor: Dr Saul Issroff
Copyright © 2003-2023 Saul Issroff, Mike Getz, SAfrica SIG
and Jewishgen Inc.
URL: http://www.jewishgen.org/SAfrica/communities/14/ginsberg-c/index.htm
Date: 3 September 2003
Updated: 17 April 2023

February 22, 2005: This article, which originally appeared on pages 49 - 56 in December 1984 in the quarterly journal, Jewish Affairs, has been reprinted on the SA-SIG Web pages with permission. The Editor of the journal, David Saks, who is located in Johannesburg, can be reached by e-mail at: david@sajbd.org. If anyone wishes to communicate with the author, please contact Roy Ogus, at roy.ogus@outlook.com.

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King William’s Town was originally founded in 1825 as a mission station by the Rev John Brownlee of the London Missionary Society.[1] The town was named in 1836 after King William IV. The early development of the town occurred against the background of repeated frontier wars and in its early years it served as an important military post. From the outset the town became a commercial centre as well. There was trade in organic products: hides, gum arabic and coarse silk fibre. Among the early civilian settlers was a Jew, Joseph Levy, who managed a store established in 1835 by his father-in-law, Benjamin Norden. [2] Norden had arrived in the Cape with the 1820 Settlers and was an influential figure in the founding of the first Hebrew Congregation in Cape Town.[3] A Mr J Levy is recorded as having served as mayor of King William’s Town in the years 1863-64.[4] There is a possibility that they were one and the same man.
 
Very little is known about the Jewish community in the town during the last half of the nineteenth century. There was apparently not much organised Jewish life in the town at this time. According to Saron and Hotz, by 1850 there were about 24 Jewish families in King William’s Town and the surround-ing area.[5]
 
In 1880 a young man by the name of Franz Ginsberg arrived in the town from Germany. Within a few years he established the “Three Stars” Match Factory.

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By 1890 he had established a soap and candle factory, the first of its kind in the Cape Colony. He was a public-spirited man, and involved himself in the affairs of the town. He was instrumental in establishing the African township adjoining King William’s Town on a proper basis.[6] His involvement in the Jewish communal affairs of the town was minimal. He was, however, active for a time in the Jewish Territorial Organisation (ITO) in the town.[7] Franz Ginsberg was Mayor of King William’s Town between 1904 and 1907. He was at this time, a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Cape Colony. At Union he was made a Senator for the Cape Province. [8]
 
It is known that there was a sizeable Jewish community in the town prior to the outbreak of the Boer War. There appears to be no record however of where synagogue services were held. The oldest tombstone in the Jewish cemetery is dated 1899. The deceased was an eleven-year-old girl named Zalma Lewis. The fact that a separate burial area was set aside for Jews, and that a tombstone with a Hebrew inscription was erected on the grave, suggests that there must have been a Chevra Kadisha of some description in existence at the time.
 
It is only after the Boer War that we find records of Jewish communal life in the town. M Kropman[9] in her study of Pioneer traders in the Ciskei, drew up a table containing, among other information, a list of trading posts, traders and recorded trading areas. Seventy-one trading stations are listed. All of these were situated in remote areas of the Ciskei; no town traders were included. Prior to 1900 only two Jewish names appear: C Levy, 1873, and R Levy, 1885, trading at Fort Hare. Between 1900 and 1920 seven Jewish names appear. By 1930 the names of twelve Jewish traders are listed. These figures suggest that within the substantial Jewish immigration to South Africa in the early 1900s, a significant number of Jews settled in the King William’s Town area. This is borne out by the establishment during that time of the Hebrew Congregation and the Zionist society.
 
 
The Synagogue
 

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A Markowitz[10] quotes the late Mr I Kabelsky on the question of the founding of the Congregation. “We started our Congregation round about 1900, when quite a few Jews arrived from Johannesburg to get away from the War.” The Synagogue building was purchased from the Wesleyan Mission in about 1906. The building had been built by the Mission in the 1860s as a school-room. The Jewish community added an upper storey to accommodate the ladies gallery. The Ark was recessed into the wall opposite the entrance. It is interesting to note that the building faces south and that the synagogue is in effect the wrong way round. Behind the Synagogue a mikveh was built. Rabbi I Zaiden, Rabbi to the Country Communities, recently visited King William’s Town and examined the mikveh. He found it very difficult to establish how the mikveh conformed to halakhic requirements. It has probably not been used for the last 40 to 50 years.
 
According to an article in the London Jewish Chronicle (Nov 20, 1908) the synagogue was consecrated in that year. The present writer interviewed Mr Morris Shapiro (now living in East London) who arrived in King William’s Town in 1914. He said that before the synagogue building had been acquired, services were held in the home of the first president of the Congregation, Mr M Edelstein. One of the first spiritual leaders of the community was Rev Horowitz who earned about £7 per month. The first wedding to be solemnized in the synagogue was that of Philip Cohen to Merrill Shapiro in 1907.
 
Mr Shapiro said that at the time of his arrival in King William’s Town there were about 35 Jewish families in the town and about 35 Jewish families in the outlying areas (Kei Road, Berlin. Middeldrift, Alice, Fort Beaufort, etc.).
 
M Kropman includes as an addendum to her thesis, transcripts of the tape-recorded interviews she conducted as part of her study. One of these interviews was with Mr Morris Shapiro. In the course of the discussion he described how he started along the way to the establishment of King Clothing Manufacturers in King William’s Town in 1924. He had been running a trading station at Sefundlela, Transkei, for some years. On a visit to King William’s Town he purchased three bales of cloth at 2 ½ d per yard (!). After a time it was discovered that the cloth was unsaleable — the customers simply refused to buy it.
 
“... We didn’t know what to do with it, we could not afford to speculate with it — we had to have the money. So my wife had experience in sewing and so on, so we decided we were going to make shirts out of it ..”[11]
 
Another man who contributed to the economic development of the town and the Jewish community was the late Mr Morris Kramer. He established the local leather industry. He was very active in the Jewish community and served as president of the Congregation. The Jewish Communal Hall was named after him. The building, which still bears his name, was sold in 1981. There is a plaque in the synagogue which commemorates “the liberality extended to this congregation by our president Morris Kramer Esq. in memory of his parents Woolf and Anna Kramer.” He was president of the Congregation from 1918 to 1930.
 
Another plaque in the synagogue pays tribute to four of the town’s Jewish sons who were killed in action during World War II. They were: A Abramowitz, B Black, I Port and M Zamkov. B Black’s name appears on two engravings in the synagogue, the first is on the Roll of Honour. The second is the rough childish scratching of his name on the book rest of one of the pews.
 
 
Civic Involvement
 
Several members of the Jewish community have been involved in the Civic life of King William’s Town. We have already mentioned J Levy and Franz Ginsberg, pioneers and early mayors of the town. Rudolph Ginsberg (Franz Ginsberg’s son) was mayor from 1943-1951.[12] A highlight of his term of office was the visit of the Royal Family to King William’s Town.
 
Mr C Alperstein was a Town Councillor for over 20 years. He was a member of the Divisional Council as well. He was also the president of the Hebrew Congregation in 1948.[13] His son Mr H Alperstein was mayor of the town for several terms of office and also the secretary of the Zionist Association in 1948. [14]
 
At present Mr Jack Rosenberg, of the Central Hotel, is a Town Councillor.
 
King William’s Town had a Chevra Kadisha Association, as did most Jewish communities in South Africa. It is not known how this association operated in the earlier part of the century. After World War II when the population of the community began to dwindle, the services of the East London Chevra Kadisha were called upon when needed.[15]
 
The town also had a Gemilus Chesed Society. The only readily available information about the Society is the following statement in an article in the Jewish Times:
 
“... The Chevra Kadisha is a standing committee of the congregation as is the Gemilus Chasodim society headed by Mr S Blumberg. The chief function of this latter body is – as in many other small towns – to render assistance to tramps and other indigent people periodically passing through [16] ...”
 
 
The Zionist Society
 
The Zionist Society in the town was established in 1905 by Mr D (B?) Chideckel. Its first chairman was Mr Gershuni.[17] Further information from then until 1946 is unavailable because the Minute Books have gone missing. Mr K Zasman, a former chairman of the Society, said in an interview that its activities had diminished during World War II because most of the young people had joined the Armed Forces. In 1946 the Society was revived and in 1955 a gala-dinner was held to mark “50 years of continuous Zionist activity in King William’s Town.” [18] Mr K Zasman (in his capacity as Chairman of the Society) paid tribute to its oldest members, Mr and Mrs I Kabelsky and Mr M D Cohen.[19]
 
It is clear from the brief mention of the above three societies, that our knowledge of them is very superficial. It is hoped that in response to our request (see postscript) the Minute Books will be located.
 
In recent years the King William’s Town Jewish Community has been dwindling in numbers. The Synagogue fell into disuse as most of the town’s Jews joined the East London congregation for the Holy Days. In 1980, the Synagogue was declared a National Monument.
 
In 1984 there was a new development in the Jewish community. As a result of an aid agreement between the Ciskei and Israeli Governments twelve families of Israelis arrived in King William’s Town. Mr David Ellman, Chairman of the South African Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth, visited the synagogue and was appalled to see its derelict condition. He “playfully” challenged the new Israeli residents of the town “to do something for the Golah.” They accepted the challenge and collected the funds for the restoration of the synagogue from among themselves and others.
 
For the first time in a number of years a service was held in the renovated synagogue on Rosh Hashanah this year.
 
 
POSTSCRIPT
 
The present writer visited King William’s Town in his capacity as a committee member of the South African Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth. Mrs Tova Meshulam, one of the Israeli residents, mooted the possibility of establishing a Jewish museum in the Synagogue. The suggestion was addressed to Mr Denver A Webb, Curator of History at the Kaffrarian Museum and it has been decided to go ahead with the idea of establishing in the Synagogue a Museum tracing Jewish life in King William’s Town and environs. The only proviso is that should the Synagogue be needed for religious purposes it would always be available to the Jewish community.
 
 
Note
 
We appeal to ex-residents of King William’s Town: if you have any photographs, letters and/or documents relating to the town or its history please contact Cedric Ginsberg Tel 728-3501. The first Minute Book of the Synagogue, the Minute Book of the Zionist Association, Chevra Kadisha and Gemulus Chesed are missing. These are important historical documents which should be preserved in the Museum, even in photostat form. If you know where these documents are please contact us.
 
 
Footnotes
To return to the text, click on a footnote number
 
1.. Burton. AW. The Highlights of Kaffraria. King William’s Town: 1942 p 23.
 
2.. Markowitz, A. “The Story of South African Jewry” (Series). South African Jewish Times, 27 August 1948. (See also his following article in SA Jewish Times, 3 September 1948.)
 
3.. Sharon, G, and Hotz, L. The Jews in South Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1955. pp 11-13.
 
4.. Bateman, J. A Century of Public Service.
 
5.. Saron & Hotz. The Jews in South Africa. pp 314-315.
 
6.. ibid.
 
7.. ibid. The ITO was an organisation led by Israel Zangwill. It was established in 1905, after the “Uganda Scheme” had been rejected by the Seventh Zionist Congress. Members of the ITO believed that organised Jewish settlement need not necessarily take place in Eretz Israel What was needed was the establishment of a large autonomous territory, where the Jewish population was in the majority. The Organisation was disbanded In I925.
 
8.. ibid.
 
9.. Kropman, M. The contribution of the Pioneer Traders to the Ciskei. Thesis: MA University oil Cape Town. 1977, pp 211-233.
 
10.. Markowitz in SA Jewish Times. 27 August 1948.
 
11.. Kropman. Pioneer Traders, p 280. Mrs Kropman interviewed several of the pioneer traders (both Jewish and Gentile) who were active in the Ciskei in the first quarter of this century.
 
12.. Bateman. Public Service.
 
13.. Rybko. W. “A Zionist Lecture Tour- (Series?) Zionist Record. 25 June 1948.
 
14.. Markowitz, in SA Jewish Times. 27 August 1948.
 
15.. This information was gained from an interview with Mr K Zasman, a former president of the King William’s Town Hebrew Congregation.
 
16.. Markowitz, in SA Jewish Times, 27 August 1948.
 
17.. Rybko, in Zionist Record. 25 June 1948.
 
18.. South African Jewish Times, 17 June 1955.
 
19.. ibid.