Upington Jewish Community

Barnett and Dora Broude arrived in Port Elizabeth from Lithuania in about 1916 and must have arrived in Upington in ca. 1922 with their two daughters, Rae and Lola, and two sons, Louis and Mike. Barnett started with a general dealer's store in Upington but later branched out into farming and eventually, in the early 1940s, established a small tungsten mine on his farm, which was about 25 km outside Upington. The mine operated until 1954.

Barnett Broude, ca. 1950

Communal meeting, ca. 1950. L to R: Eric Levy, Jessie Broude (wife of Mike Broude), Joe Kowen, Rabbi Abrahamson, Mrs. Joe Kowen and Barnett Broude.

Dora died very young, in 1931, and was the first woman buried in the Upington Jewish cemetery.

Tombstone of Barnett and Dora Broude in Upington Jewish cemetery

Louis and Mike had a cold drink factory in Upington until they left in ca. 1958 to settle in Cape Town with their families. Mike's eldest daughter, Doreen, married Raymond Penkin in Cape Town. In about 1960 they came to live in Upington where Raymond opened a practice as a chartered accountant. They left Upington in about 1970.

Lola and Rae Broude, ca. 1930

Lola and Rae both went to live in Johannesburg after they finished their schooling in Upington. Rae married and had children and lived in Johannesburg for the rest of her life. Lola met Julius Huth (who was born in Johannesburg in 1909) in Johannesburg and they married there in 1942. They came to live in Upington with their sons, David and Allan, in 1953. Julius had received a letter of appointment from Barnett to manage the tungsten mine on Barnett's farm. Julius had had extensive experience at mine management in and around Johannesburg and Barnett needed someone with appropriate skill to attend to matters. After the mine closed in 1954 owing to the slump in the world tungsten price, Julius started to trade in storage bags and became known as Oom Sak amongst the farmers and shopkeepers in the district with whom he did business. He eventually branched out into the wholesaling of fresh produce and fish, which he would collect by truck from Port Nolloth.

Julius's letter of appointment to manage the tungsten mine, 1953

David Huth went to boarding school at Kimberley Boys' High in 1956, starting in standard 6; this was an English-medium school, of which there was not one in Upington. He was followed in 1957 by his brother Allan and then several other Upington Jewish boys. Both David and Allan had barmitzvahs in Upington under the watchful eye of Rev. Bernard Wulf, David in 1956 and Allan in 1959.

David Huth as a teenager

Allan and Julius Huth at the Orange River, 1964

Julius and Lola lived in Cape Town from 1971 until 1984, when Julius died at age 74. Lola continued living on her own in Sea Point until her death in 2007 at the age of 94.

Lola Huth at age 90