Kimberley, South Africa

Hecht, Harold (Harry)

Harry Hecht says I was born in 1943 and grew up in Kimberley where we led a happy and sheltered life. I left after school in 1960 aged 17 to go to University in Cape Town. I qualified as a Doctor with MB ChB (UCT) then specialised in Psychiatry in the UK MRCPsych (UK) and studied further in Australia FRANZCP (Australia)

I married Louise who was a Social Worker from Cape Town on 2 February 1972 in Cape Town. We have two children who were born in Cape Town and are now both in Australia with us. I am now a retired psychiatrist, and we live in Melbourne.

My Parents

My father, Frederick Hecht was born in Germany in 1913 He and my mother Ellen Steinwasser married in Kimberley in 1937.  Ellen was born in Germany also in 1913.

They lived in Kimberley from 1937 to about 1973. My mother died in 1970 at the age of just 57 and is buried in Kimberley. My father died in 1987 in Cape Town and is buried there.

My Maternal Grandparents

Martin and Meta Steinwasser were both born in Germany. They managed to reach Kimberley in 1939. Martin died there in 1959 and Meta in 1965 they are both buried in the Kimberley cemetery.

Harry writes in October 2018:

Dear Eli and Geraldine 

I have only just been made aware of your link via Rabbi Gutnick of the East Melbourne Synagogue in Australia. I celebrated my Barmitzvah in Kimberley in 1956 (8th Heshvan 5717) with Rabbi Bloch in charge and then in 2016 I "re-celebrated" the 60th anniversary of my Barmitzvah by reading Maftir and Haftorah in the East Melbourne shul with family and friends present. On that occasion I spoke about some of the history of Kimberley and its Jewish community.  I have since rededicated this event each year and this prompted Rabbi Gutnick to forward your link to me.

The photo of the beautiful shul evoked a lot of memories and I was very interested in reading all the family entries, especially the one from Marion Lewis as we had lost touch for a long time -- our families were close friends and distantly related. I was also very taken up by Mike Dalrymple's account of Dr Sol Perel and his wife Sybil (sister of Mike’s mother Joyce) as I worked in the medical practice as an assistant GP for a year in 1968 before returning to Cape Town to specialise in Medicine and later in Psychiatry.

Please let Mike Dalrymple know how much I appreciated his account. I have now written to Marion and she sent me her updated family news. Other entries of note for me – Daphne Gillis, (née Toube) was my teacher at Boy’s High School and Rabbi Werner was a great friend to my family and was a great support to my late mother when she developed cancer and died too early at the age of 57. Also, Marshall Hotz may be interested to know that I had his old Latin textbook from school in which he wrote something to the effect of "in memory of Marshall Hotz who died at the sight of the matric Latin paper"!!!  I'm pleased to know he is alive and well.

I am very pleased that you are dedicated to preserve the memories of the Jewish community.

Here is a picture taken in the Kimberley shul hall in 1948 at a function to commemorate the founding of the State of Israel

 

At the 1st table 2nd on left facing the camera is a picture of Marion Lewis's mother and at the 2nd table facing the camera 1st 2nd and 3rd from the right are my parents and grandmother. I'm sure you'll recognise a lot of others.

With best wishes

Harold (Harry) Hecht.

Email address: louiseandharry@netspace.net.au

Posted October 2018