Kimberley, South Africa
News 5
Kimberley expat letter no 5
March 2015
Its six months since the last Newsletter just before Rosh Hashanah and now we are all diving in to Pesach – wherever we are. Synagogues here in the UK all seem to offer communal Seders for all generations of families. I cant recall ever having one in Kimberley. Can you? We had a large family in Kimberley – so did others and maybe everyone went to their own families. We always went to Aunty Hilda (Hendler) in Lodge Road for Rosh Hashanah and my Mother Beryl (Kretzmar) had Pesach in Carrington Road. Hilda and Beryl were the eldest of the 4 beautiful daughters of Jacob and Amalie Bergman – who all married and settled in Kimberley.
We would be about 30 people what with Dad’s brother Julius (Kretzmar and family as well. As I remember there was no effort to engage the children (as we try to do today with charts and tubs of animals suffering plagues). No one really remembered the tunes of the songs properly. The children typically sat at the rickety table in the corner – but nevertheless we stayed up late, played with our cousins, ate matzoh balls and strange offerings like pletzlach and taigelach and hunted for the Afikomen – so it was fun.
Jacob Bergman came to Kimberley from Riga (I believe) as a teenager in the 1880s to seek his fortune on the diamond fields – as one did in those days. My knowledge of the history is a bit shakey – but I know it was no picnic as there were no real roads or trains – and lots of competition. He seemed to have done OK though – and his biggest find with his partner Mr Glen was the Berg-Glen Diamond of quite a few carats.
Jacob also ventured into other fields and eventually settled in the little Hamlet of Schmidtsdrift about 60 km west of Kimberley. This was on the Vaal river where he operated the only crossing which was on a ‘pont’ – a platform pulled across the river on chains. Being at this crucial crossing point on the main route from Kimberley to Campbell and Griquatown he was able to establish a hotel with an off-licence which became a hub of camaraderie for commercial travellers and farmers from far and wide. He also bought a farm in the aria which he called Bergman’s Hope. (you can read more about this area in Dan Jacobson’s book, ‘The Electronic Elephant’ where he wonderfully describes his travels on the road from Kimberley to all these places and reveals their history)
Time came to find a wife. So off Jacob trotted back to Latvia and in Libau found Amalie Friedlander – a concert pianist whom he married and brought from the cosmopolitan city to the veld in Schmidtsdrift – where she reputedly was very happy and played the piano in the bar for sing songs long into the night.
As I said, four daughters ensued. Hilda the oldest was at some stage sent to boarding school in Kimberley. (Beit House – remember diamond tycoon good old ‘little’ Alfred Beit). Next came Beryl and then Hannah – inseparable from childhood. Beryl spoke of the idyllic days the two of them spent in the open air with a much loved governess collecting wild flowers, caterpillars and pretty stones.
Ironically in the 21st Century diamonds were found in Schmidtsdrift and a mine was declared comprising six contiguous farms along the western bank of the Vaal River. The operations were alluvial and the mine operated by Lonrho produced 16,805 carats of diamonds between 2006 and 2008 including 338 stones larger than 5 carats in size, amongst which was a rare 235 carat stone, before the company decided to move on to Angola where the pickings were easier and more spectacular.
You can also read the story of the San or Bushman from Namibia that the South African army employed as trackers in the Namibian war – and then when they lost the war they pulled them out of Namibia where most were born and resettled (imprisoned?) these ancient independent and nomadic people in a tent city near Schmidtsdrift overseen by the army. (Dan writes about this too). This is an ongoing story with frustrations and delays in getting land of their own and has resonances for the Jewish community of migration and displacement and how the children are becoming assimilated etc. there are references on the net including here http://www.lac.org.na/projects/lead/Pdf/sansazz.pdf and http://www.southafrica.info/travel/cultural/wildebeestkuil.htm - this last one also tells of the fantastic rock engraving right on the doorstep of Kimberley. Did you know about that? I did not in my time from 1940 – 1957. Now there are tours and trails to see all this.
But back to the Bergman family who left Schmidtsdrift in about 1920 and moved to Kimberley for the children’s schooling and development. The family settled at 22 Milner Street, corner Synagogue Street. (Remember Alfred Milner, Governor General of South Africa at the time leading up to and during the Boer War). And the girls were joined by youngest sister Eileen.
Here is a lovely picture I found of the Bergman family in Kimberley. l-r at the back, Jacob, Eileen (about 4) and Hilda (about 17) Seated Hannah (about 8) Amalie and Beryl (about 12).
Noel Kretzmar and his brother Julius, c1935 in Kimberley
Maybe I will write the rest of the Bergman family story – about who the four daughters married and their children, on the website http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/kimberley, where we already have a story ‘The Great Diamond Robbery’ that pertained to my father Noel Kretzmer and his brother Julius, (Diamond Robbery.doc.) Please tell me what you think of the Kimberley Jewish Community website and your suggestions – and your stories – would be welcome.
You can write about any part or aspect of your family life in Kimberley. There are already quite a few family stories there, building up a picture of ‘Life in Kimberley’ in any one of its heydays! And we are collecting pictures as well.
We would also like stories of Kimberley today – but that seems inordinately difficult to elicit from those still there. However I fees sure that those in Kimberley send warm greetings to you all for Pesach, the Spring – or the Autumn as appropriate – where you are.
I am sure you join me in sending those in Kimberley our very warm regards and thanks for keeping the show on the road when their energies have to stretch far and their responsibilities are so great. We want them to know that we all appreciate what they do so much
‘Alles van die beste’
I look forward to hearing from you. (if you have missed any of the newsletters to ex-pats – they are all on the website.
Best wishes
Geraldine
