With its large, lifelike cutouts of the suburb’s pioneers, the exhibition on the history of the Jews of Parow, Echoes of Parow, now on at the SA Jewish Museum, offers an interesting insight into the development of small-town South Africa. As with so many towns in South Africa, Parow’s history is closely bound up with the history of its Jewish community. Established at the very moment of the mass migration of Jews from Eastern Europe to Southern Africa, the town was founded in 1886 and, by 1901, there were enough Jewish residents to warrant the holding of the first minyan.
The 1930s until the 1960s saw the heyday of Jewish life, and the decline of the town’s Jewish community started in the 1960s. But the impact of the relatively small community cannot be ignored: from large industrialists like the Kaplans of Cape Gate fame, to medical professionals and retailers, Jewish Parow was an industrious and vibrant community. Today, many streets in the area carry the surnames associated with the town in its glory days.
And Parow also gave the world its fair share of academics and businesspeople who made their mark on the country and, in some instances, on the world. Think of names like Yonty Solomon, the international concert pianist; Barney Rogut, the founder of Shoprite supermarkets who became Whitey Basson’s mentor; and David Freedberg, a leading art historian internationally; among others.
The visitor to the exhibition will no doubt recognise many of the names so associated with Parow’s growth and development – in fact, a tour of the exhibition becomes a trip down memory lane. So, don’t miss this wonderful exhibition, sponsored by the Kaplan Kushlick Educational Foundation and Cape Gate. It’s on until February next year.
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