The June edition of the Cape Jewish Chronicle carried an article reflecting the early memories of former Capetonian, Professor Philip Lanzkowsky, who has lived in the United States for the past 60 years. In that article, he shared his memories of growing up in Cape Town in the 1930s and 40s, and of the journeys of his father and mother to the city from Poland and England, respectively. In this article, he shares further recollections about Cape Town in a bygone era.
Working lives in the Cape Town shtetl
Like many Jewish families, ours lived behind the family business – a grocery store on Buitenkant Street. The shop was in the front room of our modest three-room house.
Storerooms were improvised in passageways, and our home doubled as a warehouse before Jewish holidays, stacked with boxes of matzah or round challahs. Even with these humble conditions – an outdoor bathroom and wood-burning tank for heating the water – we had an upright piano so my sister could take lessons.
My father worked long hours delivering groceries, often with me by his side. I loved those drives in his brown Chevrolet panel van, purchased in 1939 for £200. We’d visit Jewish wholesalers like Walt & Gorfinkel and Rabkin & Hoffman, and I’d accompany my father when doing deliveries to Jewish families living in various parts of the city.
Cape Town’s Jewish community at the time was largely made up of artisans and small business owners: tailors, bakers, shoemakers, barbers, watchmakers, and shopkeepers. The Standard Bakery – our family’s legacy – was the city’s first Jewish bakery, founded by my great-uncle. On Fridays, women from the community would bring their bread to be baked in the bakery ovens.
Eventually, my father transitioned into the building trade and helped develop several apartment buildings around the city, culminating in the purchase of Marais Mansions in Sea Point.
Learning and living Jewish life
Jewish life in Cape Town was vibrant, especially for children. There were three major shuls in our area – the Gardens Shul, Schoonder Street Shul, and the Vredehoek Shul –as well as the small Ponevezh shtiebel on Maynard Street. Alongside them was a rich network of Jewish institutions: a cheder, an orphanage, a hostel for children from the countryside, an old age home, a matzah factory, and even a mikveh in the municipal swimming pool in Long Street.
Education was a cornerstone of our community. The large cheder had ten classrooms and held Shabbat services in its own auditorium. The Yiddish-speaking teachers and rabbis were mostly educated in Eastern Europe and taught us in their broken English.
As a child, I was part of the Jewish Children’s League, meeting weekly at Rosecourt in Breda Street. Our motto, recited with pride, was from Psalm 137: “If I forget thee, Oh Jerusalem…” At 12, I joined Habonim and rose through the ranks to Assistant Commissioner of the Western Province. The leadership and social skills I gained there stayed with me for life.
Although I attended SACS – a prestigious and disciplined school – my strongest education came from home. My father, after years of hard work, was able to devote himself to a fully observant Jewish life. He prayed daily, served as a volunteer chazan, and shared the wisdom of the Tanach, Talmud, and Pirkei Avos to me. Those teachings remain the foundation of my Jewish life today. ●
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