A well-known former Capetonian now living in Israel, Solly Kaplinski – whom many of our readers will remember as the Headmaster of Herzlia High School from 1986 to 1993 and as the founding Principal of Herzlia Middle School from 1982 to 1985 – sent a photograph from yesteryear to the Cape Jewish Chronicle. It depicts a group of people from the Cape Town Yiddish Folkshul.
According to Solly, “I think that my father was the Yiddish teacher there. That would explain his very smart suit you see in the photograph! The occasion for the picture was a welcome party for an eminent Yiddish author who was visiting Cape Town.”
Solly is able to date the photograph because he is in it: the little boy holding the hand of the man on the right in the smart suit (Solly’s father, Izak) is Solly! He was around four or five years old at the time.
Local Jewish historian and Yiddish expert, Veronica Belling, shed some light on the concept of this school. “The Folkshul is the equivalent of the Heder but for Yiddish, rather than Hebrew. There was some rivalry between those who believed in the teaching of Hebrew and those who supported Yiddish-language teaching. This was motivated by a political issue: Yiddish was seen as the language of the Bund and the Communists, while Hebrew was the language of the Zionist movement. In addition, Yiddish was looked down upon.”
Schools were established in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, focusing on the Yiddish language, literature and culture. Veronica wrote about the Cape Town Yiddish Folkshul in her book Yiddish theatre in South Africa: a history from the late 19th century to 1960 (available
from the Jacob Gitlin Library). This extract from the book explains more:
“On 10 October 1948 for the first time a Yiddish Folkshul was opened in Cape Town. In 1953 it was located at 6 Vredehoek Avenue, and was open daily in the afternoons from 3-5.30 pm, and on Sundays from 10-12 am. In January 1956 it moved to 19 Breda Street, Gardens. Its significance, however, should not be overestimated as it is doubtful if more than 20 pupils were ever enrolled at any one time, and by June 1958 it had ceased to exist.” ●
Do you recognise anyone in the photograph? We know that the little girl with the shy smile and chubby cheeks in the second row at center is Libby Raichman (nee Taibel).
If you can identify anyone else, please let us know. We’d love to share the information with our readers. Contact editor@ctjc.co.za
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