This year’s Yom HaShoah commemoration in Cape Town centred on Seeking Refuge, marking 90 years since Jewish refugees fled Nazi Germany in search of safety – including those who found sanctuary in South Africa.
Ida Solinger. Sally Solinger. Paul Solinger. Joanna Solinger. Alma Solinger. Herman Solinger. Martha Solinger. Albert Solinger. Julia Solinger. Hannah Solinger… An entire family – a world erased by the evil of the Nazi regime during The Holocaust. As guests took their seats, names of some of those murdered were read aloud in quiet reverence by members of the younger generation, setting the tone for a day of remembrance rooted in both loss and continuity.
On Tuesday 14 April, more than 700 people gathered in Cape Town for this year’s Yom HaShoah commemoration, brought together by the Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies. Yom HaShoah is the Jewish day of Holocaust remembrance, marking the six million Jews murdered in The Holocaust and honouring survivors, while reflecting on the devastation of European Jewry, shattered families, and lives forever changed.
Those in attendance included survivors, their descendants and members of the Jewish community alongside Christian friends, our Rabbonim and the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, high school learners, consular representatives, civic leaders and public officials, all joining in collective memory and reflection.
The theme, Seeking Refuge: Marking the 90th Anniversary of Jewish Refugees Who Fled Nazi Germany, honoured the experiences of those who escaped – and the voices of their descendants, who brought both first- and second-generation perspectives to the ceremony. Miriam Herzfeld, who recently turned 103, featured in a video interview reflecting on her childhood in Germany and her family’s escape to Cape Town via Holland and Italy. Second-generation descendant Karen Tollman reflected that for many Jewish refugees, refuge was never simply a destination, but the fragile moment when another country chose to recognise their humanity.
In her address, Cape SAJBD Chairperson Simone Sulcas reminded the audience that The Holocaust did not begin with the camps, but with words, silence and the slow abandonment of conscience – a warning that remains deeply relevant today.
The programme featured an exceptional speech by Herzlia Head Student Daniel Gruzd, moving contributions from Aviva Pelham and the Herzlia Vocal Ensemble under the guidance of Cantor Ivor Joffe, as well as the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation Choir directed by Cantor Choni Goldman. Poems in Yiddish and Ladino added further resonance to the ceremony.
More than a commemoration of loss, the event served as a reminder that memory carries responsibility – not only to honour those who were murdered, but to ensure that the stories of those who sought refuge, survived and rebuilt remain part of the living fabric of Jewish communal life.
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