A story recently resurfaced in the South African Jewish press – the story of C’est Si Bon, a celebrated bakery that once operated in Bellville.
The story was researched by Gail Lustig (née Loon), a retired doctor living in Israel who grew up in Bellville and studied at the University of Cape Town.
“Growing up in Bellville, we heard rumours of an incident at C’est Si Bon, our favourite bakery in the area,” Gail recalls. “The pastries were simply outstanding – aesthetically and taste-wise. We loved going there to stock up on treats that were exceptional in every way. None of our mothers could come near the standard of C’est Si Bon.”
The “incident” she refers to involved a Holocaust survivor named Issy (a pseudonym) and the bakery’s owner, André Pouliart.
“It was probably sometime in the 1960s,” Gail says. “A customer in his late 40s walked into the shop with his wife. It was their first visit. Within minutes of entering the store, Issy felt the ground shaking under his feet. His head throbbed with the sudden realisation of what he saw behind the counter.”
According to the account, Issy pointed at the owner and cried out, “You, you killed my family, you Nazi! It’s you! I remember you from the camps!”
The bakery fell silent. Pouliart reportedly continued working at the till without responding. The survivor left immediately, supported by his wife.
The story spread through the local Jewish community, and many people subsequently boycotted the bakery. Despite the allegation, there appears to have been no official investigation by the police or other South African authorities.
Although Gail never heard any further developments, the incident remained in her memory. Decades later, as a member of the Bellville Memorabilia Facebook group, she noticed frequent posts reminiscing about C’est Si Bon. Through discussions with former residents of Bellville, she learned the names of the owners: André and Wanda Pouliart.
As she began researching further, Gail discovered documentation confirming – through his own admission – that André Pouliart had served in the Waffen SS during World War II. A Belgian national, he volunteered for the Waffen SS in 1942 and was deployed to the Eastern Front. After being wounded in 1943, he was transferred to Berlin.
“I wrote to the German Bundesarchiv, and they sent me various documents,” Gail says, including a statement Pouliart made to German authorities during the War. In the translated document, he wrote: ‘And I was a member of the national socialist Flemish party.’ He went on to say, “On the 01/08/1941 I volunteered to join the Waffen SS. I felt it was my duty as a Germane to join the rows of German soldiers.” (Note that the meaning of ‘Germane’ in the statement is ‘one belonging to the German nations’.)
“I found it shocking to read Pouliart’s text about himself, with the words ‘Heil Hitler’ in his own handwriting at the bottom,” Gail says. “Apparently, the Belgian soldiers who joined the SS did so voluntarily.”
The archival evidence leaves little doubt about his wartime allegiance. In addition, Gail has found evidence relating to the area in which Pouliart served between 1941 and 1942, as the German army pushed towards Leningrad. “The area had many Jewish shtetlach,” Gail explains, “and there is evidence of mass pogroms and brutal killing of Jews there, so it’s quite possible that Pouliart was involved in this.”
Pouliart had learned the pastry trade from his father, a pastry chef in Brussels. He and his family arrived in South Africa in 1960 – Gail has not yet been able to determine where they lived between the end of the War and their arrival here.
After leaving Bellville in the wake of Issy’s allegation, the family moved to the Strand, where Pouliart opened another successful business, the Ultra Bakery. Following his death, his wife and son relocated to Palma de Mallorca in Spain – a destination that became home to many former Nazis and Nazi collaborators after the war.
Gail’s research raises broader questions about the concern that many former Nazi soldiers and collaborators may have settled in South Africa after World War II, in particular since many National Party members – the National Party being the ruling party in South Africa at the time – had been Nazi sympathisers. Many Waffen SS volunteers were prosecuted after the War, while others escaped and rebuilt their lives elsewhere in Europe, South America and beyond.
The Cape Jewish Chronicle tried to ascertain whether any research has been done regarding whether the South African authorities vetted applicants for citizenship after the War. It appears that little research has been done on the topic but, says Professor Milton Shain, “I have no doubt that many Nazi sympathisers settled here. The story of the Bellville man comes as no surprise.”
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