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Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre

Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre: https://ctholocaust.co.za/, admin@holocaust.org.za

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Denise’s Delights – a hidden gem still in Sea Point

Founded by Denise Lidsky in 1989 and known for its home-style cakes, nostalgic treats, a wide range of sweet and savoury items, cinnamon buns, biscuits, and traditional treats like kichel.

Tucked away above Posticino Italian Restaurant at 4 Albany Mews, Sea Point (opposite the Engen Garage), Denise’s Delights has been a delicious constant in a suburb that has seen many changes.

Denise’s journey began with a simple request from a friend: knowing how delicious her biscuits were, she asked her to supply a cheesecake for a market in Hout Bay. A passionate home baker, Denise took on the challenge with enthusiasm, baking in her home kitchen with the help of her mother-in-law. The market stall proved a hit, and soon Denise found herself supplying several Cape Town markets with her handmade cakes and biscuits. As demand increased, she took over a small home industry shop in Sea Point, transforming what had started as a hobby into a business. It was the first of several moves prompted not by choice, but by Sea Point’s ever-changing property landscape. Over the past three decades, she has relocated four times, primarily to accommodate new construction projects.

Now settled in Albany Mews, Denise’s Delights continues to serve as a bakery producing a wide range of sweet and savoury items, including specialised birthday cakes and cupcakes. They also cater for small events, supplying platters and meals for Friday night suppers and informal gatherings. In addition, Denise offers a wide range of items for Yomtov meals: kichel, chopped herring and liver, chicken soup, and perogen.

While the Sea Point food scene has seen increasing commercialisation and chain-store expansion, Denise has maintained a more personal approach. Her business relies heavily on repeat customers, many of whom have followed her through the years from one address to the next.

Though its current location is tucked away, Denise’s Delights remains a well-known name among long-time residents. Its longevity reflects not only a taste for the familiar and the quality of its products but also the resilience of small, owner-run businesses in a changing urban environment.

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Shana Tova message from CSO Cape Town

CSO CAPE TOWN | EMERGENCY NUMBER: 086 18 911 18 | http://www.csocape.org.za

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Home Sweet Home exhibition: opening October

A story of survival, memory and returns

Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre: https://ctholocaust.co.za/, admin@holocaust.org.za

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A son’s tribute: Frank Lowy’s cattle car memorial

When billionaire philanthropist Frank Lowy unveiled a refurbished cattle car at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 2024, it was not just an act of remembrance – it was deeply personal. The cattle car stands as a chilling symbol of the Holocaust: the cramped, windowless wagons used to transport Jews and other victims to Nazi death camps. But for Lowy, it is also the final trace of his father’s journey – and of his death.

Frank Lowy was just 13 when the Nazis invaded Hungary. He and his father, Hugo, were separated in Budapest in 1944. That was the last time he ever saw him. Hugo Lowy, a devout man who had taught Frank Jewish values and resilience, was captured and deported to Auschwitz in one of these cattle cars. Hugo was taken to the camp and beaten to death soon after arrival. The crime that resulted in this? He refused to hand over his tallis bag containing his tallis and teffilin. There was no grave, no marker – just a name and a terrible silence.

Decades later, having built a life and fortune in Australia as co-founder of the global Westfield shopping empire, which has a presence in Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, and in many European countries, Frank funded the restoration of one of the original cattle cars and returned it to the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Not just as a relic of horror – but as a way of reclaiming a voice for the millions, including his father, who were silenced.

At the event when the cattle car memorial was unveiled, Frank Lowy placed his own tallis bag into the cattle car. “It is a memorial to him [my father],” Lowy said, “and to the many others who were taken to their deaths. We must never forget.”

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An unexpected treasure trove

The Jacob Gitlin Library’s collection of books on Poland

In line with our reporting about the tour to Poland organised by the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, The Chronicle visited the Gitlin Library to find out what resources are available there for those with an interest in Jewish Poland. 

We discovered that the Library has a well-stocked section on Polish Jewish history, including numerous biographical accounts of survival during the German and the Soviet occupations of the country.

We roped in the Centre’s Director, Jakub (Kuba) Nowakowski, who is a Pole himself, Kuba shared his knowledge about the literary treasure trove, and here we highlight some of his comments, recommendations and points of guidance. 

“When reading about contemporary Polish-Jewish relations and the attitudes among Poles towards Jews, it’s important to give consideration to the time period when a particular book was written,” he says. “To get an accurate picture of present-day attitudes, you should read books written in the last 20 years or so. These books will capture contemporary views on Poland’s Jewish past and on the attitudes towards Jewish people that we see in today’s Poland. In many respects, it is considerably different from how things were seen 40 or 50 years ago, when Poland was a Communist country.”

Kuba points out that a great deal of the antisemitism for which Poland was notorious in previous eras has diminished. An important factor in this was the role of Pope John Paul II – ‘the Polish Pope’, who is greatly revered throughout Poland – who condemned antisemitism as a sin, something that no previous Pope had done. The Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Shudrich, has praised the Pope for this action, believing that it furthered Christian-Jewish dialogue significantly.

Another consideration that impacted attitudes is the fact that the ‘wall of silence’ about the War came crashing down after the fall of Communism. A new generation of Poles learned about things that happened on their soil – things not known previously.

Testimony, Diaries and Memoirs 

The Girl in the Green Sweater: A life in Holocaust’s Shadow 
Krystyna Chiger with Daniel Paisner 
964.302 CHI  
How the young Chiger survived the Holocaust hiding in the sewers of Lvov and the story of their unlikely saviour, Leopold Socha. In 2013, based on this book, the film In Darkness was made, directed by one of Poland’s most important filmmakers, Agnieszka Holland. 

Justyna’s Narrative 
Gusta Davidson Draenger (Transl. Roslyn & David H. Hirsch) 
964.31438 DRA
“An extraordinary memoir of the Kraków Jewish resistance, written on toilet paper and other scraps by its author, Gusta Davidson Draenger, while imprisoned by the Germans in 1943 – a truly unique historical document.” 

Who are you, Mr Grymek? 
Natan Gross (Transl. William R. Brand) 
964.31438 GRO
“A survivor’s story during and after the war” 

The Girl in the Red Coat 
Roma Ligocka (Transl. Margor Bettauer Dembo) 
964.302 LIG 
How Ligocka, a ‘hidden child’ confronted her past through seeing herself portrayed in her red coat in the movie of Schindler’s List 

Memoirs of a Ghetto Fighter: the past within me 
Simha Rotem (Kazik) (Trans. Barbara Harshav) 
964.31438 ROT 
An important memoir by a hero of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising 

The Diary of David Sierakowiak: Five Notebooks from the Lodz Ghetto 
Alan Adelson Ed Kamil Turowski Trans.
964.31438 SIE 
A teenage author who dies of starvation in the Lodz Ghetto, whose notebooks were found stacked on a stove 

Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust 
Renia Spiegel (Transl. Anna Blasiak & Marta Dziurosz)  
964.302 SPI 
“The wartime diary of a teenage girl in Eastern Europe – a story very different from that of Anne Frank, whose life unfolded in Western Europe. She was just 18 years old when she was shot.” 

History of Poland 

Jewish Autonomy in Poland and Lithuania until 1648 (5408) 
Shmuel A. Arthur Cygielman 
9648.38 CYG 
Golden Age of Polish &Lithuanian Jews in 16th & 17th Centuries 

Holocaust History  

Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka: The Operation Reinhard Death Camps 
Yitzhak Arad 
964.31438 ARA 
A history of the 3 death camps from their construction in 1941 to their destruction to in 1943. Written in 1987 by the then Chairman of Yad Vashem 

Isaacs Army: A Story of Courage and Survival In Nazi-Occupied Poland 
Matthew Brzezinski 
964.31438 BRZ 
Jewish resistance in wartime Poland 

Relations between Jews & Poles During the Holocaust: The Jewish Perspective 
Havi Dreifuss (Ben-Sasson) (Transl. Ora Cummings) 
964.31438 DRE 
“A must read” How Polish Jews viewed their milieu and relationships with the country and its people during the Holocaust 

Neighbours: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland GRO 
Jan T. Gross 
964.31438 
A landmark book on a critical moment when the villagers of Jedwabne burnt their neighbours to death in 1941. When it was published in 2000, it made a profound impact in Poland, reshaping the way Polish–Jewish relations during the war were understood. One of the most important books published in Poland in the last 30 years. 

Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp 
Yisrael Gutman & Michael Berenbaum 
964.31438 GUT 
“New research on Auschwitz” 

Shtetl: The History of a Small Town and an Extinguished World 
Eva Hoffman 
9648.38 HOF 
The story of Bransk in Poland as a basis for looking at the lost world of East European Jewry.  

Fighting for Dignity: Jewish Resistance in Krakow 
Exhibition catalogue 
Galicia Jewish Museum (Curator Jakub Nowakowski) 
964.31438 NOW 
“The catalogue of a unique exhibition I curated, delving into the extraordinary courage and resilience of the Jewish resistance in Kraków.” 

Warsaw Ghetto Police: The Jewish Order Service during the Nazi Occupation 
Katarzyna Person (Transl. Zygmunt Nowak-Solinski) 
964.31438 PER 
The complex and difficult story of the Jewish policemen and their roles in the destruction of the Warsaw Jewish community. 

The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery 
Captain Witold Pilecki (Transl. Jarek Garlinski) 
964.31438 PIL 
“Amazing story of the man who volunteered to be imprisoned in Auschwitz in order to bring out the story of what was happening there.” 
 
Auschwitz: The Nazis & the Final Solution (see DVD below)
Laurence Rees 
964.31438 REE 
“One of the fundamental Holocaust works. Supplies the context to Nazi Policy in Poland”  

Polish Witnesses to the Shoah 
M.Turski (conceived) 
964.31438 TUR 
“A nuanced description “…testimonies of witnesses and recollections of scenes half a century after the war.  

Post-war Poland 

Opening the Drawer: the Hidden Identities of Polish Jews 
Barry Cohen (Photographs Witold Krassowski) 
964.38 COH 
The book uncovers the personal stories of individuals who grew up unaware of their Jewish roots, only to discover them later in life. Through moving testimonies and careful historical context, the book explores the silence, secrecy, and resilience that shaped these hidden identities in post-war Poland. 

Three Minutes in Poland: Discovering a Lost World in a 1938 Family Film 
Glenn Kurtz 
964.38 KUR 

Who Will Say Kaddish? A Search for Jewish Identity in Contemporary Poland 
Larry N> Mayer (Photographs Gary Gelb) 
964.38 MAY 

Graphic Novels 

Yossel April 19 1943 
John Kubert 
741.5 KUB 

The Property 
Rutu Modan (transl. Jessica Cohen) 
741.5  MOD 
The plot follows a granddaughter and her grandmother on a journey from Israel to Poland to reclaim a family home lost during the Holocaust. Blending humour, tenderness, and family secrets, it offers a fresh and human perspective on memory, inheritance, and the complexities of the past. 

Maus: A Survivor’s Tale and here my Troubles began 
Art Spiegelman  
964.302 SPI 

Photographic Books: Pre-war and contemporary pictures 

The Jerusalem of the Kingdom of Poland 
The Story of the Jewish Lublin 
Leszek Dulik, Waldemar Golec Text: Konrad Zielinski (Transl. Wieslaw Horabik) 
964.38 DUL 

Remnants: The Last Jews of Poland 
Malgorzata Niezabitowska (Photos Tomasz Tomaszewski) (Transl. William Brand & Hanna Dobosiewicz) 
“Published in the 1980s, created as a tribute to the generation that was believed to become the last. Things have changed since the end of Communism though.” 

Journey to Poland: In Search of a Vanished Jewish World 
Ruth Porter, Nili Kadari Eds. 
964.38 POR 

Memory Unearthed: The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross 
Maia-Mari Sutnik Ed.  
964. 314383 SUT 
Absolutely unique visual documentation of life in the Lodz ghetto.  

DVDs 

Echoes that Remain 
Narrated by Martin Landau & Miriam Margolyes 
DVD 1396 
A poignant study of shtetl life before the Holocaust, shot at sites of former Jewish communities in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Czechoslovakia 

Genocide 
Narrated by Elizabeth Taylor & Orson Welles 
DVD 1397 
Academy Award winner Best Documentary feature 1981. The evolution of the Holocaust with individual stories of suffering and heroism. 

Auschwitz: The Nazis & the Final Solution 
Laurence Rees (See book above) 
DVD12 
The definitive screen history of the evolution of Auschwitz and how it fitted into the Nazis’ plan for the conquest of Europe. 

Shimon’s Returns 
Dir. Slawomir Grunberg 
DVD 1127 
The documentary tells the story of Shimon Redlich, a Holocaust survivor who return to sites and hiding places from his childhood 

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Join Temple Israel for High Holy Days 5786

Temple Israel http://www.templeisrael.co.za

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Needing support and trusting those around us

Daniel Bloch

During my time as Executive Director, I’ve been privileged to work alongside a truly remarkable professional team, an inspiring Executive Committee, and an exceptional Council. 

I trust each of them implicitly and without reservation – and that kind of trust is something we all need if we’re to succeed,
not only in our work, but in life.

The first week of August was, quite frankly, the first time I’ve ever been completely out of commission. What started with an excruciating toothache turned into a serious gum infection, followed by a minor procedure that left me entirely incapacitated. It’s almost impossible to concentrate – let alone contribute meaningfully – when you’re in that kind of pain. Imagine the City of Cape Town working round-the-clock to repair a burst pipe. Now imagine all that drilling and hammering happening inside your head and in your mouth. That’s what it felt like! (I would have used the City of Johannesburg as an example, but that would imply silence and serenity… because nothing ever gets done there!)

I was on antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, probiotics, clove oil (a lifesaver for sore gums), and just about anything else to ease the pain. I was a wreck – unfocused, unavailable, and completely out of sorts.

Enter my incredible colleagues.

Despite my absence, everything continued as normal – no, better than normal. Meetings were held. Projects were advanced. Materials were designed. Events were planned. Important decisions were made. And everything moved forward. (I make it sound like things were so good that I may not be needed – incorrect. That is why I didn’t say everything was perfect). While I may be the voice and public face of the Board (alongside our Chairperson), none of the work happens in isolation. We have a gifted team that works tirelessly behind the scenes to protect our community, uphold our safety, and ensure we continue to live as proud Jews.

It would be remiss of me not to thank another key person in my life, my wife. That first week was one of the worst I’ve experienced in a long time. And despite running her own marketing consultancy, she still managed to keep the household running, fetch the kids and look after me. She’ll be the first to tell you this wasn’t just a case of ‘man flu’. She knows how much I hate taking medication. So, when I ask for it, she knows I’m in serious trouble. She’s another person I trust implicitly and without reservation… except when we play board or card games. Then she’s ruthless. We’re both highly competitive.

Over the past few months, the Board has received many questions about what’s happening in our community, why certain individuals or incidents go unchallenged, and why we don’t respond publicly to every hateful article, comment, or event. Some have asked why we remain silent when Jewish businesses or organisations are targeted.

This is where I ask you – our community – to trust us, implicitly and without reservation.

We are aware of everything that happens within and that affects our community. We are constantly engaging with the relevant stakeholders, leaders, and role players. You may not see our name in every press release or news article, but please know we are working around the clock, often behind the scenes, to protect our way of life. So, why not attend our AGM on 17th September? There, we will answer all the burning questions related to protests, legal action, boycotts of businesses, universities, and more. We need your trust. We need your support. That’s how we will continue to defend our community and preserve our right to live proudly as Jews and as South Africans.  

Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies | http://www.capesajbd.org | Instagram | Facebook

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Rosh Hashanah 5786: A time for renewal, a call to covenant

By Shelley Trope-Friedman, President, WIZO SA 

As we step into a new year, we are reminded that we, as a people, are not merely bound by history or heritage; we are bound by covenant. A sacred agreement that calls us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with one another and with Hashem.

This covenant is more than tradition; it is a living responsibility, one that compels us to engage in Tikkun Olam, the repair of a world that yearns for healing.

In South Africa, we are privileged. Privileged to live in a land of resilience, of deep roots and rich diversity. Privileged to be part of Am Yisrael, the People of Israel, and to belong to an organisation like WIZO South Africa, a beacon of strength, compassion, and unwavering commitment.

WIZO South Africa is a sisterhood built on legacy, which consists of a network of women who, like Miriam with her tambourine, lead even in the wilderness; women who sing songs of hope long before the sea parts; and women who show up, year after year, with hands ready to build, hearts open to give, and voices bold enough to stand for what is right. We are part of something bigger, something meaningful. Each project we support in Israel, each woman and child uplifted, is part of our collective mission. And in this new year, we pray that our sisterhood grows in strength, in purpose, and in numbers.

At such a time as this, may we rise with new zeal, renewed passion, and a deep sense of calling. May we honour our covenant with one another, with our communities, and with the generations to come, and may we further keep our prayers up for the return of all the hostages in Israel. 

WIZO wishes you and your loved ones a sweet, healthy, and meaningful New Year. May 5786 be a year filled with joy, renewal, and abundant blessings. May your days be filled with purpose, your heart with peace, and your home with love. L’shanah tovah u’metukah! 

With love and warmth,
Shelley Trope-Friedman

Website: WIZO South Africa

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Dennis Hammar z”l

Dennis Hammar (picture: LinkedIn)

Capetonians were shocked by the tragic passing of Dennis Hammar in late July following an attack while he was out doing what he loved most: cycling. 

A “proper Jewish traditionalist,” he delighted in Shabbat and Yom Tov dinners with family and friends, embodying the true meaning of a Mensch reflected in his respect for others and his humility. A passionate sportsman, Dennis loved cycling, competing with discipline, integrity and grace. He accepted both victory and defeat with equal humility.

Close friend Lester Aderem recalls: “Dennis’s cycling legacy is remarkable – he completed 41 Cape Town Cycle Tours, many in under three hours, the benchmark of elite performance. His sharp wit and deep knowledge of the sport motivated many during tough stretches. Even now, at popular cyclist hangouts, riders still share stories of him, commenting on how much they miss Dennis.”

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