Welcome to the website of the
Jewish Community of Darling
Darling is in the Malmesbury district of the Western Cape, 75 km north of Cape Town. The town was laid out on the farm Langefontein in 1853 and was named after Sir Charles Henry Darling, Lt. Gov. of the Cape from 1851 to 1854.
Jews from Lithuania arrived in Darling from the early 1900s. As in other places, they were crucial to the commercial development of the town and surrounding areas. They were traders in livestock, crops and agricultural products, shopkeepers and hoteliers, as well as partners in the Royal and other salt pans in the area.
Although the Jews of Darling never built a synagogue or established a Jewish cemetery they did establish a congregation in 1924 and engage the services of a minister who led them in prayer and taught their children. He was also the shochet, providing kosher meat for the community.
In 1943 there were 48 Jews in Darling. By 1947 there were only half that number with about 6 families left in Darling. This had declined to 5 families in 1953. When the Becker family left in 1980, there were no Jews left in Darling.
On these pages, you can read the timeline of the Jewish community and about the Jewish families who lived there between about 1910 and 1980 and about their activities.
This website, created in October 2023, is driven by Steve Albert (left). If you or your friends have connections to this town, please send your stories and photographs. Time is of the essence, as the number of people who can 'tell the story' is dwindling.
You can answer the questions on the Contact page or get in touch with me directly at stevena@mweb.co.za.
Please join the CHOL interactive email list where you can post information and ask questions of like-minded people. To join, send an email to listserv@jiscmail.ac.uk. Leave the subject line BLANK and in the message say: SUBSCRIBE CHOL followed by your First name and your Last name only (please delete any automatic signatures).
Click here for a map.
Website of the Darling Jewish Community
Created and hosted by CHOL – Community History On-Line
info@chol.website
Acknowledging information from
Jewish Life in the South African Country Communities, Volume II,
researched by the South African Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth,
and from individuals on the CHOL forum and other sources.
Pictures taken or sourced by Steve Albert, Cape Town
Edited by Geraldine Auerbach MBE, London, UK
Formatted and uploaded by Bramie Lenhoff, Delaware, USA
October 2023
