Rustenburg

The Rustenburg Jewish Cemeteries

The Old Rustenburg Jewish Cemetery forms part of the old municipal Christian cemetery. It is located near the centre of the town bordering on Kock Street between Nelson Mandela Street (R104) and Kommando Road. The entrance to the cemetery complex is on Bosch Street, opposite the Job Shimankana Tabane Provincial Hospital. The Jewish section is separated from the Christian cemetery by a white concrete palisade fence. Seventy-one people are buried in the cemetery. Ida Jacobsohn was the first person to be buried in the cemetery, on the 18 September 1890. The cemetery was utilised until the early 1960s. Ten members of the Wulfsohn family are interred in the cemetery. They include the five Wulfsohn brothers who donated the land for the Rustenburg Synagogue, their older sister, Sheine Rachel Joffe, their niece and sister-in law, Sarah Wulfsohn, and nephew, Isaac Fleishman. The last burial was that of Elias Raphael, who died at the age of 103 years in 1979 and was buried next to his wife, Kate, who had passed away in 1959. In 2007 the family of Derek Mundel placed a memorial plaque on the grave of his father, Wolf Herman Mundel, who had died in 1963 and is buried next to his mother, Julie Adelaide Mundel, who passed away in 1967.

In 1960 the Rustenburg New Cemetery was consecrated and forms part of the municipal Donkerhoek Cemetery complex. It is located off Watsonia Road behind the Rustenburg Crematorium. At the time of consecration, the cemetery was on the northwest outskirts of the town. There is a small tahara at the New Cemetery. The first person buried in the cemetery was Ame Donen in 1963. Fifty-four people are buried in the cemetery, and they include 9 members of the Chatzkelowitz family. Rita Sonnenberg, who was the last Wulfsohn descendant, was buried in the cemetery in 2025.

The tables below contain listings and tombstone photographs (links on surnames) for both cemeteries. The tables can be sorted by clicking on the column headings. Clicking each surname that is a link will bring up a photograph of the gravestone if we have access to one. The tables are adapted with permission from the records of the SA Jewish Rootsbank at the Kaplan Centre, University of Cape Town. Photographs, taken in January 2023, have been kindly provided by Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft of the Small Jewish Communities Association of South Africa (SJCA-SA). Additional photographs are available for both the Old the New Cemeteries on Jono David's HaChayim HaYehudim Jewish Photo Library.

Old cemetery

Surname	First Names	Maiden Name	Hebrew Name	Date of Death	Age	Spouse
ALSTADT	Isidore			1961-03-23
BENJAMIN	Lazarus
BLUMBERG	Michael		Michael Meir
BLUMBERG	Moshe		Moshe Yitzchak
BLUMBERG	Musa		Musa Malka b Heshil
COHEN	Adolf		Idel b Yitzchak HaCohen	1920-08-09	36
COHEN	Sarah		Sara b Zeev Wolf	1952-08-19	66
FLEISHMAN	Isaac		Raphael Aizik b Noach Aizik	1959-06-22
GIEN	Robert		Reuven b Dov	1936-08-18	65
HARTLEY	Sybil		Tzivia b	1905-03-17
ISSEROW	Gilbert		Getzel b Yacov Dov	1947-05-09
JACOBSOHN	Ida		Aidel b Gavriel Yacov	1890-09-18	49	Jacob Jacobsohn
JOEL	Louis		Ariye Leib b Mordechai Yehuda	1910-08-05	43
JOFFE	Sheine Rachel		Sheina Rachel b Avraham Abba	1933-08-11
KAHN	Fruma		Fruma Leah b Chaim Yacov
KAHN	Leah		Leah b Hershel
KATZ	Aaron Hyman (Koppie)		Aharon Akiva b Moshe Shaul	1949-11-29	39
KIRSCH	Mina Lieba		Mina Leiba b Naftali HaCohen	1925-12-29		Noah Kirsch
KIRSCH	Noah		Katriel Noach b Pinchas HaLevi	1943-07-15		Mina Lieba Kirsch
KOPELOWITZ	Ivan			1946-11-19	15
LAPPING	Simon		Shimon b Yitzchak	1934-11-04	52
LEVI	Agnes			1946-05-20	73
LEVI	Olga		Chaya Sarah b Reuven	1933-12-07	28
LEWY	Max			1918-11-15
LIEBENTHAL	Isadore		Yisrael b Mordechai Dov	1938-02-21
LIFMAN	Israel (Udie)		Yisrael Yehuda b Rochen/Reuven	1930-01-12	37
MACHOL	Johanna			1924-06-15
MACHOL	Kurt			1907-07-13	48
MANKOWITZ	Joseph		Yosef b Michael	1946-08-16	61
MILNER	Lee			1953-02-13	6
MILNER	Meyer		Meyer Yacov	1924-10-24	60
MOGRABI	Aaron		Aharon b Gavriel	1922-11-22
MOGRABI	Lena		Leah b Yehuda Leib	1922-05-06
MOGRABI	Lena Theresa		Leah b Yosef	1953-07-08
MUNDEL	Julie Adelaide		Yehudit b Baruch	1967-12-28
MUNDEL	Mina		Mina b Aharon	1919-08-12	74
MUNDEL	Wolf Herman		Zeev b Benjamin	1963-01-14
NARUNSKY	Moses Louis		Moshe Leib b Ephraim	1916-07-07	54
ORNSTEIN	Gustav Samuel		Gustav Shmuel b Moshe Shmuel	1926-08-08
PLESKUS	Ralph		Raphael b Dov	1938-02-14	37
RAPEPORT	Lazarus (Lazzy)		Eliezer b Yehuda Leib	1961-06-01
RAPEPORT	Louisa		Liba b Zeev	1930-06-24
RAPEPORT	William		Zeev b Dov Mordechai	1952-04-11	56
RAPHAEL	Elias		Eliyahu b Avraham	1979-12-05
RAPHAEL	Kate		Kaila b Yehuda	1959-06-14
RAPPORT	Neche Mina		Necha Mina b Shmuel	1918-11-15
REISS	Aaron			1908-09-15	60
RITCHKEN	Simon		Shimon b Tzvi	1940-03-21
ROSENSTEIN	Ursula			1956-07-14
ROSENSTEIN	Willy			1949-05-23
SAMUEL	Ruth			1905-10-27
SCHWARZ	Betty	FRANKENSTEIN		1934-08-14
SEGEL	Samuel		Shmuel b Moshe	1913-12-06	46
SOCHER	Charlie		Yechezkel Gershon b Yitzchak	1942-03-15	53
SOCHER	Chia Sheina		Chaya Sheina b Yitzchak HaCohen	1928-06-29
SOLOMON	Frieda	MACHOL		1905-05-14	36
SUSSER	Asher		Asher b Mordechai Moshe	1938-01-26
TABAKIN	Yeta		Eta/Yetta b Tzvi
TERNER	Jacob		Yacob b Baruch	1932-07-18	62	Janie Terner
TERNER	Janie		Sheina b Avraham	1933-08-03	60	Jacob Terner
WEINSTOCK	Chaim		Chaim b Shlomo Tuvia	1960-07-19	83
WOLPE	Alan		Aharon Eliezer b Yitzchak Reuven	1955-09-17
WULFSOHN	Abraham Herman		Avraham Tzvi b Abba	1934-05-18
WULFSOHN	Flora		Feiga b Asher Tzvi	1936-05-18
WULFSOHN	Hyman		Chaim Behr	1952-09-23	70	Sarah Wulfsohn
WULFSOHN	Mary		Miriam b Chaim	1940-07-17
WULFSOHN	Moses Simon		Moshe Shimon b Avraham Abba	1930-01-04	57
WULFSOHN	Philip		Shraga Fivish b Avraham Abba	1956-03-05
WULFSOHN	Sarah		Sarah Hodda bat Menachem	1952-08-10	48	Hyman Wulfsohn
WULFSOHN	Solem		Sholem b Avraham Abba	1950-07-20	75
ZIMAN	Fruma		Fruma b Yehuda Leib

New cemetery

Surname	First Names	Maiden Name	Hebrew Name	Date of Death	Age	Spouse
ARENSTEIN	Frederick Raymond		Avraham b Baruch	1979-06-27
BEEN	Annette		Chana b Levi Yitzchak	1997-03-17	79
BERGER	Athol Geoffrey		Aharon Gershon b Moshe	1967-05-10
CHATZKELOWITZ	Anne		Chana b Tzadok	1989-07-16	60
CHATZKELOWITZ	Elijas		Elihu b Moshe Arye Leib	2021-12-24	82
CHATZKELOWITZ	Evelyn		Chaya b Yacov HaLevi	2000-03-17	70
CHATZKELOWITZ	Hymie		Chaim b Moshe	2006-05-05	83
CHATZKELOWITZ	Issy Tom		Yitzchak b Moshe Ariye	1984-02-08	62
CHATZKELOWITZ	Lily		Liba b Shmuel Yehuda	1976-09-30	74
CHATZKELOWITZ	Morris		Moshe Ariye Leib b Eliyahu	1981-07-23	90
CHATZKELOWITZ	Raena		Shlomit b Chaim	1982-04-25	24
CHATZKELOWITZ	Sheryl		Rachel b Chaim	1982-04-25	20
DONEN	Ame Solomon		Shlomo b Yacov	1963-08-16
FINKEL	Jacob		Jacov b Moshe	1968-05-23
FLEISCHMAN	Moses		Moshe b Noach	1979-07-13
FRIEDMAN	Chappie		Ariye Leib b Yosef	1988-08-11
FRIEDMAN	Maisie Sheila		Tzipora Musa b Yosef	1972-11-11
GAWRON	Ethel		Etel b Shlomo	1982-06-05		Harry Gawron
GAWRON	Harry		Tzvi b Shabtai	1973-11-11		Ethel Gawron
GERSH	Rachel		Rachel b Yosef Zeev	1981-06-18		Solly Gersh
GIEN	Ann		Chaya b Natan	1977-12-18	67
GIEN	Morris David		Moshe David b Feivil	1969-07-27	72
GIEN	Peter		Freidel Chaim b Avraham	1972-01-21	27
KABRUN	Berel		Dov Gershon b Yehuda	1973-05-28
KABRUN	Ida		Chaya Merka b Shlomo Gershon	1979-09-13
KATZENELLENBOGEN	Lawrence		Yehuda Ariye Leib b Goodman?	1985-07-16	72	Florence Katzenellenbogen
MICHAELIS	Herman Rudolf			1996-03-31	76	Pauline Michaelis
MICHAELIS	Pauline	RITCHKEN	Pesi b Shimon	2001-04-13	82	Herman Michaelis
MILNER	Louis Hyman		Ariye Chaim b Meir	1978-02-10
MOGRABI	Joe		Yosef b Gavriel	1976-04-07	66	Lily Mograbi
MOGRABI	Lily Bertha		Lili Berta b Aharon	1983-12-25		Joe Mograbi
MOGRABI	Zeev Woolfard (Walter)		Zeev Wolfard b Gavriel	1970-03-10	61
MORRIS	Jason Claude			2021-04-07	43
MORRIS	Zola		Shulamit b Zeev	1990-10-30
OSTER	Leo		Yehuda b Meir	1975-06-06	61
PASTOLL	Hilda Evelyn		Hilda b Yisrael	1991-03-07		Nathan Sidney Pastoll
PASTOLL	Nathan Sidney		Nachum Sidney b Shlomo	1982-01-12		Hilda Evelyn Pastoll
PASTOLL	Sadie		Sara b Avraham	1966-06-27
PASTOLL	Solly		Shlomo b Yosef	1963-07-20	76
RAMOKGADI	Geoffrey Modise Menachem			2019-09-13	66
ROSIN	Nochum Jacob		Nachum Yacov b Moshe Aharon	1970-11-19
SONNENBERG	Paul		Pesach b Albert	1999-05-06	76
WEISBERG	Sarah		Sara b Yitzchak	1970-08-28
WEISBERG	Zeidel		Yehuda b Yechezkel	1970-07-24
WOLPE	Sydney		Aharon b Eliezer HaLevi	1996-08-30	83
WOLPE	Sylvia		Sara b Yacov	1987-01-28	70
WULFSOHN	Abel Joe		Avraham Yosef b Shraga Fivish	1978-04-21
WULFSOHN	Cecil Woolf		Sachne b Shraga Fivish	1984-08-13
WULFSOHN	Lina		Lina b Avraham Avinu	1978-02-25
ZEFFERTT	Penelope Laura
ZIMAN	Asne Chaie		Asne Chaya b Michael Meyer	1984-06-16
ZIMAN	Louis		Yehuda Leib b Natan	1977-02-09
ZIMAN	Myron		Menashe b Avraham	1974-12-24	6