Highlands House history

Early Beginnings: Residents

Unfortunately, no list of the first residents has survived, but on 21 February 1920, the first formal application for admission was received. It was sent in by R Clouts, an auctioneer, on behalf of Mr Waxman. The first recorded inmate appears to be Mrs Barnett, who “had already come into the home” on 27 May 920, described by the Matron as “quite helpless, as she is paralysed in the arm and really in need of assistance”. On the other hand, two applicants were refused because they required help dressing.

Soon after it opened in 1921, the Aged Home was called on to temporarily extend its accommodation to take in some of the new arrivals at the Cape Jewish Orphanage. These were a number of the orphans who had been rescued from the Ukrainian pogroms by the Cape Town businessman and philanthropist Isaac Ochberg. Because of their health, they had to be isolated from the other children. The Cape Jewish Orphanage paid the Home a sum of GBP 122 and 15 shillings instead of maintenance.

On 10 September 1922, the residents of the Home were made up of eight males and six females, several of whom “were in a precarious state of health”, with “one blind man, two paralysed and one blind woman.”

At the Annual General Meeting on 26 ASugust 1923, it was reported that sixteen inmates from all parts of the country were in the Home. Their addresses reflect the Jewish demographics of the time. They were predominantly from the suburbs of District Six: Cannon Street, Vernon Terrace off Caledon Square, Van der Leur, Mackenzie and Buitengracht streets, and Kloof Street in Tamboerskloof. Applications were also received from further afield in the Cape Colony – from East London. In later years, residents came from Oudtshoorn, Garries in Namaqualand, Kind Williams Town, Port Elizabeth, and Uppinton. Places of birth reflected Jewish migration, including Lithuania, Poland, and Germany.

On 30 September 1923, it was recorded that of nineteen inmates, four were ‘incurable’. An appeal was registered to erect a wing for the chronically sick; after that, the Sick Relief Society, Bikkur Cholim, and promises of further assistance from the Board of Guardians offered a subsidy of one pound a month.

In March 1925, the Home was obliged to turn down a request to accommodate six Witwatersrand Jewish Aed Home residents who needed more space. Of the 26 beds available, 21 were filled. In 1927, the number of residents was 29, of whom 20 were men. The following two years saw little growth; 1928 the number dropped to 28. By the end of 1930, the number had gone down to 24. At the end of 1931, the Chairman, Harry Rosen, gave the number of residents as 37, which will likely increase by two or three shortly.

This meant the Home needed more space for its residents, some of whom shared two or three rooms. Rosen appealed to the committee with these words: “All the inmates have at one time been active and independent members of the Community, but in the evening of their lives, they have found themselves destitute. Some cases are very pathetic because they tell of children and other relatives who are not able to support them or who will not do so…” In March 1933, the number of inmates had grown to 45.

Acknowledgement
We profoundly thank Veronica Penkin Belling, who meticulously compiled most of our historical archives into a Centennial Volume published in 2016, ISBN 0780620718110. Her work is a testament to the importance of preserving our past and the invaluable insights it provides into the Jewish history of the Western Cape.