1835 to 2003

Prepared by: Samuel Robert (Sonny) Solomon.
Sonny's original Word document

Very little is known of the period spent in Riga, Czarist Russia from where it is understood that the family originated, and this is being further investigated by the researcher. There were two brothers, David Bernard: Morris (Meisch, Moshe ) and a sister whose name is not known at this time, but I do know that she married a Nurick from Laingsburg in the western Cape, South Africa.
This family tree is therefore constructed from the two brothers.
It would appear that Morris left Riga around 1860 and settled in Kelme (see attached history and photographs of the town), where all of his children were born. At this stage I am not sure if he was married when he emigrated, or if he married in Kelme. There is evidence (see attached Hamegid database) that Morris was still in Kelme in 1902. At some point after that date he emigrated to South Africa and three of his sons, either went with or followed (see under Morris Drusisnky below).
Bernard received his dental degree in Russia and emigrated to South Africa some time later (see further down for history).
Addendum. According to recent information, I now have reason to believe that the sisters name was Leah Drusisnky.

Leah Drusinsky

• Born. Riga. U.S.S.R.
• Married.--------Nurick of Laingsburg. South Africa.
• Died.10/10/1910.
• Buried. Braamfontein cemetery. Grave #948.Johannesburg.South Africa.

David Bernard

• Born. Riga Russia.
• Birth date. ±1835.
• Education. Dentist. Studied in Moscow.
• Wife. Bluma.
• Children. Panya (Paulina): Abrasha (Abraham): Jascha (Jack):Zena: Grischa (George): Boris: 7/9/1868-1931.Tamara (Tamar).21/12/1896-1/11/1964.
• Died. Johannesburg. South Africa. 15/6/1921.
• Buried. Brixton cemetery. Grave # 32.Johannesburg.South Africa.
• History. Moved from Russia to the Turkish border to a town called Simferopol where at least one of his children George was born. From there his family emigrated to South Africa in the late1890’s where he settled in Johannesburg and practised dentistry until his death. Because of his language skills he was used as an interpreter during the Boer war 1899-1902.
  David’s children Boris, Grischa (George), Zena, Jascha (Jack) and Tamara followed him to South Africa, while his two married children Abrasha and Panya remained behind in Russia and nothing more is known of them.
  Boris. Born in Rostovondon Russia. Practiced dentistry in Johannesburg for a while and then emigrated to London where he continued his professional career. He married Rosalie Katz and they had two daughters Edith and Sylvia.
  Boris changed his family name to Dee in 1922.
  I had the pleasure of meeting Edith in London, August 2002, and my wife and I enjoyed her company immensely as we listened to tales of her youth and married life while we sipped tea. Edith’s husband Nathan Goldenberg was a food chemist for Marks and Spencer for many years and was invested with the O.B.E. by the Queen for his work. Edith was kind enough to give me a book that Nathan wrote entitled “Food for thought”. I have remained in touch with Edith and had the pleasure of speaking to her on her 90th birthday.
  George married Clara Solomon of Laingsburg, Cape, South Africa and they had two children, Blanche and Frank. George died in Cape Town South Africa in 1946 where he is buried and his wife Clara in Johannesburg where she is buried. I know nothing of his wife Clara. George lived in Robertson in the Cape (South Africa) for many years and there are records of him and his family as early as 1922 (see attached letter Becky Saacks).He had a shop on the corner of Barry and Le Roux street in Robertson. The family at some stage later moved to Sea Point, Cape Town where George lived out his life. 
  Frank. Blanche’s brother married Irene Pincus and practiced dentistry in East London, South Africa until his death in 1985. He also spent his early years in Robertson, and there are also records of both Frank and his wife Renee, in Dordrecht Eastern Cape, South Africa. They had four daughters Sandra, Grecia, Marilyn and Sarina the last two being twins. The surviving family still lives in East London but have not maintained contact.
  Blanche, attended school in Robertson and left after reaching standard 8 (see attached picture) She then attended Wynberg Girls High School where she sat her Matric certificate. Blanche married John Edward Bauer and has one daughter, Gretta Hazel, married to Dr. Michael Roy Jacobs, Professor of Microbiology at University Hospital, Cleveland ,Ohio. USA. Gretta, also a doctor is Professor of Pathology at the same hospital. They have four children Erica, Kevin, Paul and David. John Edward Bauer passed away about 30 years ago and is buried in Johannesburg, South Africa.
  Blanche is living in Johannesburg at the time of writing, where she worked as an accountant for many years and is now retired. I am in touch with her telephonically to this day. See attached letter.
  All I know about Zena is that she married and had two children David and Nettie. David died in 1938 and Nettie in 1940.
  Jack married Bessie Klotz and changed their name from Drusinsky to Dee. They in turn had two sons Cyril, who was killed in the 2nd world war, and Basil who married Julie Markowitz. My understanding is that they divorced, Basil passed away and Julie is still alive and living in Zimbabwe. They had three children Malcolm, Colyn and Lynette. I am in touch with Lynette via e-mail, and although we have never met we have struck up a very good relationship via e-mail and I value her friendship greatly.
  Tamara. Married Herman Cohen and they were divorced two years later. Out of this marriage Valerie Blossom was born 8/3/1920. In 1922 Tamara married Jacques Leon 16/1/1892-17/4/1984 and Valerie took their name.
  They produced one son from this marriage Ramon/Nigel 31/3/1925 who in turn married Sheila Herman and they have two sons one of whom is Anthony (Tony) James Leon, leader of the opposition in South Africa at the time of writing.
  Valerie, who lives in Durban, South Africa (See attached letter) and with whom I still correspond to this day, married Raymond Driman in 1945. Raymond went up north during the second world war and was captured at Tobruk. They produced three children James/Wendy. Howard and David Kevin.
  I am in regular contact with Howard and family who live in Toronto, Canada.
  Valerie and Raymond divorced many years ago.

Morris

• Born. Riga Russia.
• Birth date.1840.
• Education. Primary.
• Trade. General Dealer. 
• Wife. Miriam. Poya (Duchess)
• History. Emigrated to Kelme (for history of town see attached pages) somewhere around 1860 and lived there till at least 1902 (see Hamelitz newspaper). There seems to be some confusion about that period (Refer attached letter from Ben Friedman concerning his South African Naturalization papers dated 1896).
  Nothing at all is known about his wife, whether she went with him to South Africa or not, or remained behind in Kelme. His three sons joined him in South Africa. The daughters married in Lithuania and tragically were all the victims of Hitler.
  · Died. Willowmore. Cape. South Africa. (See attached death notice).
  The cemetery in Willowmore (see Photograph) shows 6 unmarked graves, one of which is that of Morris Drusinsky. The absence of a tombstone unfortunately makes it very difficult to go back any further in the family tree.
• Children. Abraham: Samuel Isaac: David: Dina: Dushe: Chaie Sarah: Batja. 1 more daughter whose name is not known.

Abraham.

• Born.1879. Kelme. Lithuania.
• Died .14th December 1900. South Africa.
• History. Little is known of Abraham except that he served in the Boer war and died shortly after in the fever outbreak. He was unmarried and is buried in Kimberley, South Africa (see attached tombstone picture).

David.

• Born. Kelme Lithuania.
• Died. ±1933. Christiana. Cape. South Africa.
• Buried. Bloemhof. Cape. South Africa. I have established that the Bloemhof cemetery no longer exists.
• History. Followed his brothers to South Africa somewhere around the turn of the century. ± 1903.
  Lived in Christiana and helped his brother Sam in his shop Drusinsky and Senier (See photograph). He was very quiet and reserved and his addiction to alcohol finally killed him. He was unmarried and lived in the local hotel. David never married.

Samuel Isaac.

• Born.1870. Kelme. Lithuania.
• Naturalised in South Africa. 1 July 1897
• Married. 28 June 1903
• Marriage place. Cape Town. South Africa.
• Wife. Rachel Ella Sachs.
• Children. Lilian: Olga: Esher (Bobby).
• Died.25th May 1932. Christiana. South Africa.
• Buried. Grave 15. Green Street cemetery. Kimberley. South Africa.
• History.
  After having lived in Kelme for about 24 years, Sam, as he was known, went to try his luck In the U.S.A. settling in Philadelphia in about 1894. He worked for Essor Sachs, his future wife’s father, who had started a cigar business, which later became known as “Phillies Cigars” a nationwide brand, now made in Tampa, Florida. It was probably there that he met Rachel Ella although there are stories told that they were childhood sweethearts from Kelme and indeed Rachel’s family was also from that area. Sam emigrated to South Africa around 1895 and settled in Christiana (see attached map and history). The story is told that he left America for health reasons although this is not substantiated and probably went to Christiana because of the discovery of huge diamond fieldsin that area at that time. In Christiana he started a business “Senier and Drusinsky” which appears to have been a General Dealer type shop (see attached photo) and lived in a house situated behind the shop. After having established himself he sent for Rachel Ella and married her in Cape Town (See attached wedding invitation), and took her back to Christiana. Sam was a town councilor, member of the Finance Committee, Steward of the Royal Edward Lodge and his hobby was municipal work.
  By all accounts he was a quiet personality and not very sociable and his marriage came under pressure because of his wife’s dislike for Christiana. It must have been very hard for her coming from Philadelphia, a big bustling city to the dusty, empty tiny town and in fact she became very reclusive as a result (See attached letter from Rae’s niece Dolly Maister).
  The end result of this unhappy life was that Sam shot himself in the back of his shop on the 25th.May.1932 (see attached Death Notice). There was also evidence that the business was not very successful and that the creditors were pressing very hard. My understanding is that Sam took this as a personal shame both for himself and his family.

DINA.

• Born. Kelme.Lithuania. ±1864.Was still alive in 1902 (See Hamelitz database #229).
• Married. Shlomo Jachnin born in Vitebsk. Lithuania.
• Children. Fene.Zipora Fania.Herzl.
• Died. Entire family shot by Lithuanians in 1941 (See attached memorial photograph in Kelme forest)

DUSHA. (Dishe)

• Born. Kelme. Lithuania. Was still alive in 1902 (see Hamelitz database #229).
• Married. ?.Domb.
• Died. Family shot by Lithuanians in 1941 (See attached memorial photograph in Kelme forest).

CHAIE SARAH.

• Born. Kelme. Lithuania. Was still alive in 1902 (See Hamelitz database # 229).
• Married. Zvi Fridman in Kelme 14 Elul (See attached wedding photograph).
• Children. Berl. Benjamin.
• Died.Both Tvi and Chaie shot by Lithuanians in 1941 (See attached memorial photograph in Kelme forest). The figure in front of the memorial stone is that of Berl Fridman who returned to his roots after having escaped to Israel where he lived with his children. Ben married Rosa, lived in South Africa, and have two children Mina and Prady with whom I am still in touch.

BATJA.

• Born. Kelme. Lithuania. 1894.
• Married. Zvi Kaplan.
• Children.5 daughters. Shoshana, Hene, Dvora and two others. Shoshana married a Robinzon and was still alive living in Borochov Street 30.Tel Aviv. In 1956.This is substantiated by the attached Pages of Testimony that she submitted to Yad Vashem Israel and copies of which are attached. At the time of writing I am trying to locate Shoshana or her closest relatives, so far unsuccessfully.
   Received letter from the ministry of the interior (Attached) advising that Shoshana Robinzon passed away on the 30th.December.91.Her husband Naphtali, however, born 1913 was still alive at the time of receipt of the letter and I am trying to locate him or his children if any.

LILIAN

• Born.1902.Christiana.South Africa.
• Married. Solomon (Solkie) Fisher.
• Children. Renee.
• Died.12/5/1960.
• Buried. New Jewish Cemetery. Pinelands. Cape Town. South Africa.
• History. My mother Olga and Lilian were very close and I remember that as a child we used to visit her every Saturday night. My recollection is that her husband was never at home and they were obviously unhappily married. Their daughter Renee, for reasons unknown to me was ostracized by my family but I am pleased to say that we have made contact recently and correspond on a regular basis. She is in fact a delightful, intelligent and witty person, and I regret the time lost by what was I am sure a trivial difference of opinion.

OLGA

• Born. Christiana. South Africa.6/9/1905
• Married. Israel Leonard Solomon.6/1/1928.
• Children. Sybil Marion. Samuel Robert.
• Died.3/8/1974.
• Buried. New Jewish Cemetery. Pinelands. Cape Town. South Africa.
• History. As far as I can establish lived in Christiana until her marriage and was schooled at Kimberley, South Africa where she boarded, coming home on the week-ends. Olga was a good tennis player and spent a considerable amount of time on the court with her sister and cousins.
   After her marriage in Cape Town the rest of her life was spent there. She always worked very hard in the dressmaking business and eventually became a partner in a cut make and trim factory with Mr.Louis Levinson. The venture was never very successful financially and was finally closed down. Olga used to smoke up to 80 cigarettes a day and eventually developed emphysema to which she finally succumbed. The last few years of her life were spent living with her husband in their daughter and son-in-laws house in Cape Town and although she was on oxygen for long periods of time I never ever heard her complain.
   My mother was a very quiet person and I cannot recall ever hearing her raise her voice in anger. She appeared to be happy with her lot, loved her family very much and was extremely understanding of my father who had a retiring nature, read a lot, played competitive bridge and was not “there” a lot for her. They did love each other and were a devoted couple creating a very happy home for my sister and myself.

ESHER (BOBBY)

• Born.12/12/1911.Christiana.Transvaal.South Africa.
• Married. Lilian Cohen.
• Died.11/1972.Cremated Johannesburg. South Africa.
• Children. Ian Stanley.
• History. I only met my uncle Bobby on maybe 10 occasions and never really got to know him well. He was rather a secretive individual, but at the same time I found him very interesting and nice to be with. He lived in Kenya with his wife for a few years where his son Ian was born, but nobody seemed to know what his line of business was, right up to the time of his death.
  Bobby flew in the airforce in the second world war and had a scar on his forehead which true to his character was never discussed but I feel sure was as a result of one of his escapades in that war .I know very little of his wife Lilian but was told by Ian that she is an orphan as was her mother. I do know that she is a very spirited and fiercely independent person, and lived by herself in Los Angeles until this year when ill health forced her to move to an old aged home. Lilian played golf well into the 80’s and recently celebrated her 90th birthday .Ian studied medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg from where he graduated in 1972 cum laude, the first student to do so for 10 years. Three years later he emigrated to the U.S.A. to further his studies while his mother remained behind in Johannesburg. Ian married Noreen Green on May 30,1992. Noreen has become a musical director and conductor of some consequence, and formed the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, which has performed on the international stage.
  They have two children Aaron and Hannah (Adopted). At the time of writing Aaron is the last line of Drusinsky’s.