Brixton Cemetery
Brixton Cemetery is a cemetery in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Place Notes
The most interesting aspect of this cemetery is its revelation of the number of Jews who came out to South Africa with few possessions, looking for a new life. The immigrants had a strong sense of community, especially with those who came from the same village in Russia, Lithuania or Poland and, using entrepreneurial skill and very hard work, several ended up making enough money for the next generation to be well educated. As exiles fleeing pogroms and utterly miserable conditions, they showed courage and tenacity in what was a sanctuary from the persecution that they had suffered. Name changes often occurred by accident when the immigration officials misheard or couldn‟t spell their names correctly, or when, some years later, they found their foreign-sounding names were a disadvantage.
Although the gentile section of the Brixton cemetery opened earlier, in 1912, when Braamfontein was running out of space, the first burial in this cemetery took place in April 1921. This was that of SUSMAN ABRAHAMSON who died on April 3rd at the age of 49 years. Burials have continued to take place in this cemetery until recently, where there has been a site reserved for someone, but from the 1940‟s, most Jewish people were buried in the Westpark Cemetery. Brixton Jewish Cemetery has a large section for children, mostly without headstones as the children were stillborn, or had not been named when they died, and there is also a section for Reform Jews.
As one enters the gates, the Ochel is seen straight ahead, a once beautiful building, now somewhat neglected, with the warm red brick painted white while projecting bricks have been painted blue – a reference to the colours of the Israeli flag. Inside, the visitor may page through the burial register, which is in alphabetical order, or peruse the boards on the wall, naming the people who donated money to the Chevra Kadisha – all quoted in pounds.
