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Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - Web posted at 7:29:23 GMT Pearle behind new book dies before publication PEARLE HORWITZ, who spent more than a decade researching the Jews of Namibia for a book to be published later this year, has died in Cape Town at the age of 89. |
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She was born at Swakopmund, the daughter of Louis Pieters, a Jewish pioneer, and was raised with four brothers at Usakos. Her early schooling was at Swakopmund, but at the age of 12 she was sent to the Good Hope Seminary for Girls in Cape Town. In Cape Town, Horwitz was exposed to a variety of new ideas encompassing feminism, Zionism and many others. She joined the Young Judeans, a youth group which fostered Zionistic ideas and generated her interest in her Jewish roots. In 1931 she was forced to return to Usakos due to lack of finances because of the Depression. However, she travelled to Windhoek several times for Jewish celebrations and, on one occasion, met Herbert Horwitz, the son of another Jewish pioneer who had settled at Keetmanshoop. The young couple were married on January 27 1936, at Usakos and settled in Windhoek where three children, two girls and a boy, were born. HOBBY TO HISTORY In addition to running a home and assisting her husband in his business, Horwitz started her two main hobbies: collecting coins and tokens, and stamps and postmarks on material from South West Africa. As a direct consequence of her hobbies, Horwitz became fascinated with the early history of the territory. In 1974 the Horwitzes sold their business in Windhoek and retired to Sea Point. Here Pearle continued with her hobbies. Then, in 1991, two years after the death of her husband, Horwitz was approached by the Windhoek Hebrew Congregation to research the history of the Jews of Namibia. She agreed, with the proviso that her research would cover the historical period 1850 to 1960 only and that her research would be acknowledged. While staying with a daughter in Windhoek for several months, she started her gigantic task. As many of the pioneer Jews had arrived in the territory by ship, Horwitz spent hours studying and copying lists of passengers on German shipping lines either from Hamburg or London, often via Cape Town. She also spent many hours in the National Archives of Namibia, the High Courts in Windhoek, the Jewish cemeteries of Luederitzbucht, Swakopmund, Keetmanshoop and Windhoek, and the country's old German cemeteries. BEGINNINGS OF A BOOK Jews still living in Namibia or in South Africa were interviewed, while those abroad were sent questionnaires. Many people did not respond, but a good body of knowledge was accumulated. In Cape Town, material from the Kaplan Centre at the University of Cape Town, the National Archives of South Africa and the Africana Library in Cape Town filled in some of the gaps. At this stage Horwitz, now 80, realised that she had sufficient material to write a book and made a start. Unfortunately, she was soon diagnosed with macular degeneration of the retina, which meant she was no longer able to read all her material. The remainder was taped and, using this and the recordings previously made, she started taping her book. When she eventually settled in Cape Town, she approached the Jewish Museum and the Kaplan Institute for assistance. A few months later, in early 2003, Richard Neumann offered to write the book with financial backing from the Windhoek Hebrew Congregation. For the next two years the two met every week and, by the middle of this year, the book was completed and sent to Windhoek for final editing, printing and publishing. It should be available by year-end. Sadly, Horwitz did not live long enough to receive a copy of the book based largely on her research. She is survived by her children June, Billy and Fay; their spouses and her grandchildren. - The Cape Argus |
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