eGGSA Graves - Eastern Cape

Cemetery information:- Dordrecht is a town situated in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Dordrecht was founded in 1856 by Baron Smiddolff (later changed to Smithdorff), a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. The town was named for the city of the same name in the South-Western Netherlands. We are naming this cemetery the "old" cemetery, as we have been told there is more recent cemetery, not yet photographed. The original town cemetery is described: This small cemetery is situated at the edge of the town next to the large Christian cemetery. On 15 May 1878, after a diphtheria epidemic in the town, Mark Moss applied to the Dordrecht Town Council for a "plot of ground for a Jewish Public Cemetery". The request was granted shortly thereafter. His two infant children were re-interred there. There are 52 graves, all of which have stones erected over them. Members of the same family were buried near one another. There is no separate section for children. The last burial took place in 1952. Although no Jews have lived in Dordrecht for at least 25 years, the stones are in good condition as is the general appearance of the place. It is surrounded by a stone wall with two gates, one of which is missing. Entry is through the Christian and Muslim burial grounds. I visited this cemetery in September 1996 and have photographs of all the graves. I am also in the process of writing up the history of the community there. Source: Paul Cheifitz 021-434 4825

Album complete at the time of photographing. Photographs by Sunelia Heath

eGGSA captions done by: Sunelia Heath, Andrié Labuschagne & Wilna Eygelaar. Information also available on the GGSA Cemetery DVD:- OLD CEMETERY:- CemID 4023 GPSID 4768 No of names: 1358 OLD CEMETERY REGISTER:- CemID 5681 GPSID 6799 No of names: 732 GPS: Not available NEW CEMETERY:- CemID 4026 GPSID 4771 No of names: 231 NEW CEMETERY REGISTER:- CemID 5682 GPSID 6800 No of names: 854