International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

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The largest city in South Africa and the provincial capital of Gauteng Province, situated in the NE of the country.

Chevrah Kaddisha. Mr Weber states that this website information is more current than that which follows. Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [September 2014]

The following data was supplied by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Johannesburg Jewish Helping Hand and Burial Society (Chevra Kadisha) is on LDS film: Film number: 1259151. The major cities in South Africa have their own burial societies that control burials of all types of Jews. As the majority of Jews have been buried in large cities. These records are available. They are a very useful source of information. Johannesburg probably accounts for over 75% of all burials. The earliest record goes back to 1888 at Braamfontein Cemetery, Brixton in 1914 and West Park in 1942. Burials still occasionally take place in the 2 older cemeteries. Registers are kept on the premises, but in 1980, the Mormons microfilmed records of Jewish graves. Film no 1259151 referring to the Braamfontein cemetery was done. Apparently, their efforts at microfilming further Jewish Death records were brought to a halt by the intervention of the Chief Rabbi's office.

With reference to other burials, the Chevra Kadisha now has an easily accessed database of every burial in West Park, the major cemetery since approximately 1942. A computer terminal is kept at the cemetery and at their central offices. The records of the two older cemeteries, Brixton and Braamfontein, are small and easy to look up. At present [1998], about 700 burials take place annually in Johannesburg. Mr Jackson, the Secretary of the society, told me that they get many requests from abroad for information and are often stumped by changes in spelling of names as families have migrated. Anglicization of Jewish surnames in South Africa was relatively uncommon. Jewish Helping Hand and Burial Societies 1877-1930 (Johannesburg) Burial records. FHL microfilm number 1259151. Secretary, Johannesburg Jewish Helping Hand and Burial Society P.O. Box 1105; Johannesburg 2000 tel.: 011 298236 Fax 011 232446

  • Braamfontein Cemetery: Began 1888. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. has done research there and checked graves against existing lists. 5/10/1999. These corrections are not included here. [SIC Meaning?]
  • Braamfontein Jewish Cemetery [Aug 2015]
  • Brixton Cemetery: {began 1914)
  • Brixton Jewish Cemetery [Aug 2015]
  • West Park Cemetery: Began 1942. Memorial to Holocaust victims in West Park Cemetery. Source: Freedman, Warren. World Guide for the Jewish Traveler. E.P. Dutton Inc: NY. 1984. Extracted by Bernard Kouchel
  • West Park Cemetery, Jewish Sector [Aug 2015]