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Willie Goffenberg

Male 1901 - 1971  (69 years)


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  • Name Willie Goffenberg 
    Born 18 Aug 1901  Shavel, Siauliai, Kovno, Lithuania Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Hebrew Name Ze'ev Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Died 2 Jul 1971  Johannesburg, RSA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried West Park Cemetery Plot 0177 Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • Medical: Died within 12 hours of having a stroke

      Willie Goffenberg served in the Russian Army from 1914 to 1918, the unit he was in was probably the 26th infantry battalion named after Arch Duke Vasievitch Micheal Oryanov, the unit was until 1917, a part of the Sixth Army under Major General Baron Alexei Scroninne. It was stationed for the first part of the war in Urikusk in Siberia, and then later near the City of St Petersburg. The units main function was to act as a guard unit.
      During most of the war the battalion commander was Pot Polkovnick(lieutenant) Colonel Comer Tabnisky.
      Willie Goffenberg landed up as a Sergeant , he played the cornet in the band.
      He left for South Africa when the Bolshevik Revolution started at the end of the war. He was an Orphan aged 14 when he enlisted.
      When he arrived in South Africa, he worked for his uncle Isaac Michel [Merkel] in Messina, Northern Transvaal.
      He met Bessie in about 1928, They got Married in the Jeppe Shul.
      He then went into business in Ermelo Transvaal, this was not a success.
      He then moved to Johannesburg and was again employed by his uncle, who by now had started the OK Bazaars with Sam Cohen & Michael Miller.
      He later left and joined the Crystal Bakery, later went into another wholesale business, which again was unsuccessful.
      During the 2nd World War he volenteered to serve in the National Volenteer Brigade , doing guard duty etc in South Africa.
      After the 2nd World War he became a commercial traveller , here he had some success, he joined his son in a glass business in about 1953, and they did very
      well.
      He is Buried in the West Park Cemetery in Johannesburg .
    Person ID I616  Markel
    Last Modified 19 Sep 2005 

    Father Berel [Boris Berka] Goffenberg,   b. 1871, Kraslava Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Abt 1915, Shavel , Lithuania Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 44 years) 
    Mother Tova Dobra Merkel,   b. 1875, Shavel, Siauliai, Kovno , Lithuania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Abt 1915, Shavel, Siauliai, Kovno, Lithuania Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 40 years) 
    Married UNKNOWN 
    Family ID F194  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Bessie Sidelsky,   b. 22 Jun 1903, Padubysis, Lithuania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Mar 1985, Johannesburg, RSA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 81 years) 
    Married 24 Nov 1929  Johannesburg, RSA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Fred Bernard Goffenberg
    +2. Doreen Goffenberg
    +3. Jean Goffenberg
    Last Modified 12 Feb 2024 
    Family ID F199  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart