Gafinowitz/Feldman Family


The Gafinowitz or Gafanowitz family was one of the largest in Kupiskis and there are many branches. The following branch married into the Feldman family and later went to South Africa.

Chaia bat Shmuel-Nokhim Gafinowitz at the time of her marriage, Kupiskis, 1914

Chaia bat Shmuel-Nokhim Gafinowitz and Mendel ben Iankel Feldman at the time of the wedding, Kupiskis, 1914





On July 3, 1914, Chaia bat Shmuel-Nokhim Gafinowitz, born in 1890 in Kupiskis, married Mendel ben Iankel Feldman, who was born in Skapiskis.  The Gafinowitz Family lived on the market square in Kupiskis. 

Mendel had immigrated to South Africa before 1900 and was naturalized in Cape Town in 1904.  After his marriage in 1914, he moved to Plissa, Belarus where he had a business and then he returned to South Africa in August, 1921.  In 1923, his wife Chaia and their two daughters Sonia and Gertie joined him in South Africa.  Their son Myer (known as Mike) was subsequently born in 1924 in Johannesburg.  Mike passed away in August 18, 2018 and is mourned by his children Martin Feldman, Clare Feldman and Laura Sandelson.

The Gafinowitz/Feldman family were active participants in the Kupiskis Society in Johannesburg.  

Another branch of the Gafinowitz family was Chaia’s brother Falke Gafinowitz and his wife Rosa and their son who were murdered in 1941 during the Holocaust.  Their daughter Anna (1922-2016) survived, married Shmuel Hakel and they made aliyah to Israel in 1971.

 
Note:  Information and photos contributed by the late Mike Feldman and his daughter Laura Sandelson in memory of  Chaia and Mendel Feldman.  Also contributing is Jules Feldman, the grandson  of Mendel’s brother Iudel Feldman.