John Rifkin (RIF4521)

Basic Information

Unique reference:

RIF4521

Gender:

Male

Birth

Date of birth:

7 Kislev 5634 (27 November 1873)

Place of birth:

Belarus, Minsk

Death

Date of death:

2 Adar 5710 (19 February 1950)

Died in combat?:

Place of death:

Nairobi

Burial place:

Nairobi Jewish Cemetery

1 of 2
Cemetery in Nairobi
2 of 2
John

Synagogues

Name:

Nairobi Hebrew Congregation

Leaving Minsk

He was conscripted into the Tsarist Army and absconded in 1896 by travelling through Odessa. He left his wife and only child at the time Beckey behind.

South Africa

After he absconded, he arrived in South Africa in 1896 and joined the British Army. He fought in the Boer War with them and remained in South Africa for 18 months after the end of the war.

Nairobi

He arrived in Nairobi from South Africa in 1900. There was a few Jews there already but not many - he was a founding member of the Nairobi Hebrew Congregation.

Reunited with his family

Bessie and Rebecca left Belarus and travelled to Canada or the USA until around 1904 when they arrived in Nairobi. Somehow they had kept in contact the entire. It was in Nairobi that they had the other six children.

Family

Spouse

Bessie Rifkin (female)

Place of marriage:

Belarus

Country of marriage:

Minsk

Children

Beckey Rifkin (female)

Phillip Rifkin (male)

Sophie Rifkin (female)

Sonny Rifkin (male)

Louis Rifkin (male)

Ethel Rifkin (female)

Sydney Rifkin (male)

Parents

Parent: Zalman Rifkin

1 of 2
John with his sons (John in middle)
2 of 2
John and Bessie

Contact the Author

Any messages sent via this facility are not the responsibility of the WWTT site and are simply passed onto the account holder’s contact and not stored here. Should the author choose to reply to you, all further contact made will not be transmitted through the site but independently through your own email or the details you leave here.

SEND MESSAGE

Contact the Author

Please note that the recipient will be provided with the email address linked to your account, and any response will not be transmitted through the site but independently through your own email.