Jürgen Witt, Museum Man of Tzaneen

Born 26/08/1930 Charlottenburg (Berlin), Germany – died 03/01/2019 Tzaneen South Africa

- Matthys Strydom

Despite having led a remarkably varied and eventful life, Jürgen Witt seemed destined to be a forgotten man who died in a forgotten corner of South Africa – but Noseweek could not allow that to happen.

The oldest of four children, Witt went to school in Germany and Ukraine. He left school early to join the army as a volunteer in 1944 to help defend Ukraine’s border against the Russians. He was arrested and imprisoned, but managed to escape and fled to Sweden where an aunt of his was living. There he worked on a farm, studied agriculture, went to the North Pole as an assistant prospector, worked as a forester, a colporteur and even for a short while in the diplomatic service. In Stockholm he met his future wife Hilda.

In 1952 he came to South Africa in search of an uncle. He worked for a while on the roads in Botswana (then Bechuanaland) before joining a foreign trade business in Johannesburg, where he and Hilda got married. They had a daughter and two sons, all still in South Africa.

In 1960 the family settled in Tzaneen, where Witt stayed till his death. Initially he worked as a bookkeeper for several companies before starting his own accounting business. In March 1962 he acquired South African citizenship.