Maurice Steckoll, also known on a document as Morris, is the son of Nochum Aaron Steckoll, known as Aaron, the brother-in-law of Rachel Levin, my 2x great aunt. Levin family HERE. Steckoll family HERE.
Parents: Nochum Aaron Steckoll (1867 - 1933) and Gittel Bucher (1870 - 1926)
Born: 30 January 1895 in Dvinsk, Latvia
Maurice and Golda in 1926
Maurice in the military. At left, taken in 1916, he is a sergeant in WW1 and at right, taken in 1943 during WW2, he rose to the rank of staff sergeant
Freemasonry
Maurice was initiated into the the Sir John Brand Lodge in Ladybrand, Orange Free State, South Africa on 24 March 1920, age 24. His occupation was given as a storekeeper. He was also a councillor on the Ladybrand Town Council
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Tombstone inscription: In memory of my beloved brother Maurice Steckoll died 19th June 1948 aged 53 years. Deeply mourned. May his dear soul rest in peace (Abbr.) The date given for his death differs from his death certificate which is 18 June. The tombstone was probably the work of his sister Eva Stein
Burial
Maurice was born in Dvinsk, Latvia, but his family lived in Varaklani, Latvia
By the eve of the Holocaust in 1935, the Jewish population stood at 952 people, making up roughly 57% of the town’s residents. This community was supported by a network of merchant families with surnames such as Zogut, Schneir, Chait, Kaplan, Morain, Matchevsky, Steiner, Boorenstein, Berzon, Kopolovitch, Kodish, Solevy, Shvalb, and Fingerhuts. These families maintained the town's shops, schools, and cultural institutions until the Nazi invasion in 1941.
Hebrew name: Moshe son of Nachum Aharon
Siblings
- Simon Steckoll (1893 - 1935) married Fanny Esther Gould (1904 - 1987) in Senekal, Orange Free State, South Africa in 1923
- Jack Steckoll (1898 - 1989) married Lily Chaitow (1902 - 1980) in Johannesburg, South Africa on 7 July 1925
- Eva Steckoll (1903 - 1983) married Woolf Stein (1898 - 1947) in Ladybrand, Orange Free State, South Africa on 7 February 1929
Occupation: Merchant owning and operating a general store in the Orange Free State, South Africa. He was in partnership with his father Aaron and brother Simon and they each had a one third share. There were three stores located in Ladybrand, Hobhouse and Vinies (a railway siding in the Ladybrand district) - so one store for each of the shareholders. The firm was called A. Steckoll and sons. Simon managed the Hobhouse store, his father the Ladybrand store and Maurice the Vinies store. After his father's death in 1933 the brothers had a half share each and it appears that the Ladybrand general store was either sold or leased. On Simon's death in 1935 it appeared that Maurice went insolvent. On his death certificate his occupation is listed as a bookkeeper
Married:
Golda Casper, sometime before 1926 and probably somewhere in the Orange Free State, South Africa - perhaps at Ladybrand
Children
- Samuel Steckoll (1926 - 1985)
- Gerald Steckoll (1929 - 2000)
- Arnold Steckoll (1929 - 1930/1931)
Gerald and Arnold were twins. At age 1 or 2 both contracted polio but only Gerald survived. The children's' mother, Golda, died in 1939 age 40, when Samuel was 13 and Gerald 10. Samuel went to live with his aunt Eva and her husband Willie Stein in Bloemfontein and Gerald was sent to the Arcadia children's home in Johannesburg
Military
World War 1
Extract from his 2nd World War application form summarising his 1st World War service. He was a Quartermaster sergeant during the Afrikaner Rebellion and the South West African campaign. Botha’s Hoogeveld Ruiters was a
specific mounted unit (Ruiters means "Riders" or "Cavalry")
from the Highveld (Hoogeveld) region, serving under the overall command of
Prime Minister General Louis Botha. In summary, this entry records that Maurice served as a Quartermaster Sergeant in a mounted Boer commando-style unit during both the suppression of the internal 1914 rebellion and the subsequent 1915 invasion of German South West Africa
This is a 1914–1915 Star Medal Index Card for Maurice
Steckoll, a soldier who served during World War I. These cards were created by
the Army Medal Office to track a soldier's eligibility for campaign
Key Details on the Card
- Name
& Number: Maurice Steckoll, service number 82474.
- Regiment: He
served under Lt-Col. J. V. Swemmer in the 4th Mounted
Brigade (4 Mtd Bde).
- Next-of-Kin: His
father, A. Steckoll, residing in Ficksburg, O.F.S. (Orange
Free State, South Africa). The "P.K." stands for Poskantoor (Post
Office).
- Medal
Entitlement: The large stamp at the bottom indicates he was awarded
the 1914–1915 Star. This medal was granted to those who served in a
theatre of war between August 5, 1914, and December 31, 1915.
- Service Dates: A reference note mentions "D. of pay fr. 26.1.15 to 26.5.15," likely indicating his period of active service or pay eligibility during the early part of the war.
- B. W. & V.: Refers to the British War Medal and Victory Medal, which were typically awarded alongside the Star. These were despatched on June 2, 1922 ("2/6/22").
Freemasonry
Death
19 June 1948 in Bloemfontein, South Africa from pneumonia and bronchitis causing cardiac failure at age 53. He was buried in the Bloemfontein Memorial Cemetery there in plot 3A:838
Death notice
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Death notice for Maurice Steckoll giving his date of death as 18 June 1948 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa
Hebrew translation: "Here is buried my dear and beloved brother, R Moshe son of Nahum Aharon Steckol passed on 12 Sivan (5708) in the 53rd year of his life...May his soul be bound up in the bonds of life."
Burial
Jewishgen Cemetery record for Maurice
Place of Birth
The Jewish community in
Varaklani
officially began to form in the late 18th century, shortly after the region was annexed by the Russian Empire. While a few Jewish families may have lived in the area earlier, the community truly took root around 1780. By 1797, there were 413 Jewish residents recorded in the town, a number that grew steadily as Varaklani became an important trading post. Throughout the 19th century, the population expanded rapidly due to migration from nearby Lithuania and Belarus. By 1847, the number of Jewish residents had increased to 584 people, and religious life began to flourish under leaders like Rabbi Aharon Zelig Zioni, who headed the community during this mid-century growth.The community reached its numerical peak in 1897, when a census recorded 1,357 Jews, which accounted for approximately 75% of the town's total population. During this era, the town was led by Rabbi Abraham bar Gabai, who served as the chief rabbi for five decades starting in 1873, and Rabbi Jacob Pollak, who served as the crown rabbi. This overwhelming majority meant that for several decades, Varaklani functioned almost entirely as a Jewish town where the rhythms of life were dictated by religious law and the Hebrew calendar.
The population began to fluctuate during the early 20th century due to the turmoil of World War I and the Russian Revolution. In 1920, the first census of the newly independent Republic of Latvia recorded 868 Jewish residents, a significant decline from the pre-war peak. However, the community remained the dominant group in the town, and by 1925, the number had climbed back up to 991 people. During this period of Latvian independence, Jewish citizens became deeply integrated into the town’s governance. Reuven Arsh achieved significant prominence as the town’s mayor, while Michael Kagan served as the deputy mayor.
The destruction of this community began shortly after German forces entered Varaklani in early July 1941. Immediate restrictions were placed on Jewish residents, and they were forced into a provisional ghetto established next to the Jewish cemetery. On August 4, 1941, a German SD unit known as the Arājs Commando, assisted by local Latvian self-defenders and police, carried out a mass execution. Approximately 540 Jews were taken to the cemetery and shot to death in pits they had been forced to dig themselves. Rabbi Eliezer-Yaakov Hacohen Grodsky, the final spiritual leader, was particularly mistreated during this event; he was dragged to the execution site with his beard tied to a horse’s tail. After the massacre, local peasants were forced to fill in the mass graves. Before their retreat in 1944, German authorities ordered the bodies to be burned to destroy evidence of the crime
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