Herber, Harry

HERBER, Harry. Died 1954. Director of Companies and communal leader. Born in Posvil, Lithuania, 12th November, 1887, son of Naphtali Herber. Educated in Posvil. Came to South Africa 1902. Joined M. Kessel & Co. Ltd., Pretoria and in 1914 be- came a director of the company. In 1926 he founded Greatermans Transvaal (Pty.) Ltd., which in 1936 expanded into Greatermans Stores Ltd., of which he became Chairman and Managing Director. In 1942 he also became Chairman and Managing Director of the Belfast Warehouse Ltd., and in 1943 Chairman and Managing Director of Harvey Greenacre & Co. Ltd., Durban. In 1946 he became Chairman of Ackermans Holdings Ltd., Johannesburg. He was also a Director of several other companies, and Chairman of the Anglo-Palestine Shipping Co. Active in Jewish communal life since his early days in Pretoria, he was one of the leaders of the Pretoria Zionist Society, Chevra Kadisha and Talmud Torah. When he settled in Johannesburg he became a member of the Executive Council of the S.A. Zionist Federation and, at the request of the Federation and the Board of Deputies, accepted the Presidency of the S.A. Board of Jewish Education and put that institution on its feet. Active in congregational affairs, he was elected President of the United Hebrew Congregation. He married Cecilia Grushko in 1921 and had one son and one daughter. When he died his son Norman succeeded him as head of the Greatermans chain.