Emanuel Apter

Emanuel Apter (7 February 1921 Kimberley, South Africa - 1975 Johannesburg, South Africa) known as Mendel was the son of Solomon Apter (1876-1955) and Tetcha Apter born Flisherker (1896-1935) of Kimberley.

During World War Two, he and his brothers, Lionel and Alec, joined the Union Defence Force. Lionel Apter went into the South African Medical Corps and Alec Apter was a bomber pilot in the South African Air Force, flying Spitfires. Mendel Apter joined the Navy in Simonstown, South Africa and soon found himself in Portsmouth, England. He was assigned to a 40-man crew on a frigate doing convoy escort through the Mediterranean to Malta. He was promoted to Petty Officer.

The story "Mendel Apter and Fresh Lemons' documented a story of Mendel's service in the Royal Navy. 'There was the usual card playing and 'crown and anchor' gaming aboard the frigate during off duty periods. Mendel chose not to gamble and the crew appointed him as their banker. He had told them that he had a scheme to make them the richest sailors ever. Mendel's chance to test his scheme came when the frigate docked at Malta for his first time. During the usual one day's turnaround leave he bought one hundred lemons for a pound. 'Very clever', said his mates, 'Do you think we also don't know that lemons are worth a pound each at home. Trouble is that by the time we get back there they shrivel and dry. No one will buy them' 'Yes', answered Mendel, 'but you fellows are not students of history, and you never heard about how Captain Cook and later Nelson carried lemons all around the world to keep the crews from getting scurvy There is a way to do it.' Back on board with his lemons, Mendel prevailed on the frigate's engineer to give him a couple of pounds of grease. Then coating each lemon in a thin coat of heavy grease he laid the lemons in an empty beer crate. Four weeks later after dodging U boats through the Bay of Biscay they docked in Portsmouth. The crate was opened, and the first lemon wiped clean in the presence of several sailors. To their amazement the lemon appeared as fresh as the day it was packed. With little ado the lemons were all cleaned and when ashore there was no trouble selling them in the local dockside pubs at a pound apiece. So quickly one pound became a hundred. In subsequent voyages several thousands of pounds were made in this way. There were some losses. Mendel was torpedoed twice, and in the somewhat flippant way he told it, loss of ship and life, seemed less important than loss of lemons. Yet there was a definite poignancy in the telling of the tale. He told of how the drowning crew was rescued by a passing ship of the same convoy they were supposed to be protecting. And occasionally of burning oil or a shark that got there first. The book, 'The Kappilan of Malta' by Nicolas Montserrat is a graphic description of the siege of Malta and the brave people who eventually lifted that siege. Mendel Apter, was one of these brave men. After the war, when Mendel arrived back in Kimberley in 1946, the lemons provided enough savings and he bought a two door Packard with a dickey seat, which was the envy of his mates and the downfall of several local maidens. He and his younger brother Alec, joined their father's wholesale business S. Apter & Company. Mendel married Winnie Wilson. They had two sons, David a geologist and Steven who served in the South African Air Force. Following the death of his brother, Alec Apter in 1968 the wholesale business was sold and in 1970 Mendel and his wife moved to Johannesburg. Mendel, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer at the age of 54 years.

Sources: 1. Geraldine Auerbach. Kimberley Jews and the Second World War, 1939-1945. 2. Hector R Kleinot July 2000. Mendel Apter and Fresh Lemons. Kimberley South Africa https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/kimberley/Fresh_Lemons.html 3. The Apter Family. Kimberley South Africa https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/kimberley/Apter.html. 4. The South African Jewish Database Jewish Migration and Genealogy.