Joseph Gustave Ackerman

Joseph Gustave (Gus) Ackerman (16 January 1912 Bethlehem, Orange Free State, South Africa - 14 January 1979 Johannesburg, South Africa) service number 222729 was the son of Israel Charles Ackerman (1873-1957) and Rachel Ackerman nee Osrin (1884-1933) of Bethlehem, Orange Free State. He was an attorney.

During World War Two he volunteered in the Union Defence Force. His rank was Warrant Office II. He was sent 'up North' and was taken prisoner of war at Tobruk in 1942. He was sent to Italy and was listed at P.G. Campo 85 Tuturano. Following the Italian Armistice, he was captured by the German Army, and he was sent to Germany to Stalag IV B. His German PoW number was 275541. He married Belle Vera Winnie Aronstam (1920-1981) on the 5 February 1939 in Johannesburg. He subsequently married Phyllis Lipman (1922-2020). After the war he served as convenor of the Transvaal Rugby Board.

Sources: Joseph Gustave (Gus) Ackerman. Riemland Bethlehem. Jewish Life in the South African Country Communities Volume V Goldfields, Mountain Route, Riemland, Southern & Western Free State. The South African Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth page 173 2012. https://www.geni.com/people/Joseph-Gustav-Ackerman/6000000003322409195.