In Memoriam 1992-1997/Salvator “Sue” Benatar

SALVATOR “SUE” BENATAR

I 9 I 7—I 9 9 5

Salvator “Sue” Benatar was born on October 31, 1917, in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, now known as Harare, Zimbabwe. His parents emigrated from the Island of Rhodes with many other Sephardic Jewish families at the turn of the century. He was the youngest son in a family of seven children, only one sister being younger. His father was one of the founders of the Sephardic Hebrew Congregation in

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Saluzztar “Sue” Bemztzzr

Salisbury, and for some years the services were held in his home. The name “Sue” is a diminution of his Hebrew name, Yeshua, which was used by his father. Although most of his family called him Salvator, he was generally known for most of his life as Sue.

After matriculation he went to the University of the Witwatersrand to study chemical engineering, but when the war broke out he felt he had to cut short his studies and follow in his brothers’ footsteps and join the army. He joined the Medical Corps, but because of a shortage of infantrymen, he was sent to an Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU) course in Nahariya, in what was then Palestine. He was seconded as a lieutenant to the King’s Royal Rifle Corps serving in North Africa, Italy, and Austria. He was twice Mentioned in Despatches for acts of heroism. Owing to a lack of funds at war’s end, he was unable to resume his studies and complete his degree.

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Sue had begun to box as a young boy and eventually became Rhodesian amateur welterweight champion. He also boxed for South African universities and won a “blue" for competing at the highest levels of the sport during the years 1937, 1938, and 1939, He continued to box during the war years but had stopped by the time he was repatriated.

Another skill he had acquired before the war was competitive ballroom dancing, achieving the status of advanced amateur champion on several occasions. It was through this art form that he met his wife, the pianist Sylvia Schulman. They became life as well as ballroom partners, marrying in the Sephardic synagogue September 12, 1949 After a few false starts in business partnerships, he joined the leading photographic firm in Salisbury and for the rest of his working life was either a manager or owner of photographic retail firms. The one exception was 1954, the year he worked for a furniture store where he met Dr. Kenneth Christian, his wife Roberta,”9 and their twelve—year—old son.

Kenneth and Roberta had recently atrived in the country, becoming Knights of Bahá’u’liéh, and as far as Sue and Sylvia knew, they had no friends as yet. After much scouting Sue arranged an interview for Kenneth with the administrators—tobe at the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. They promised Kenneth a position in eighteen months time when it was anticipated the university would open.

'Ihe two families became very close friends, but since the Benatars were Jewish and had assumed the Christians to be Christian, religion was never mentioned. After six months the Christians moved

129 See “In Memoriam,” 7h Ba/ui’z’ World, vol. XV, PP~ 497—98.

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to Athens, spending their last two weeks in the Benatars’ home. The parting was painful for both families, but a regular correspondence kept them in touch.

In December 1954 pioneers Mr. and Mrs. Larry Hautz arrived in Salisbury and immediately contacted the Benatars, giving them the message of the Bahá’í Faith at their first opportunity. Sue and Sylvia were taken aback initially, but just before Riḍván 1955 they became Bahá’ís enabling the formation of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Salisbury. In fact, it was the first Assembly in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland,l30 which was then under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa. The Benatars were the third and fourth to become Bahá’ís in the country and the first whites to declare there.

The National Conventions were held in Salisbury in the early years, and Sue was usually the officiaI photographer. He was soon elected to the National Spiritual Assembly and became its treasurer. Soon after John Robarts and William Sears were appointed as Hands of the Cause; Sue was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member responsible for the Federation of Rhodesia and NyasaIand, Angola, Mozambique, Ruanda—Urundi (presently Rwanda and Burundi), and various countries on the northwest coast of Aftica—countries that were contacted mainly by correspondence.

In 1958 the Benatars, together with their fourteen—month—old son, Mark, and an African believer, Willard Mahlunge,

130 The Federation lasted From 1953 to 1963 when Northern Rhodesia gained its independence becoming Zambia, and Nyasaland established its independence as Malawi. When the Federation dissolved, Southern Rhodesia became known as Rhodesia, and not until 1980 when it gained independence was it known as the Republic of Zimbabwe.

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traveled by Land Rover t0 Kampala for the laying of the foundation stone of the Kampala House of Worship. Sue was the official photographer.

In 1960 their daughter, Odette, was born. At the end of 1962 Sue became ill and was advised to see a specialist in Cape Town on his way to England where the family had decided to settle. He recovered and enjoyed good health for most of the time, but the illness presaged the leukemia that later took his life.

In England Sue served on the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Cambridge, where he lived for eight years, and Bedford, to which he made a homefront pioneer move in 1971. He was also on the National AudioVisual Committee for many years.

Sue went on his first pilgrimage in 1967 and was soon contacted by the AudioVisual Department at the World Centre. While he was working with camera retailers in Cambridge, he was instrumental in supplying the World Centre with a good quantity of photographic equipment.

He was the official photographer for several international Bahá’í conferences and was frequently asked to take photographs for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom. He also served as chairman of several Bahá’í summer schools at Harlech, North Wales.

In 1976 the family made its final homefront pioneer move to Luton. And in 1977 they pioneered overseas to Cape Town, South Africa, to fulfill a goal of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom.

Sue served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Cape Town for three years before moving to open the suburb locality of Milnerton. At various times he was appointed to different national committees and was, of course, official photographer

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attending all events. He has left behind thousands of photographs and negatives.

In 1990 he was diagnosed as having hairy—cell leukemia, a slow blood cancer that must have lain dormant since his bout of illness thirty years earlier. He underwent treatment for four and a half years with courage, fortitude, and never a complaint. He was a constant supporter and companion to his wife, Sylvia, and proudly accompanied her to her musical activities. He continued to attend all Bahá’í events, including the Centenary of the Ascension 0F Baha’u’llah in the Holy Land and the International Summer School and Music Festival in Harare, Zimbabwe, at the end Of1994. During the forty years of his Bahá’í life, he was privileged to have Visited the Holy Land five times, two of which were as a pilgrim. A serious fall in his house weakened him considerably, and a week later, on April 5, 1995, his spirit winged its way to the Abhá Kingdom. The Following day, the Universal House of justice conveyed its condolences:

SADDENED LOSS OUTSTANDING PROMOTER FAITH SOUTHERN AFRICA, SALVATOR “SUE” BENATAR. HIS DEDICATED BAHA‘l SERVICES, IN VARIOUS CAPACITIES OVER SEVERAL DECADES, WILL BE LONG REMEMBERED.

PRAYING HOLY THRESHOLD PROGRESS HIS RADIANT SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. KINDLY CONVEY OUR CONDOLENCES HIS DEAR WIFE AND CHILDREN.

Sue left behind his wife Sylvia of Table View, Cape Town; a son Mark in Holland; a daughter Odette Freeman of Rising Bridge, Lancashire, England; and five grandchildren.