Unlike his siblings, Patrick has never returned to visit South Africa after apartheid ended in 1994. Though he has said he is proud of his parents, in 1997, Patrick still could not talk about South Africa without crying (Frankel, 328).
Patrick's sister Frances did not lead the same troubled adolescence that Patrick led because of his father's arrest and long trial; but she, too, though proud of her parents, felt "wounded somehow. In her heart" (Frankel, 326).
Bram Fischer was the defense attorney for the twelve men accused of treason during the Rivonia Trials, men who included Rusty Bernstein and Nelson Mandela. He was also the head of the South African Communist Party and deeply involved in the armed resistance movement.
Fischer died in 1975 while serving a life sentence. During the Truth and Reconciliation hearings, the country finally learned the truth of how he died. Denied medical treatment for a fractured neck femur, caused by a fall related to the cancer that was eating away his brain, Bram slipped further and further in and out of consciousness. After months of pain and being nursed by a prisonmate because he was unable to speak or go to the toilet, he was finally readmitted to the hospital. This was December. Though he had been ill since September, the prison authorities waited until then to notify the family. Fischer died a few short months later. The State allowed a ceremony on condition that his body be returned to prison afterwards (Krog, 269).
Bram Fischer had three children; his son died while he was in prison. The authorities refused to allow Fischer to attend his son's funeral.
For further reading:
Frankel, Glenn. Rivonia's Children: Three Families and the Cost of Conscience in White South Africa. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Girioux, 1999.
Krog, Antjie. Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa. New York: Times Books, 1998.
Slovo, Gillian. Every Secret Thing: My Family, My Country. Great Britain: Little, Brown, and Company, 1997.
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Jessica Powers's African History topic, please visit the Discussions page.