Rivonia's Children: Nelson Mandela's White Comrades and Their Legacy
by Glenn Frankel
Rivonia’s Children recounts the little-known story of three white, Jewish families and their remarkable struggle alongside Nelson Mandela against apartheid, in the era when South Africa’s white-minority regime descended into a brutal police state. Imprisoned, exiled and in some cases murdered, these activists paid a terrible price for their courage, but their sacrifices helped pave the way for a multi-racial democracy. The new Blue Ear Books edition of Glenn Frankel’s classic account of the cost of freedom is as relevant to today’s struggles for justice and equality as when it was first published a quarter-century ago.
“Rivonia’s Children … offers fascinating insight into the lives of true South African heroes, whites who fought in the background against the apartheid regime without looking for any kudos or back-slapping. They were seemingly ordinary South Africans – but as you read you come to understand how important their roles were. It is the remarkable story largely of three Jewish couples and their lifelong commitment to the cause: Hilda and Rusty Bernstein, Ruth First and her husband Joe Slovo, and AnnMarie and Harold Wolpe. All three couples played huge roles in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, for which they paid dearly, as did the Afrikaner dissident Bram Fischer. They deserve to be highlighted and thanked for everything they did for our country.”
– from The Leadership We Need: Lessons for Today from Nelson Mandela by Andrew Russell
