Bram Fischer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abram Louis Fischer (born April 23, 1908 in Bloemfontein , † May 8, 1975 ibid), known as Bram Fischer , was a white South African lawyer and civil rights activist .

Life

Fischer came from a well-known Afrikaaner family ; Both father and grandfather were influential people in the Orange Free State , his grandfather was Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony .

He attended the South African School of Gray College in Bloemfontein. During his studies in 1932 he traveled through Europe and the Soviet Union . In letters to his parents, he described the situation of the farmers in the Soviet Union and compared it with the situation of blacks in South Africa. After studying in South Africa, he began studying at the University of Oxford in the 1930s .

In 1937 Fischer married Susanna Johanna "Molly" Krige, a niece of Jan Smuts '. He had three children with her. Molly Krige died in a car accident in 1964.

Political activity

In the 1940s, Fischer became a member of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA, later SACP). Soon afterwards he occupied leadership positions within the party. The CPSA had a very close relationship with the African National Congress (ANC) and in 1943 Fischer was involved in changes to the ANC's constitution. In 1946 he was charged with being a senior politician with the CPSA and his associated involvement in the black miners' strikes.

Fischer achieved notoriety above all through the defense of Nelson Mandela , Walter Sisulu and other apartheid opponents during the Rivonia Trial from October 1963 to June 1964. The defense achieved a conversion of the death sentence to life imprisonment. In September 1964 he was arrested for membership of the SACP, a banned organization. He was later released on bail to defend a client in England. He promised to return to South Africa to receive the verdict. However, after the first day the trial began, he stayed away from court, instead writing a letter to his defense attorney, Harold Hanson, which was read in court.

“When you hear these lines, I am already a long way from Johannesburg. I will stay away from the process from now on. However, I will remain in the country as I promised when I was granted bail. I would like to inform the court that while I knowingly stay away from the trial, I am not showing disrespect for the court or fear of punishment. On the contrary, I am aware that my absence will only increase the sentence.

I only made this decision because I believe that it is the duty of every true opponent of this government to remain in the country and to oppose apartheid policy with all means at his disposal. I will do that for as long as possible. "

From then on he worked underground and lost his license to practice law in 1965.

Prison and sickness

Nine months later, in 1966, he was arrested. The charges were conspiracy, sabotage and violation of the Suppression of Communism Act . He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

He developed cancer while in prison. After falling due to the tumor in September 1974, he was partially paralyzed and lost the ability to speak. It was not until December that he was transferred from prison to hospital.

Following public pressure, he was released from prison and placed under house arrest in his brother's house. He died in May 1975, just weeks after being moved to his brother's house. The prison administration kept the urn with Fischer's ashes after the funeral ceremony. Her whereabouts are still unknown.

reception

In the novel Burgers Daughter by the South African writer Nadine Gordimer , the eponymous figure of the anti-apartheid activist Lionel Burger is closely based on the model of Bram Fischer. Nelson Mandela also publicly recognized his fight for the rights of the black population . In his autobiography, Mandela writes:

“Bram Fischer, the grandson of the Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony , had made the greatest sacrifice in many ways. No matter what I had to suffer in my work for freedom - I always drew strength from the fact that I fought with my own people and for their interests. Bram, on the other hand, was a free man who fought against his own people in order to create freedom for others. "

- Nelson Mandela: The Long Road to Freedom. Autobiography. S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1994, ISBN 3-10-047404-X , p. 632f.

In 1999, Fischer was posthumously awarded the South African Order of Meritorious Service in gold. Bloemfontein International Airport was renamed Bram Fischer International Airport on December 13, 2013 .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nelson Mandela : Long Walk to Freedom. Little, Brown and Company, New York City 2008, ISBN 978-0-316-03478-4 , p. 648.
  2. ↑ List of recipients of the order 1999 sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on August 25, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Fischer, Bram
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fischer, Abram Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African white lawyer and civil rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH April 23, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Bloemfontein
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 1975
Place of death Bloemfontein