Lazar Sidelsky

Lazar Sidelsky shortly Laz (* 7. October 1911 in Johannesburg ; † 17th May 2002 ibid) was a South African lawyer and a leading law firm owner based in Johannesburg law firm Witkin, Sidelsky & Eidelman . He is considered to be a pioneer of professional advancement for black South Africans, as Nelson Mandela said he offered black people a skilled job at a time when the country was in the midst of racist unrest.

Life

Lazar Sidelsky was the child of Jewish immigrants who had emigrated to South Africa before the pogroms in Lithuania . They bought a farm in the eastern Transvaal . Sidelsky spent his school days in Ermelo . When his father died, he began studying law at Witwatersrand University . To finance his studies, Sidelsky played the violin and took part in the jazz band Skoenie and his Connecticut Yankees . He also borrowed a tuxedo and walked 10 miles through Johannesburg to the place where the band played that night.

Sidelsky obtained a bachelor's degree and a further LLB at the Witwatersrand University . He then settled down as a lawyer and was able to expand his law firm well in the following years. During this time he began to give black mortgage loans for house building, which hardly anyone else did at the time.

His particular merit is the decision to accept black people as employees in a law firm and to qualify them as lawyers. In doing so, he broke a previously common practice. This is how Nelson Mandela took his career path in this direction as a young man. It was Walter Sisulu who was working for a real estate company at the time and was therefore able to bring Mandela into contact with the Sidelsky law firm in 1942. Sidelsky offered him an apprenticeship position and at that point was convinced that only a massive educational initiative among the black population would lead to their liberation from their existing dependency. In his view, an educated person cannot be suppressed because he can think for himself. Sidelsky employed Mandela for five years as a clerk and advised him to use the "law" only as a tool, but to stay away from corrupt politics. During this time, Lazar Sidelsky supported educational opportunities for black people by giving money to appropriate schools. Lazar Sidelsky's family had always been aloof from political activities in South Africa.

Nat Bregman (* in Lithuania ; † July 20, 2011 in Johannesburg), a colleague at Sidelsky's at the time and his cousin took him to mixed parties on left-wing political events that were attended by people from all ethnic groups living in Johannesburg . Mandela befriended Bregman, with whom he shared the office at the time and was a member of the Communist Party of South Africa .

When Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo founded the country's first “black” law firm together in 1952, Lazar Sidelsky lent them the start-up capital they needed.

On February 24, 1989, Sidelsky visited his former co-worker in prison. Only Lazar Sidelsky was allowed to visit; his wife and daughter Ruth were rejected by the authorities.

Lazar Sidelsky enjoyed a high reputation due to his respectful dealings with Mandela in his younger years until his death in 2002. President Mandela jokingly and at the same time appreciatively called him “his only boss” in front of the Israeli ambassador Alon Liel . The relationship between Sidelsky and Mandela was friendly over a long period of time. In retrospect, Mandela describes Sidelsky's personal charisma to him as one that was determined by "enormous amiability".

Memberships

• Law Society of the Transvaal , membership for over 60 years.

family

Lazar Sidelsky was married to Goldie Blume Sidelsky. The couple had two sons (Colin and Barry) and a London-based daughter (Ruth, married Levy). The son Barry (Dov) Sidelsky has lived in Jerusalem ( Har Nof ) since 1981 , he became a rabbi and teacher. Colin Sidelsky is a real estate agent in South Africa.

Individual evidence

1. ^ African American Registry: Lazar Sidelsky, Black South African Mentor . on www.aaregistry.org (English)
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Gerald Shaw: Lazar Sidelsky . Article in The Guardian at www.theguardian.com of May 27, 2002 (English)
3. ↑ ^{a b} Richard Kreitner: Nelson Mandela Was a Revolutionary - and These Jews Made Common Cause With Him . Article in Tablet Magazine on www.tabletmag.com of November 26, 2013 (English)
4. ↑ Nelson Mandela: Confessions . Piper Verlag , Munich 2010, p. 441, ISBN 978-3-492-05416-4
5. ^ ^{A b} Jewish Telegraphic Agency : Obituary Lazar Sidelsky, Mandela Employer, Dies in Johannesburg at Age of 90 . Message on www.archive.jta.org from May 23, 2002 (English)
6. ^ Raphael Ahren: Jerusalem rabbi shares a lifetime of Mandela memories . Article in The Times of Israel on www.timesofisrael.com, December 12, 2013
7. ↑ Michael Belling: Nat Bregman, Mandela's 'first white friend,' dies at 88 . Article by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on www.jta.org from August 3, 2011
8. ^ Kristen van Schie: Nat Bregman, funnyman with heart . Article in The Star on www.iol.co.za from July 22, 2011 (English)
9. ↑ ^{a b} Nelson Mandela: Confessions . Munich 2010, p. 310
10. ↑ ^{a b} Barry Sidelsky, Colin Sidelsky: South Africa's father and my father. Jewish lawyer Lazer Sidelsky gave Nelson Mandela his first job as an articled clerk in Johannesburg in the early 1940s. . on www.jpost.com from December 12, 2013 (English)
11. ↑ Nelson Mandela: Confessions . Munich 2010, p. 36
12. ^ Moira Schneider: Nelson Mandela, 95, first democratic president of South Africa, was close to country's Jews . Article in Arizona Jewish Post on www.azjewishpost.com, December 6, 2013
13. ^ Mordechai I. Twersky: Nelson Mandela Called My Father 'The Boss' . on www.ireport.cnn.com (English)