Solly Sachs

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Emil Solomon "Solly" Sachs (born November 11, 1900 in Kamajai , Lithuania , † July 30, 1976 in London ) was a South African trade unionist, anti- apartheid activist and writer. He was a socialist and at times belonged to the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA).

Life

Childhood in Lithuania

Sachs' parents were Abraham Saks and Hannah Riskin. He was born the fourth of five children, one of his siblings was Bernard Sachs. Solly Sachs attended the cheder as a child and showed an extraordinary knowledge of the Talmud and the Pentateuch .

Training and activities in South Africa

In 1914 the family emigrated to South Africa. At first they lived in the Ferreirasdorp district of Johannesburg . Solly Sachs left school early and worked in a retail store as a shop assistant . At the same time, he helped found the Reef Shop Assistants' Union and learned for his Matric . In 1919 he joined the CPSA, in 1921 also in the newly founded Communist Youth League . In 1930 he became a member of the Central Committee of the CPSA.

In 1924 he began studying engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. However, he then visited the Soviet Union , where he was briefed on revolutionary movements, and the United Kingdom , where he studied the trade union movement, on behalf of the CPSA . He then studied law, English and economics.

In 1926 he became a member of the National Executive Committee of the recently founded South African Trade and Labor Council (SATLC, German for "South African Council for Trade and Labor").

In 1927 Sachs became a part-time secretary of the Witwatersrand Middlemen Taylors' Association , and in 1928, when the union grew to 1,750 members, he was given a full position. In 1928 he campaigned in the South African Clothing Workers' Union to ensure that not only black men but also black women could be represented in the union. As a socialist, he had frequent differences with the CPSA and was eventually expelled in 1931. However , he remained connected to the Communist International and the politics of Josef Stalin .

From 1928 to 1952, Sachs led the Garment Workers' Union (SAGWU) he founded , which later became SACTWU . The SAGWU consisted of female members of different population groups. It was considered one of the most active trade unions and led numerous strike actions, including two general strikes in 1931 and 1932 . The then justice minister Oswald Pirow was arrested Sachs in 1933 and for one year ban , Pirow successor Jan Smuts raised his disposal a short time later. Sachs traveled to the UK. He was supposed to be deported from there, but the British Trades Union Congress campaigned successfully for him. Sachs traveled on to Germany, where he received the right to show German and Soviet films in South Africa. For this purpose, Sachs and his brother Bernard founded a company on his return. He was instrumental in the creation of a fund for the unemployed, which was enshrined in the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1946 .

In the 1943 general election, Sachs ran with two other candidates for the Independent Labor Party , but lost, although many union members lived in his constituency. In 1946 he joined the South African Labor Party (SALP); In 1952 he became their treasurer . In the election campaign for the parliamentary elections in 1948 , Sachs was described by the later victorious National Party because of his union activities as a "communist threat".

Exile in the UK

In 1952 he was forced by the government to resign from the union presidency and was no longer allowed to hold political meetings. Nevertheless, he demonstrated twice with his supporters in front of Johannesburg City Hall, was arrested for violating the Suppression of Communism Act and was eventually sentenced to probation. He then left the country on January 30, 1953 and moved to the United Kingdom, where he continued to work against the South African apartheid system. He temporarily worked as a Fellow and in 1959 the House candidate of the Labor Party in the constituency Sheffield Hallam ; however, he lost the election to the Tory candidate.

family

In 1926 he married the then stenographer Ray Ginsberg, who also came from Lithuania. The couple had two sons, including Albie Sachs . The marriage ended in divorce in 1942, and Sachs married Dulcie Hartwell in the same year, from whom he separated in 1951. With her he had another son and a foster child.

Works

  • 1952: The Choice before South Africa.
  • 1957: Rebels Daughters , also called Garment workers in Action.
  • 1959: The South African Treason Trial (with L. Forman).
  • 1965: The Anatomy of Apartheid.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h portrait at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on April 1, 2019
  2. ^ Peter Alexander: Workers, war & the origins of Apartheid: Labor & Politics in South Africa, 1939-48. James Currey, Melton 2000, ISBN 0852557655 , p. 65. Excerpts from books.google.de
  3. ^ Solly Sachs leaves South Africa. sahistory.org.za, accessed March 31, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Sachs, Solly
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sachs, Emil Solomon (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African trade unionist, anti-apartheid activist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 11, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Kamajai , Lithuania
DATE OF DEATH July 30, 1976
Place of death London