ANNA COX
THE CHILDREN of struggle activists suffer enormous trauma, much the same as their parents did.
This is the sentiment of Paul Goldreich, son of anti-apartheid activist Arthur Goldreich on whose farm Liliesleaf in Rivonia, Nelson Mandela and other struggle heroes were arrested in 1963.
Paul Goldreich was in South Africa to receive the SA Jewish Board Director’s Human Rights award which was given to him and his brother Amos at the weekend, on behalf of his father who died in May.
Speaking at Liliesleaf Farm, where he spent part of his childhood, he said he had a deep connection with the farm which is now a national monument.
Paul was only six-and-a-half years old on the night of the police raid, where all the adult occupants, including both his parents, were arrested.
It was a night that marked the end of his way of life as he knew it, surrounded by loving parents and his own possessions and belongings. He witnessed his parents being arrested and police clearing out every single moveable item and personal possessions from the house.
He too, was interrogated by police before being taken away by his mother’s sister with nothing but the clothes on his back.
It was the start of a life where he experienced a profound sense of shame because his parents were in prison and then on the run. It was the start of a life of constant abuse, verbal attacks and shunning by members of the community he belonged to – the Jewish community – and also by outsiders.
He had to listen to talk about the possibility of his father being hanged for what he had done.
“Imagine living in a comfortable home and then being evicted overnight with nothing at all. Life for activists’ children is complex – the degree of trauma is palpable. We were on our own, shunned generally by all. We got no support from either the Jewish community or the ANC,” he said.
Paul, who is a psycho-analyst, said studies show worldwide there is a high rate of mental illness among children of political activists. Goldreich said although they lived in Rivonia, they made a daily trip to Saxonwold where they went to school. At a young age, he realised that his situation at home was not normal.
“It was clear in our minds that there were a number of things going on and that the situation was not normal. There were constant meetings on the farm – people coming in and out – it was not real.
“Our life on a day-to-day basis was quite strange – at school in Johannesburg during the day, then strange activities on the farm at night. We led multiple lives. My father was an architect and artist by day, designing sets and at night he was engaged in the struggle. He was often out of the country, visiting China, Russia and the US. In the beginning, we had no idea what was going on, but it eventually began to dawn on us that something was not quite right,” he said.
He remembers Nelson Mandela whom, he said, was already on the farm when his family moved there. Although he was under the guise of David, a gardener, Paul says many people knew his identity.
“I remember him as a strong, tall and intelligent man. He used to walk around the garden with me and play games with me,” he said.
A month after his arrest, Arthur escaped to London, where his family joined him. But the persecution did not stop.
His father was still active and was in regular contact with the ANC who sent him reading material all the time.
When the family, with permission, returned to South Africa in 1983 for his grandmother’s funeral, Paul recalls being shouted at by someone while standing at the grave. “He asked if I was the son of that bastard and said my father should have been hanged. I asked him if it was appropriate to say that at a funeral.”
His father also had a letter addressed to the South African government from someone threatening to assassinate him. He still has the letter. It states that Goldreich had to be stopped and that the writer, A Joffe, was prepared to go to any lengths to stop him. He suggested blowing him up in his study to eliminate him.
“The government replied and said they could not support an assassination,” he said.