(Author: Dovidi Fachler, Vol. 68, No. 3, Chanukah 2013)
In 1992, twenty three years after being branded a terrorist John Schlapobersky, a clinical psychologist working out of his Highgate practice in northwest London, was finally allowed to visit his native South Africa. Looking back at events of the late sixties, he vividly recalls the time he was forced out of South Africa and deported to Israel. He especially remembers the torturous two months that preceded his deportation; two months in which he was beaten, forced to answer accusations by interrogating officers while balancing on a brick for five consecutive days, and thrown into an isolated cell 3 by 7 feet for 23 hours a day. It was a time when his evening entertainment included listening to a chorus of black voices comforting their condemned comrade who was to be hanged the next day.
Detained under Section Six of the Terrorism Act of 1967, informally known as the ‘torture clause’, Schlapobersky was denied the right to a legal representative, and to a trial for an indefinite period. The subversive activities of which he was accused included belonging to an interracial writers’ workshop and running a soup kitchen for indigent black children. Yet his unjust detention did not seem to warrant the attention of South Africa’s Jewish leadership. In fact, when two prominent members of the community, who were also public officials, were approached they refused to get involved. It was up to John’s mother, the Israeli consul general, and the security police themselves to try to save him.
To understand the different responses of the Jewish community on the one hand and that of the Israeli consulate on the other, some background information is required. In 1966 Balthazar Johannes Vorster, a former member of the pro-Nazi Ossewa Brandwag, succeeded the recently assassinated Hendrik Verwoerd as prime minister of South Africa. In an effort at placating his Jewish constituency, he assured its leadership that he would purge antisemitism from the ranks of the National Party. It came as quite a shock, then, when two years later, the Minister of Police and Interior S L Muller, in an address at Potchefstroom University, urged Jewish parents to quell their children’s enthusiasm for leading student demonstrations against South Africa’s Apartheid laws. This singling out of the Jewish community prompted the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, through its organ Jewish Affairs, to register their protest at the minister’s unwarranted comments.1 They also used the occasion to reiterate their opposition to subversive activities and to civil disobedience. Standing up for John a year later would, perhaps, have been too much to expect from a community whose leadership denied the right of its members to be involved in anything that could be determined as illegal.
As for Israel, during the early 1960s, for geopolitical, and for (allegedly) moral reasons, it did not shy away from demonstrating its repugnance for South Africa’s racial polices. It even went so far as to place itself at the forefront of those countries demanding diplomatic and other sanctions against Pretoria. South Africa, for its part, did not conceal its disappointment at Israel’s (perceived) mistreatment of it, and relations between these two states became severely strained. In retaliation for Israel’s voting record at the United Nations the Republic decided to place strict limits upon the amount of foreign currency earmarked for the Jewish State that could be sent there by local donors. However, after Israel’s dramatic victory in the Six Day War convinced South Africa that Israel would act as an effective bulwark against communism it relaxed its stance and allowed significant amounts of monies to be transferred. Two years later, in 1969, neither country was fully represented in the other, but the visit of Israel’s first premier, David Ben Gurion, to South Africa paved the way for ties between the two states to gradually improve.
It is against this backdrop that the following narrative, culled from the Israel Foreign Ministry’s archives and translated (and edited) from the original Hebrew by the writer, is presented. Marked ‘Highly Confidential’, it is dated 8 August, 1969, and addressed to Mr A. Lourie, Deputy Director General [of the Israel Foreign Office]. The narrator is the then Israeli Consul General Itzhak Unna (who later was upgraded to full ambassador).
The John Schlapobersky Episode
The above is a 21 year-old Jew, born in South Africa, and a student at the University of the Witwatersrand. Ten years ago his parents emigrated from Johannesburg to Swaziland because of their critical attitude towards the South African Regime. The father subsequently founded a marketing company in Mbabane. Because they had relocated to Swaziland, all the members of the family received British citizenship.
Four months ago John Schlapobersky’s uncle ended his term as mayor of Johannesburg, but he had a very bad relationship with the Swazi branch of the family.
Two months ago John Schlapobersky was arrested on campus by the Security Police on charges related to the Suppression of Terrorism Act [sic], which allows the police to detain a man without trial and without contact with the outside world for an indefinite period.
Schlapobersky’s arrest caused a stir in the local (Jewish) community, first because the detainee was such a close relative to the former mayor, and second because he was arrested together with another British subject, Phillip Goldring.
On 23/6/69, John Schlapobersky’s parents arrived unexpectedly at my office. They explained to me that they were seeking my assistance in obtaining a temporary discharge for their younger son, who had made Aliyah a few years ago as a member of the Habonim youth movement and who was currently serving as a private in the paratroopers unit in the Israeli Army.
During the conversion the parents confided in me that were upset that they were unable to influence their elder son John to also make aliyah instead of attending university in Johannesburg. I told them that as far as I was concerned if John wanted to make Aliyah, Israel would not object providing the authorities released him from detention.
I must add at this juncture, that from the time I handled (then) MK Ben Gurion’s visit to South Africa, which among other things involved security arrangements, I became personally acquainted with the commander of the security police in Johannesburg, Col. Visser, and with his deputy Col. Botha, as well as with other officers. Since that time I have occasionally met them at cocktail parties etc.
A few days after the Schlapobersky couple met with me at my office I come across Colonels Botha and Visser. I told them about the meeting, mentioned that I recommended that the paratrooper brother be released temporarily, and told them that I was prepared to allow John to make aliyah as soon as he was released. Colonel Botha answered me that at present they were trying to capture a large Underground network, and there was thus no justification for releasing John in the foreseeable future.
Schlapobersky’s father returned to Swaziland, but his mother stayed on in Johannesburg in order to find contacts that could assist her in the release of her son. She visited my offices at least once or twice a week in order to pour out her soul to me. No one was prepared to help her, not her brother-in-law (the former mayor), not Percy Yutar, the Jewish Attorney General of the Free State who is known to have close ties with the security establishment, and not even her own friends. Even the British embassy in Pretoria claimed that they were unable to assist, since the authorities did not allow them to visit John in prison.
On Tuesday 29/7/69 Mrs Schlapobersky arrived at my office, and excitedly related to me the following story:
The security police had allowed her to visit her son in jail in Pretoria, which meeting was held in the presence of two police officers, Major Swanepoel, and Major Coetzee. She was telling her son, in front of these two gentlemen, about her efforts to obtain his release, about the ineffectual approach of the British embassy, and about her appeal to the IDF, via the Consulate, to grant a temporary discharge for his brother – the paratrooper. Upon hearing my name Major Coetzee stopped her and said: “We will not allow the British to interfere in this matter, but the Consul General of Israel is well known to us and we put a lot of trust in him. If he is able to make John a paratrooper in the IDF and to drain his head of all this nonsense, we are ready to enter into negotiations with him.
[Just to fill in you in:] The first officer, Maj. Swanepoel is chief interrogating officer of the security police, and it is important to add that of late the South African English press had singled him out, especially since over the course of the last year four African prisoners “under his care” managed to hang themselves in their cells. Newspaper articles have suggested, however, that these inmates may have died from electrocution. Major Coetzee, on the other hand, belongs to the Johannesburg branch of the Security police, and I know him from there.
Obviously Mrs Schlapobersky asked me that I contact Maj. Coetzee immediately in order to negotiate the release of her son. However I was forced to explain to her that since I was the Consul General of Israel and not of Britain I had no right to initiate contact with the security police on this matter, and if the police really wanted to talk to me they know where to find me. However I repeated my promise that after John was released, should he wish to travel to Israel, I would assist him to the best of my ability. I have to admit that at this stage I doubted the veracity of Mrs Schlapobersky’s story. It did not occur to me that Major Coetzee really said the things that she claimed he did.
It appears that I had erred in my judgment of Mrs Schlapobersky’s account, for later that day I received a phone call from Col. Visser who invited me to come over for dinner the following week. The date of the call was 29/7/69.
On Friday evening 1/8/69 Col. Visser called me again and asked whether he could come over immediately, since he wanted to speak to me about a matter that could not be postponed until the next week. Of course I agreed, and half an hour later he appeared at my house and related to me the following:
John Schlapobersky has been in solitary confinement for over two months and we are concerned that he may experience a nervous breakdown. You are a father who has children and so am I, and who knows better than ourselves how easy it is for children nowadays to fall into trouble. In truth we do not have any hard evidence against John Schlapobersky but since he was interrogated by us we cannot free him since he is now partly aware of what we know and should we free him we will be unable to prevent him informing others that the police are after them. We also cannot free him until everyone involved is dragged in front of a court, and this will most definitely take another two years. There is a real danger that John will not be able to withstand solitary for such an extended period.
Colonel Visser reminded me that I had mentioned to Col. Botha that I would be prepared to help John make Aliyah the moment he is set free. If that were still the case he had come to ask me if I would be prepared to take John from them at the airport and place him on an El Al plane that was departing the next Wednesday. I answered Visser that I would definitely be prepared to help John make aliyah if that is what he wanted to do, but was not prepared to cooperate with them in an illegal deportation. I demanded that before I gave them my final answer, I needed to speak to John in jail so that I could personally assess his character and convictions. Likewise I wanted it confirmed by him that after John made aliyah I was not to be held responsible for his actions or movements after landing in Israel. As far as we were concerned he would be free to travel to whichever country he chose.
Visser replied that he completely understood that I would not be able to act as surety over what John chose to do after arriving in Israel. On the other hand he was reluctant to accede to my request to meet with John in jail since this went against the law, and even the British had been refused permission. I insisted, and repeated my position that I would not be prepared to cooperate with them in any activity that could be construed as a deportation. Visser then told me that he would consult with his superiors, and would inform me of the outcome, and with that he left my house after midnight.
On Sunday 3/8/69 at around 11 p.m., Col Visser called me again at my home and asked me if I would be prepared to accompany him to Pretoria the next day. I did not ask many questions and readily agreed.
The next day, during the journey, Col. Visser informed me that the national Commander of the Security Police, Brigadier Venter, wanted to have a word with me before deciding whether to permit me to meet with John Schlapobersky.
We reached national headquarters where I found myself in a very odd situation. I was taking part in a meeting that was attended by twelve senior ranking officers chaired by Brigadier Venter. The Security Police is comprised solely of Afrikaners, there is not one English speaking person among the senior ranks, and the fact that I managed to acquire a superficial understanding of Afrikaans, so that they were able to conduct the meeting in their own language, contributed, in my humble opinion, to the friendly and informal atmosphere in which the meeting was conducted. At the end Brigadier Venter agreed to let me see John Schlapobersky, and after that we would all decide his final fate.
The meeting between John and me took place in the presence of Maj. Swanepoel. Obviously at this stage I had already decided to make every effort to release John so that he could be transported to Israel. I will not go into detail about the contents of the meeting for in truth it was no more than a charade. I spoke with John for about ten minutes, and obviously he immediately consented to make Aliyah, and spoke of his future plans in Israel, showing that he had a good grasp of the country (Ulpan, continuing his studies at University, IDF etc.). However it was not difficult to discern that his two months in detention and the interrogation by Maj. Swanepoel had left their mark, and I harbour no illusions – had I offered John a trip to the moon, he would have jumped at the opportunity.
After conversing for about ten minutes I asked if his mother could join us. I then asked her if she would allow John to travel to Israel, and if she and her husband would take care of all the financial arrangements. Obviously she agreed, and she even asked whether she could accompany John in his flight to Israel. I answered that I fully support such an idea, and there could be no reason to prevent her from flying.
Maj. Swanepoel and I then returned to National Headquarters where a meeting was once again convened with Brigadier Venter. I told Venter that John would be travelling voluntarily, and that from my perspective there would no be reason to prevent his trip. I nonetheless repeated what I had said to Col. Visser that I could only be responsible for what happens to him up until his departure, and I would be unable to assume any responsibility in relation to his actions after he lands. Brigadier Venter accepted my position and thanked me for finding a humane solution to the John Schlapobersky affair.
Since I in any event needed to be at the airport to receive a number of distinguished Jewish gentlemen, we arranged that Maj. Coetzee would arrive together with John half an hour before departure, and from there he would fly with his mother, like any other tourist, on an El Al plane headed for Israel.
That Wednesday I waited at the time and place that I had arranged to meet with Maj. Coetzee and John Schlapobersky. John’s parents, brother, sister and fiancé were all waiting there; the mother in order to travel with John, and the rest to say their goodbyes. However Maj. Coetzee and John arrived half an hour late, since the security police had forgotten to issue the release documents, and without them they could not release John from jail.
I suppose there is no need to describe the tension that we all felt when we were waiting for the “man of the moment”. The security police provided us with a room in the airport where the family could take leave of John without arousing any suspicion. Even Maj. Swanepoel arrived at the airport to bid farewell to John, and he made the announcement in front of him and in front of all the family: “were it not for the Consul General of Israel you would have spent a lot more time with me”.
I managed to speak with John privately for a few minutes. This time he left me with an outstanding impression, and I believe that he has sincere intentions of following in his brother’s footsteps and settling permanently in Israel. I explained to John that although I have no control over his future actions and even though I did not give any guarantee to the South African police that he would not be involved in hostile activity towards South Africa, the chances that I would be able to help someone else in a similar predicament was dependent on his conduct. I stressed the need for complete silence, especially when it came to the Israeli Press.
John and his mother boarded the plane and departed, and I gather that before I finish sending this letter off I will hear from you that they have arrived safely.
By the way, as far as the South African press is concerned I enjoyed reading in the Rand Daily Mail the next day that the British Government were doing all that they could, through the British embassy in Pretoria, to obtain the release of the British subject John Schlapobersky, who was presently sitting in a Pretoria jail.
That same day John’s fiancé, an English Christian and a qualified nurse, visited me at my office. She came to tell me that she had already bought a ticket to Israel and that she intended joining John, attending ulpan, and settling in Israel with him. I explained to her the difficulties that she will invariably encounter because she is not Jewish. I nonetheless gave her my full support.
I will not hide from you the fact that I derived not an insignificant amount of satisfaction from this whole episode, especially from the fact that the South African security police considered that in this situation, one which involved a Jewish man who held British citizenship, it was the Israel Consulate General and not the British embassy that was the correct ‘address’ for negotiations over his freedom.
Major Coetzee’s parting words to John were “I wish you would be a paratrooper like your brother, and then you could beat up the Arabs”.
Regards,
Itzhak Unna
Consul General.
P.S. On Friday 8.8.69 (two days after the departure) the British Consul General of Johannesburg, John Marnham asked to see me urgently. He arrived at my office and told me that it had come to the attention of the British Embassy that John Schlapobersky had been released and had departed to Israel and that I was involved in his release. The ambassador asked him to verify these details with me. I told Marnham that indeed John Schlapobersky’s mother had come to see me to ask for a visa for her and for her son, and that I had explained to her that since she and her son were British citizens there was no need for a visa. I added that the circumstances of his release were unknown to me.
Epilogue
Much has been said about the special bond between Israel and Apartheid South Africa. It is refreshing, then, to observe some of the more positive aspects of this complex relationship. Faced with a situation where an individual Jew in distress was abandoned to his fate, Israel incontrovertibly did the right thing in involving itself in his plight and in exploiting its connections to obtain his release. Israel showed that it could, at times, act out the role of protector of world Jewry. Though not uncritical of Israel’s foreign policies, and certainly not pleased with the military ties that were forged between Tel Aviv and Pretoria, John was and remains grateful to Israel for saving his life: “Jews need to take care of their own, and in this instance the Jewish State fulfilled my expectations to the letter….I remain committed to the State of Israel and make it a point to visit the country and attend as many conferences as I can”.
When conducting the interview with Mr Schlapobersky, the writer was impressed by this erudite man’s lack of bitterness towards a community that had shunned him. This notwithstanding, after being pressed for comment on the stance adopted by organised Jewry, he had this to say:
I cannot understand why they refused to have anything to do with me. Even after I had been whisked off to Israel no one even tried to make any contact with me. My family, who had suffered the trauma of my ordeal, and who had been torn apart as a result, were offered absolutely no support by the Board.
After all, unlike other activists, John remains adamant that it was his Jewishness that had motivated his activism:
After having experienced a large dose of antisemitism in a colonial boarding school in Swaziland, and after having been at the receiving end of police interrogators who referred to me as die klein Joodjie I became more and more devoted to fighting for South Africa’s oppressed people. It is no coincidence that the lawyer assigned to me was Jewish, as was the firm he represented. I really feel that as a victimised nation we have a duty to work for the betterment of society’s other victims.
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Izhak Unna, Israeli Consul General in South Africa at the time of the John Schlapobersky affair
Dovidi Fachler matriculated at Yeshiva College, Johannesburg, and after studying at yeshiva in Israel obtained an LLB (Wits) and LLM (UNISA). He lectured in legal subjects at Boston City Campus before making aliyah in 1999. Since then, he has worked as a translator and researcher, and recently obtained an MA in Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
