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Rusty Bernstein | |
|---|---|
 Lionel and Hilda Bernstein | |
| Born | Lionel Bernstein 20 March 1920 |
| Died | 23 June 2002 (aged 82) |
| Nationality | South African |
| Other names | Rusty[1] |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Known for | Anti-apartheid activism |
| Spouse(s) | Hilda Bernstein (nee Schwarz), m. 1941 |
| Awards | Order of Luthuli in gold (2011) |
Lionel "Rusty" Bernstein (20 March 1920 – 23 June 2002) was a Jewish[2] South African anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. He played a key role in political organizations such as the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the African National Congress (ANC). He helped form the South African Congress of Democrats to bolster white participation in the ANC, and he brought its allies together to establish a Congress of the People, working closely with Nelson Mandela.
The anti-apartheid movement drew the ire of the South African government. They imposed severe restrictions on the movement, such as banning a publication Bernstein edited, banning a party he organized with, and detaining leaders including him for long periods of time. These actions culminated in him fleeing his home country after being detained following a police raid.
To participate in the first post-apartheid elections in 1994, he returned to South Africa and resumed working for the ANC. Many institutions bestowed honours on him for his activism, and he remains a celebrated figure in Africa.
- ^ Bernstein, Rusty, ed. (4 September 2017). Memory Against Forgetting: Memoir of a Time in South African Politics 1938 - 1964. Wits University Press. pp. xiii–xiv – via Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Shimoni, Gideon (1980). Jews and Zionism: the South African experience (1910–1967). Cape Town: Oxford University Press.