Letters from Robben Island: A Selection of Ahmed Kathrada's Prison Correspondence, 1964-1989 [Paperback]

Robert D. Vassen (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 1999

Late one night in July, 1963, a South African police unit surrounded the African National Congress headquarters in Rivonia and arrested a group of Movement leaders gathered inside. Eventually eight of them, including Nelson Mandela, who was already serving a sentence, Walter Sisulu, Dennis Goldberg, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoledi, Andrew Mangeni, and Ahmed Kathrada, were convicted of sabotage and, on 12 June 1964, sentenced to life in prison. Soon, these men became widely known as the "Rivonia Trialists." Despite their imprisonment, the Trialists played active roles in the struggle against South Africa's racist regime. Instead of being forgotten, as apartheid officials had hoped, they became enduring symbols in a struggle against injustice and racism. 
     Kathrada and his colleagues were classified as high security prisoners, segregated from others and closely watched. Every activity was regulated and monitored. Among the many indignities visited upon them, the prisoners were prohibited from keeping copies of incoming and outgoing correspondence. Kathrada, other "Kathy" as he is known, successfully hid both. 
     Letters From Robben Island contains a selection of 86 of the more than 900 pieces of correspondence Ahmed Kathrada wrote during his 26 years on Robben Island and at Pollsmoor Prison. Some were smuggled out by friends; others were written in code to hide meaning and content from prison censors. These are among his most poignant, touching, and eloquent communications. They are testimonies to Kathrada, his colleagues, and to their commitment to obtaining human dignity and freedom for all South Africans.  
 

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ahmed ("Kathy") Kathrada, an Indian South African leader, spent 26 years as a political prisoner, most of the time on Robben Island with Mandela and other anti-apartheid leaders. A selection of his prison letters, many censored or banned, has been retrieved and published here, with useful introductory notes that provide background and context. The personal letters may be too detailed for many readers, except for what they reveal of the writer's strength, humor, and compassion. But the facts about the letters and about the prison community will fascinate anyone interested in the apartheid struggle. Printed in full is the historic letter Kathrada and four other imprisoned leaders wrote to President Botha in 1985, refusing his offer of freedom if they would renounce violence. Now Kathrada chairs the prison museum, and one visitor describes how ex-prisoner number 468/64 showed her a cell so small you "couldn't imagine how it could have held dreams so immense." Hazel Rochman

Review

We are richly blessed in South Africa. People like Kathy have helped because of their lack of bitterness, their magnanimity and generosity of spirit, and willingness to forgive, even after so much suffering. That is why we avoided revenge. In this book we hear how they suffered but transcended the suffering and were purified as in a furnace, removing the dross. -- The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission

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Product Details

• Paperback: 263 pages
• Publisher: Michigan State University Press (August 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870135279
• ISBN-13: 978-0870135279
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,391,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding life in apartheid's prisons, January 17, 2000

By 

S. R. Gelman (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letters from Robben Island: A Selection of Ahmed Kathrada's Prison Correspondence, 1964-1989 (Paperback)

This collection of letters, by one of South Africa's leading activists, offers a direct view of the experience of a political prisoner during apartheid. Written during the author's 26 years in prison, alongside Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, the books grants the reader the rare chance to grasp the daily hardships these men endured. And yet, given Kathrada's courage, humility and humor, as well as their ultimate political victory, the book is a source of inspiration and hope.