Very few Jews, or whites in general, were openly and vocally adversarial to white domination and the brutality of the post-1948 Afrikaner regime. And very few of the Jews who did oppose apartheid were able to live comfortably with their own Jewishness.

Jock Isacowitz played a key role during the 1940s and 1950s in forging and defending the progressive ideals on which post-apartheid South Africa was built. He was national chairman of the Springbok Legion, the radical ex-servicemen’s “union”, and the brains behind the Torch Commando, the last popular movement to take to the streets against the Apartheid regime.

A member of the Communist Party during WWII, he resigned before the end of the war over its totalitarian approach and subservience to Moscow. He was a founder of the Liberal Party and, in 1955, became the first party member to be issued with a banning order. After the Sharpeville massacre, he was imprisoned under emergency orders. Towards the end of his life, Jock was a radical anti-apartheid activist, a Zionist and a leader of the local Jewish community. As such, he was, if not unique, a rare commodity. Only his sudden illness and death prevented Jock from contributing further to the anti-apartheid opposition.

Written by Jock’s son, Roy, this biography takes an unflinching, second-generation look at a life that intersected with those of Jan Smuts, Alan Paton, Bram Fischer, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Joe Slovo and many others. A veteran journalist and writer, Roy Isacowitz brings the remarkable character of his father vividly to life, along with the hopes and dreams of his generation.

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