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The World That Was Ours
It was 1963 in South Africa during Apartheid when Lionel “Rusty� Bernstein was arrested, along with Nelson Mandela and fifteen other leaders of the African National Congress. They were charged with 221 acts of sabotage designed to “ferment violent revolution.� Rusty was one of two individuals acquitted, and the rest received life sentences. In The World that was Ours, his wife, Hilda Bernstein, offers an astonishing personal account of the events leading up to the “Rivonia Trial� and describes how, as a white family with four children, they managed to fight a hostile and unjust regime.
There was a long night ahead. We are unable to read. We listen all the time, listen for the sound of a car in anticipation that the police will come. If he is in the hands of the police, surely they will bring him to the house to search; they always raid after an arrest.
Hilda Bernstein (1915�2006) lived in London, but in 1933 moved to South Africa where she married Lionel Bernstein. She was elected as a Communist to the Johannesburg City Council; helped found the multiracial Federation of South African Women; and worked closely with the African National Congress� Women’s League in opposition to apartheid.
There was a long night ahead. We are unable to read. We listen all the time, listen for the sound of a car in anticipation that the police will come. If he is in the hands of the police, surely they will bring him to the house to search; they always raid after an arrest.
Hilda Bernstein (1915�2006) lived in London, but in 1933 moved to South Africa where she married Lionel Bernstein. She was elected as a Communist to the Johannesburg City Council; helped found the multiracial Federation of South African Women; and worked closely with the African National Congress� Women’s League in opposition to apartheid.
394 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
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589 people want to read
About the author
Hilda Bernstein
13books1followerHilda Bernstein (May 15, 1915 � September 8, 2006) was an author, artist, and an activist against apartheid and for women's rights. She was born Hilda Schwarz in London and emigrated to South Africa at the age of 18 years and became active in politics. She married fellow activist Lionel "Rusty" Bernstein in March 1941, and together they played prominent roles in the struggle to end Apartheid in South Africa. After her husband was tried and acquitted in the Rivonia Trial in 1964, government harassment forced them to flee to Botswana, an ordeal described in her book The World that was Ours, which was republished by Persephone Books in 2009. They lived in Britain for some years where she further established herself internationally as a speaker, writer, and artist. She returned with her husband to South Africa in 1994 for the South African election in which fellow activist Nelson Mandela was elected President. She died at the age of 91 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Published works:
The World that was Ours (1967, reissued by Persephone Books in 2009)
The Terrorism of Torture
For Their Triumphs and For Their Tears: Women in Apartheid South Africa (Africa Fund, 1985)
Steve Biko (Victor Kamkin, 1978)
No. 46: Steve Biko (Victor Kamkin, 1978)
Death is Part of the Process (Sinclair Browne)
The Rift: The Exile Experience of South Africans
A World of One's Own (reprinted as Separation, Corvo Books)
The Trials of Nelson Mandela
Published works:
The World that was Ours (1967, reissued by Persephone Books in 2009)
The Terrorism of Torture
For Their Triumphs and For Their Tears: Women in Apartheid South Africa (Africa Fund, 1985)
Steve Biko (Victor Kamkin, 1978)
No. 46: Steve Biko (Victor Kamkin, 1978)
Death is Part of the Process (Sinclair Browne)
The Rift: The Exile Experience of South Africans
A World of One's Own (reprinted as Separation, Corvo Books)
The Trials of Nelson Mandela
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
April 3, 2021
The way this memoir jumps around in time was a problem for me at first, but I suspect that's because I was reading very slowly. I'm not sure what the intention behind the time shifts was. Until it reaches the Rivonia trial, the narrative builds impressions of the Bernsteins' lives in South Africa during the period when all organisations, publications and individuals opposing apartheid were increasingly suppressed. Their house was raided numerous times, books and papers confiscated, meetings with their associates forbidden. Hilda's husband, Rusty (Lionel), was put under house arrest.
Bernstein's account shows how every avenue of peaceful protest against apartheid (or anything else for that matter) was closed. It also offers an interesting picture of what life was like for white South Africans. Only occasionally does her story reveal details of how she set herself against white-supremacy and apartheid (although her denial of any inherent racial inferiority is obviously the foundation of her activism); on holiday with her two youngest children and two children of a friend, she is challenged by a fellow guest in the hotel who praises the achievements of "the white man in Africa", saying "I suppose you don't agree". She agreed that the achievements were very great, but argued that now the whites must see that things were changing; they could not keep things frozen in time.
Rusty Bernstein was a defendant in the Rivonia trial (at which Nelson Mandela and other ANC leaders and associates were sentences to life imprisonment) and Hilda provides a wonderful, detailed account of the trial which well describes the characters of the defendants and the judge, the defense counsel's skill and motivations for getting involved, as well as conveying her emotional experience. The progress of the story after the trial is gripping and I don't want to spoil it :)
Bernstein's account shows how every avenue of peaceful protest against apartheid (or anything else for that matter) was closed. It also offers an interesting picture of what life was like for white South Africans. Only occasionally does her story reveal details of how she set herself against white-supremacy and apartheid (although her denial of any inherent racial inferiority is obviously the foundation of her activism); on holiday with her two youngest children and two children of a friend, she is challenged by a fellow guest in the hotel who praises the achievements of "the white man in Africa", saying "I suppose you don't agree". She agreed that the achievements were very great, but argued that now the whites must see that things were changing; they could not keep things frozen in time.
Rusty Bernstein was a defendant in the Rivonia trial (at which Nelson Mandela and other ANC leaders and associates were sentences to life imprisonment) and Hilda provides a wonderful, detailed account of the trial which well describes the characters of the defendants and the judge, the defense counsel's skill and motivations for getting involved, as well as conveying her emotional experience. The progress of the story after the trial is gripping and I don't want to spoil it :)
August 8, 2024
What a harrowing book. THE WORLD THAT WAS OURS is a memoir of HILDA BERNSTEIN'S husband, Rusty’s, multiple trials and subsequent escape from South Africa. The Republic of South Africa tried him for treason and sabotage, because he was an anti-apartheid activist. The main focus is the Rivonia Trials, where Rusty was tried alongside Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, and others.
It's an extremely tense book, despite knowing that everything works out (eventually) (sort of). Hilda Bernstein is absolutely scathing towards the system, as well as the individuals who upheld it. She is also very clear that, while she and her husband were persecuted, the ones who were truly harmed by apartheid were the nonwhite people of South Africa, particularly the Black South Africans.
I can only hope to be as brave as Hilda, Rusty, and the other anti-apartheid activists.
It's an extremely tense book, despite knowing that everything works out (eventually) (sort of). Hilda Bernstein is absolutely scathing towards the system, as well as the individuals who upheld it. She is also very clear that, while she and her husband were persecuted, the ones who were truly harmed by apartheid were the nonwhite people of South Africa, particularly the Black South Africans.
I can only hope to be as brave as Hilda, Rusty, and the other anti-apartheid activists.
December 26, 2016
I purchased this book at the London bookstore, Persephone Books, which publishes previously out-of-print books by women from the mid-20th century. I chose this book because it relates Hilda Bernstein's experience with her husband Rusty during the tense political years of apartheid in South Africa in the 50s and 60s. The cover mentioned that her husband was tried along with Nelson Mandela in the Rivonia Trials. The extent of my knowledge about apartheid in South Africa was that Nelson Mandela went to prison for a long time in the fight to end it.
I would recommend this book to anyone who would like an introduction to the subject of South Africa or apartheid, anyone who wants to read an account of a strong female political figure, anyone who wants to learn from a woman who balanced her political beliefs with her family obligations, anyone who enjoys a courtroom drama or an escape narrative. Bernstein references many political figures and names that I did not know, but that did not keep me from remaining engrossed in the action. She breaks up her story into four parts: life before Rusty's arrest, his arrest and 90 days in prison, the trial, and their escape to London.
This book is not for the faint-hearted. Do not pick up this book until you have time to read it all. The tension is so intense, her fear so real, and the repercussions of her dissent so deadly that I was anxious the entire time I read. I had to stay up into the early hours of the morning because I just had to see the outcome of the trial. But at the same time, after 3 or so days reading nonstop, I had to take a break for a few days because I was just too overwrought about what was happening. I needed a diversion into fantasy or romcom. This was too intense, too scary, too real. In the end I devoured the book, and I think everyone should know Hilda's story.
Hilda's account was of particular interest to me as I focus my reading on women writers and feminist literature. Throughout the story Hilda talks about how she had to continue to put on a brave face for her children as she worried about her husband's imprisonment. She was taken away from her children when she went to prison in an episode that occurs before the action of the book. Much of her anxiety in the story stems from her struggle to stay true to her political beliefs and remain active even when that puts her own life in jeopardy. What obligations as a mother does she have to stop political activity so she can be there for her young children? She justifies her continued involvement because she wants South Africa to be a better place for her children to grow up in. But in the meantime, she and her husband subject the children to years of fear, police raids, and house arrest. Along the way, Hilda becomes more independent, making decisions without her husband, and she reflects in the Afterword that she didn't realize how independent she had become until she had to resume the wifely role of listening to her husband.
Beautifully written. Important content because of its history and the struggle it addresses about the woman's place. Given the state of the world today, Hilda Bernstein's story might be more relevant than we'd like to imagine.
I would recommend this book to anyone who would like an introduction to the subject of South Africa or apartheid, anyone who wants to read an account of a strong female political figure, anyone who wants to learn from a woman who balanced her political beliefs with her family obligations, anyone who enjoys a courtroom drama or an escape narrative. Bernstein references many political figures and names that I did not know, but that did not keep me from remaining engrossed in the action. She breaks up her story into four parts: life before Rusty's arrest, his arrest and 90 days in prison, the trial, and their escape to London.
This book is not for the faint-hearted. Do not pick up this book until you have time to read it all. The tension is so intense, her fear so real, and the repercussions of her dissent so deadly that I was anxious the entire time I read. I had to stay up into the early hours of the morning because I just had to see the outcome of the trial. But at the same time, after 3 or so days reading nonstop, I had to take a break for a few days because I was just too overwrought about what was happening. I needed a diversion into fantasy or romcom. This was too intense, too scary, too real. In the end I devoured the book, and I think everyone should know Hilda's story.
Hilda's account was of particular interest to me as I focus my reading on women writers and feminist literature. Throughout the story Hilda talks about how she had to continue to put on a brave face for her children as she worried about her husband's imprisonment. She was taken away from her children when she went to prison in an episode that occurs before the action of the book. Much of her anxiety in the story stems from her struggle to stay true to her political beliefs and remain active even when that puts her own life in jeopardy. What obligations as a mother does she have to stop political activity so she can be there for her young children? She justifies her continued involvement because she wants South Africa to be a better place for her children to grow up in. But in the meantime, she and her husband subject the children to years of fear, police raids, and house arrest. Along the way, Hilda becomes more independent, making decisions without her husband, and she reflects in the Afterword that she didn't realize how independent she had become until she had to resume the wifely role of listening to her husband.
Beautifully written. Important content because of its history and the struggle it addresses about the woman's place. Given the state of the world today, Hilda Bernstein's story might be more relevant than we'd like to imagine.
January 10, 2013
A memoir of South Africa in the 1960s, by a woman who, with her husband, was at the forefront of the white resistance to apartheid. It tells the story of their life in a country that would be idyllic if not for the political situation, her husband's imprisonment and trial and their eventual escape from the country.
I wasn't sure I would like this. Despite being sympathetic to her politics I would probably never have read it if it hadn't been a Persephone book, but it was surprisingly easy to get into. I liked the way that she mixed the personal with the political and didn't go into long justifications of her beliefs or of why the resistance happened in the way that it did. It was just "we decided we had to do this, and then this happened".
It's hard to believe that such a dictatorial regime then continued for almost another 30 years before finally giving way. The fact that the change wasn't more violent when it happened says a huge amount for the leading members of the ANC of all racial backgrounds.
I wasn't sure I would like this. Despite being sympathetic to her politics I would probably never have read it if it hadn't been a Persephone book, but it was surprisingly easy to get into. I liked the way that she mixed the personal with the political and didn't go into long justifications of her beliefs or of why the resistance happened in the way that it did. It was just "we decided we had to do this, and then this happened".
It's hard to believe that such a dictatorial regime then continued for almost another 30 years before finally giving way. The fact that the change wasn't more violent when it happened says a huge amount for the leading members of the ANC of all racial backgrounds.
March 26, 2024
I seldom read memoirs of any kind, largely because I usually find them to be sadly lacking in objectivity; the narrator is far too close to his subject to be able to see clearly. Even for a third party to write an even handed and truly insightful biography must be a challenging task. In this case, I am finding it quite difficult to arrive at a fair and meaningful review of Hilda Bernstein’s memoir because, in addition to her inescapable subjectivity, she enters the fray with a serious handicap: her self-confessed devotion to communism. I do not take issue with anyone’s right to their own political views; heaven knows we’ve seen far too much of the evils of political witch-hunts and blacklisting of individuals. But I must question Ms. Bernstein’s judgment in taking the stand that she did, knowing full well that everything she did was “red flag to the bull� of the South African regime, sure to provoke responses that she could not handle; despite all of her protestations, the fact remains that she must have had a martyr complex. And acting as she and her husband did, knowing that the regime had devolved into a brutal police state where no one was safe, they inescapably placed their own children at grave risk. Further, I’m astonished at her willful blindness to the brutality of every communist regime in history. Her excuse for joining the Communist Party � that it was the only political organization that crossed racial boundaries � simply doesn’t measure up.
Having thus far trashed the book, I shall attempt to be more forgiving in my assessment of it as a piece of literature, and more importantly, as a historical document. Bernstein succeeds in engaging the reader into a deeply personal life experience; and in places, it is gripping. And the book reveals much about the horrific degree of oppression, brutality and vindictiveness of the Vorster regime as it continually escalated its efforts to attack and destroy any and all opposition. Back in the 1960’s, most of us in the western world were aware of the general outlines of the apartheid system but we viewed it simply as deeply unfair segregation and political disenfranchisement of the African majority; Bernstein’s memoir makes immediately and shockingly real the magnitude of evil that was practised � even to the extent of deliberate manipulation of food supplies, subjecting families with children to malnourishment; virtual enslavement of workers; unprovoked police raids and mass arrests aimed at intimidation; forced relocation and separation of children from their parents. These are actions that probably exceeded even that of the Ceausescu regime in Romania! Bernstein presents compelling testimony and most of the crimes she accuses the regime with can be independently corroborated. This is, therefore, an important document that deserves to be widely read.
Nevertheless, Bernstein’s own political myopia is troubling. And, regrettably, despite all of her good intentions, in spite of the heroism of Nelson Mandela and others, after all of the sacrifices that she and her associates made, the end result is extremely discouraging. The fact remains that even though South Africa today is the most advanced and the most prosperous nation in Africa, it has the highest crime rate in the entire continent. The current regime is as corrupt and incompetent as any. The prosperity that exists barely touches most of the population. True democracy and political freedom is difficult to find. Bernstein’s communist ideals were of benefit to no one. The “Long Walk to Freedom� rings terribly hollow.
At no point is this an enjoyable reading experience; and of course, Hilda Bernstein did not intend it to be enjoyable; she had a very big “axe to grind� and she worked it for all it was worth. What she set out to do, she accomplished. I find myself wishing that there could have been something more to celebrate, some real achievement besides the overthrow of an evil regime.
By republishing this book now, Persephone delivers a stark reminder of the dangers of extremism in any form. Bernstein was intensely aware of the evils of Fascism and correctly identified the Vorster regime as, in essence, a Fascist state. What she failed to understand was that there is actually no substantive difference between a Fascist and a Communist regime. Throughout history, we have also seen what happens when a pseudo-religious theocracy, a military junta or a corrupt oligarchy gains power. Any system that places virtually unlimited power in the hands of a governing body inevitably results in oppression.
Those of us fortunate enough to live under a responsible form of government � even despite the many failings and abuses of our current regimes � must remain vigilant in protecting the precious freedoms that we enjoy. Once the forces of oppression and exploitation gain a foothold, we would have little chance of removing them from power; and overthrowing them often leads to something even worse.
A cautionary tale.
Having thus far trashed the book, I shall attempt to be more forgiving in my assessment of it as a piece of literature, and more importantly, as a historical document. Bernstein succeeds in engaging the reader into a deeply personal life experience; and in places, it is gripping. And the book reveals much about the horrific degree of oppression, brutality and vindictiveness of the Vorster regime as it continually escalated its efforts to attack and destroy any and all opposition. Back in the 1960’s, most of us in the western world were aware of the general outlines of the apartheid system but we viewed it simply as deeply unfair segregation and political disenfranchisement of the African majority; Bernstein’s memoir makes immediately and shockingly real the magnitude of evil that was practised � even to the extent of deliberate manipulation of food supplies, subjecting families with children to malnourishment; virtual enslavement of workers; unprovoked police raids and mass arrests aimed at intimidation; forced relocation and separation of children from their parents. These are actions that probably exceeded even that of the Ceausescu regime in Romania! Bernstein presents compelling testimony and most of the crimes she accuses the regime with can be independently corroborated. This is, therefore, an important document that deserves to be widely read.
Nevertheless, Bernstein’s own political myopia is troubling. And, regrettably, despite all of her good intentions, in spite of the heroism of Nelson Mandela and others, after all of the sacrifices that she and her associates made, the end result is extremely discouraging. The fact remains that even though South Africa today is the most advanced and the most prosperous nation in Africa, it has the highest crime rate in the entire continent. The current regime is as corrupt and incompetent as any. The prosperity that exists barely touches most of the population. True democracy and political freedom is difficult to find. Bernstein’s communist ideals were of benefit to no one. The “Long Walk to Freedom� rings terribly hollow.
At no point is this an enjoyable reading experience; and of course, Hilda Bernstein did not intend it to be enjoyable; she had a very big “axe to grind� and she worked it for all it was worth. What she set out to do, she accomplished. I find myself wishing that there could have been something more to celebrate, some real achievement besides the overthrow of an evil regime.
By republishing this book now, Persephone delivers a stark reminder of the dangers of extremism in any form. Bernstein was intensely aware of the evils of Fascism and correctly identified the Vorster regime as, in essence, a Fascist state. What she failed to understand was that there is actually no substantive difference between a Fascist and a Communist regime. Throughout history, we have also seen what happens when a pseudo-religious theocracy, a military junta or a corrupt oligarchy gains power. Any system that places virtually unlimited power in the hands of a governing body inevitably results in oppression.
Those of us fortunate enough to live under a responsible form of government � even despite the many failings and abuses of our current regimes � must remain vigilant in protecting the precious freedoms that we enjoy. Once the forces of oppression and exploitation gain a foothold, we would have little chance of removing them from power; and overthrowing them often leads to something even worse.
A cautionary tale.
June 28, 2012
The World that was ours, originally published in 1967, and was written at a time when Hilda Bernstein had to disguise certain names and incidents to protect some of the people she had left behind her in South Africa. Amendments were then made later to the original text when it was safe to do so. This is an extremely well written political memoir by the wife of Rusty Bernstein, one of the men in the Rivonia trial, tried alongside Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu � he was later acquitted � but only after having suffered months of mistreatment and isolation in prison.
Hilda Bernstein details the everyday lives of people like her, who had a home and family, had work to do, children to raise, but who lived everyday with the fear of the Special Branch and possible arrest.
�11 July 1963
There was a sense of unease all afternoon. It was true there had been many such days and nights and the premonition is only recalled in its full oppressiveness after disaster has been realised; many, many such times; the precise cause, the months and even the years of them have silently blurred, lost consequence.�
Yet the thought of leaving South Africa for people so committed to their cause was extraordinarily hard � do they leave their friends and colleagues? � Or stay and risk being separated from their children? Imprisoned within a system that becomes harder and harder to fight. The Bernsteins risk everything; they are under enormous pressure and frequently know a very real and almost paralysing fear � which Hilda Bernstein describes brilliantly. The tension and claustrophobia of the South African regime is absolutely palpable. Yet through it all Hilda’s love for her husband sees her through these unimaginably difficult times.
“I held on to Rusty, touched him, kissed. We sat clasping each other, alone together. There was nothing in the cell except the narrow bench against the wall. At first we could barely talk, then we began softly, intimately. It was sheer, unbelievable happiness. I thought if I could sit for an hour a day close to you like this, Rusty, just holding on to your hands and talking, life would be completely bearable. That’s all I want � just an hour a day in close, quiet contact, alone. At that moment it seemed like the fulfilment of all ambition.�
I found the first part of this book where Hilda describes the lives she and her family are leading, both fascinating and poignant. It is almost inconceivable that these things were happening within living memory. I wonder if I would be able to hold quite so fast to my principles in the face of such fear and intimidation. For me however the details surrounding the actual Rivonia trial were rather less exciting than I had expected them to be � but were interesting, thorough and complex. I did find myself frequently horrified and incensed by the prosecutor Yutar, an often nasty tempered, irrational man.
After Rusty’s eventual release � Hilda is the one who now must fear for her freedom. It becomes clear that the Bernsteins must leave. However that is rather easier said than done. To leave involves great secrecy. It is not possible to just go, Hilda needs to judge it just right, she will be leaving her children behind, at least in the short term. However while keeping one eye on the road outside and the garden path, ready to flee; she gets on with her washing. Such is the life of a woman living with the threat of arrest in 1960’s South Africa. The details surrounding Hilda and Rusty’s flight steps the action up considerably. I found it unimaginable � to be driven through the dark at great risk to an unknown destination � into an unknown fate, no guarantees when or even if, they will see those they love again.
The World that was ours is an enormously readable memoir which highlights brilliantly the evil injustices that were practised in South Africa � and the extraordinary men and women who stood up for what was right.
Hilda Bernstein details the everyday lives of people like her, who had a home and family, had work to do, children to raise, but who lived everyday with the fear of the Special Branch and possible arrest.
�11 July 1963
There was a sense of unease all afternoon. It was true there had been many such days and nights and the premonition is only recalled in its full oppressiveness after disaster has been realised; many, many such times; the precise cause, the months and even the years of them have silently blurred, lost consequence.�
Yet the thought of leaving South Africa for people so committed to their cause was extraordinarily hard � do they leave their friends and colleagues? � Or stay and risk being separated from their children? Imprisoned within a system that becomes harder and harder to fight. The Bernsteins risk everything; they are under enormous pressure and frequently know a very real and almost paralysing fear � which Hilda Bernstein describes brilliantly. The tension and claustrophobia of the South African regime is absolutely palpable. Yet through it all Hilda’s love for her husband sees her through these unimaginably difficult times.
“I held on to Rusty, touched him, kissed. We sat clasping each other, alone together. There was nothing in the cell except the narrow bench against the wall. At first we could barely talk, then we began softly, intimately. It was sheer, unbelievable happiness. I thought if I could sit for an hour a day close to you like this, Rusty, just holding on to your hands and talking, life would be completely bearable. That’s all I want � just an hour a day in close, quiet contact, alone. At that moment it seemed like the fulfilment of all ambition.�
I found the first part of this book where Hilda describes the lives she and her family are leading, both fascinating and poignant. It is almost inconceivable that these things were happening within living memory. I wonder if I would be able to hold quite so fast to my principles in the face of such fear and intimidation. For me however the details surrounding the actual Rivonia trial were rather less exciting than I had expected them to be � but were interesting, thorough and complex. I did find myself frequently horrified and incensed by the prosecutor Yutar, an often nasty tempered, irrational man.
After Rusty’s eventual release � Hilda is the one who now must fear for her freedom. It becomes clear that the Bernsteins must leave. However that is rather easier said than done. To leave involves great secrecy. It is not possible to just go, Hilda needs to judge it just right, she will be leaving her children behind, at least in the short term. However while keeping one eye on the road outside and the garden path, ready to flee; she gets on with her washing. Such is the life of a woman living with the threat of arrest in 1960’s South Africa. The details surrounding Hilda and Rusty’s flight steps the action up considerably. I found it unimaginable � to be driven through the dark at great risk to an unknown destination � into an unknown fate, no guarantees when or even if, they will see those they love again.
The World that was ours is an enormously readable memoir which highlights brilliantly the evil injustices that were practised in South Africa � and the extraordinary men and women who stood up for what was right.
June 19, 2017
Wonderful. Enthralling, moving, enraging, shaming... I've learnt a lot from reading this, but not nearly enough. Bernstein is a superb writer, and in this book she ties her own experience into the context of Apartheid South Africa, and the struggle to end it.
October 5, 2018
A white South African activist writes engagingly about the turbulent 1960's in that country, including she and her husband being jailed—and he being on trial along with Nelson Mandela and the rest of the Rivonia group. But through it all they're raising four children and leading an outwardly normal life of family vacations, helping kids with homework, and family dinners—only their version of normal includes the constant threat of police raids on their house and, when one or both of them isn't already in custody, the constant threat of arrest. It's absorbing and interesting, and her writing is excellent and accessible.
January 5, 2021
Powerful and tense. It's written in the historic present, which isn't usually my favourite, but really works here.
June 27, 2014
Hilda and her husband Rusty lived in South Africa between 1933 and 1964, and were part of the anti-apartheid movement. Rusty was acquitted in 1964 with 2 other men, in the trial which saw Nelson Mandela and several others sentenced to life in prison - this is the story not only of that trial but the years leading up to it when people lived in fear. I learnt a lot I hadn't known and found it moving and powerful. It's been republished by Persephone Books so is also a thing of beauty, and I'm very glad to have read it. I'm astounded by the bravery exhibited by Hilda and her friends and family - it's one of those books that makes you wonder whether you would be prepared to risk so much to stick to your principles and should be required reading in schools.
October 28, 2014
"Bernstein offers a tremendous insider view of the beginning of governmental strictures that heralded the beginning of full apartheid by clearly detailing the numerous ways intimidation can silence an entire population."
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July 2, 2017
Fascinating and truly a thriller to read. A book that should be passed around to everyone.
October 1, 2020
A powerful, startling book. This is going to sound a little dumb, but I'm going to note that I was born in 1987 so apartheid isn't something I actually lived through, but holy shit I didn't realize how bad it was. The description of the various acts that were passed in order to suppress any type of dissent are horrifically chilling, and it's truly appalling to consider what people will put up with in order to live in a semblance of comfort. And by people, I obviously mean white people.
I finished the book (which is very well-written, but not necessarily a page turner) the day after the utterly disastrous first debate between Trump and Biden. I did not watch the debate, because I do not hate myself and my time is valuable, but I was struck by this passage in particular, in which Hilda describes the creep of the Special Branch in targeting not just known members of the ANC or Communist party or anti-apartheid activists, but intellectuals, Liberals, and anyone with even a glimpse of connection:
"Respectable people, distinguished people - to the end this obstinate refusal to grasp the core. The time they should have protested, the time they should have spoken out, was when the undistinguished, the unrespectable, had been the victims: the reds, the radicals, the extremists who worked over the colour line, the Congress members, the Africans, the disreputable, the unknown, the people whose names counted for nothing. It had all happened before, in other lands. It had begun sixteen years ago in ours. We too had cried: 'Speak out before it is too late.' And the respectable people, the moderates, had turned away because we were red - or because we were black. If you had been a silent witness, it is too late when your turn comes to cry protest." (296)
Reading that, and just reading the arc of the book, it is so easy to see how easy it is to slip into fascism and to find yourself in an authoritarian state. And this isn't the Handmaid's Tale -- it happened until VERY RECENTLY. It's a stark reminder of how precariously we live in democratic societies. And that certainly felt prescient and chilling when the president of the United States continued to very clearly demonstrate his credentials as a white supremacist.
As the for the book largely focuses on about a year in the life of the Bernsteins, white South Africans who have spent their lives fighting against white supremacy. It feels altogether too relatable. Sure, Black Americans are not require to have passes, but they are certainly victims of de facto segregation that makes it much harder for them to achieve parity with their white peers, for a variety of reasons. Black Americans definitely have a lot to fear from the police and the state, and while I certainly hope the lessons of the Civil Rights era and apartheid are fresh enough in our minds, I honestly can't say that I am as a confident as I once was about the continuous progression of human rights.
In any case, a compelling, powerful memoir. It does not comfort nor provide solace, having been completed well before apartheid ended. But that is perhaps the best lesson of all -- it takes constant vigilance and constant effort to see justice done.
I finished the book (which is very well-written, but not necessarily a page turner) the day after the utterly disastrous first debate between Trump and Biden. I did not watch the debate, because I do not hate myself and my time is valuable, but I was struck by this passage in particular, in which Hilda describes the creep of the Special Branch in targeting not just known members of the ANC or Communist party or anti-apartheid activists, but intellectuals, Liberals, and anyone with even a glimpse of connection:
"Respectable people, distinguished people - to the end this obstinate refusal to grasp the core. The time they should have protested, the time they should have spoken out, was when the undistinguished, the unrespectable, had been the victims: the reds, the radicals, the extremists who worked over the colour line, the Congress members, the Africans, the disreputable, the unknown, the people whose names counted for nothing. It had all happened before, in other lands. It had begun sixteen years ago in ours. We too had cried: 'Speak out before it is too late.' And the respectable people, the moderates, had turned away because we were red - or because we were black. If you had been a silent witness, it is too late when your turn comes to cry protest." (296)
Reading that, and just reading the arc of the book, it is so easy to see how easy it is to slip into fascism and to find yourself in an authoritarian state. And this isn't the Handmaid's Tale -- it happened until VERY RECENTLY. It's a stark reminder of how precariously we live in democratic societies. And that certainly felt prescient and chilling when the president of the United States continued to very clearly demonstrate his credentials as a white supremacist.
As the for the book largely focuses on about a year in the life of the Bernsteins, white South Africans who have spent their lives fighting against white supremacy. It feels altogether too relatable. Sure, Black Americans are not require to have passes, but they are certainly victims of de facto segregation that makes it much harder for them to achieve parity with their white peers, for a variety of reasons. Black Americans definitely have a lot to fear from the police and the state, and while I certainly hope the lessons of the Civil Rights era and apartheid are fresh enough in our minds, I honestly can't say that I am as a confident as I once was about the continuous progression of human rights.
In any case, a compelling, powerful memoir. It does not comfort nor provide solace, having been completed well before apartheid ended. But that is perhaps the best lesson of all -- it takes constant vigilance and constant effort to see justice done.
June 5, 2018
The World That Was Ours is a short memoir by Hilda Bernstein, a woman who was known in her lifetime for her active political career in South Africa. It follows her life during the long years under apartheid rule, and in particular the persecution she and her family suffered as a direct result of their continued campaigning for equality for people of all races. Her husband, the architect Lionel ‘Rusty� Bernstein, became regarded as an enemy of the people; eventually he was put on trial for treason and sabotage alongside Nelson Mandela at the notorious Rivonia trials. Lionel was the only defendant to be acquitted of charges � although, in an astonishing example of the country's corrupted justice system, this didn’t stop the police immediately re-arresting him on spurious grounds before he could leave the courtroom. Not long afterwards the Bernsteins fled the country to what is now Botswana.
There are passages here where it is of little comfort to know that in the end Hilda and Lionel made it to England, that they revived their careers and lives, and that the government they fought against would prove itself on the wrong side of history. Much of it is haunting in its depiction of cruelty and injustice performed automatically, unthinkingly, by people entirely sure of their convictions. That is if they had any convictions: perhaps they were only cruel. The moment where they are waiting for a train in the middle of the night in Botswana and the South African special branch are standing at the other end of the platform with them � hoping they’ll get on, knowing that the train is exclusively staffed by other South Africans � that seems so lurid it must be out of the pages of a thriller.
But most of it is banal. This, she explains, is how she managed to tolerate it for so long: because for so long it was the kind of constant, low-level unpleasantness that could be quietly ignored. Men watch their home all day and all night. Their phones are tapped; they are followed everywhere. Sometimes it is absurd in the aggressively stupid way that only repressive bureaucracies can be absurd: police officers come to their home unannounced to search for seditious materials and take home only books by Russians, convinced those are somehow relevant to communism. And of course there is no process of appeal for any of this. Nothing can be done about it. The author recounts all the times she went to the desk of the sergeants to plead to be allowed just to visit her husband, and how she had to twist and bend the truth just to earn the respect not otherwise due to a woman who wants to visit a man for no other reason than that she loves him.
This book was first published in 1967; for those involved it was by no means an exercise in retrospection. It goes without saying that the whole thing is shaped by the relative (white) privilege of the Bernsteins; but there is still a story that should be told here.
There are passages here where it is of little comfort to know that in the end Hilda and Lionel made it to England, that they revived their careers and lives, and that the government they fought against would prove itself on the wrong side of history. Much of it is haunting in its depiction of cruelty and injustice performed automatically, unthinkingly, by people entirely sure of their convictions. That is if they had any convictions: perhaps they were only cruel. The moment where they are waiting for a train in the middle of the night in Botswana and the South African special branch are standing at the other end of the platform with them � hoping they’ll get on, knowing that the train is exclusively staffed by other South Africans � that seems so lurid it must be out of the pages of a thriller.
But most of it is banal. This, she explains, is how she managed to tolerate it for so long: because for so long it was the kind of constant, low-level unpleasantness that could be quietly ignored. Men watch their home all day and all night. Their phones are tapped; they are followed everywhere. Sometimes it is absurd in the aggressively stupid way that only repressive bureaucracies can be absurd: police officers come to their home unannounced to search for seditious materials and take home only books by Russians, convinced those are somehow relevant to communism. And of course there is no process of appeal for any of this. Nothing can be done about it. The author recounts all the times she went to the desk of the sergeants to plead to be allowed just to visit her husband, and how she had to twist and bend the truth just to earn the respect not otherwise due to a woman who wants to visit a man for no other reason than that she loves him.
This book was first published in 1967; for those involved it was by no means an exercise in retrospection. It goes without saying that the whole thing is shaped by the relative (white) privilege of the Bernsteins; but there is still a story that should be told here.
April 23, 2023
This is a very readable memoir by Hilda Bernstein, a White (British) activist entrenched in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa; she recounts how dangerously and extensively the personal life is inherently political under a totalitarian state, ultimately resulting in her own and her husband’s imprisonment(s) and eventual escape. I learned a lot through a lens of a “”normal”� family and how resistance can look from ordinary(ish) people. Her husband Rusty is involved in the Rivona trial including Nelson Mandela and other African and White activists.
The trial itself was the most interesting part in the book imo. Since this memoir is written from a White experience, it has its limitations in fully grasping the complex oppression of Africans that receive the full brunt of the apartheid system, regardless of how persecuted her and her comrades are involved in violent resistance. In the trial section she fully centers the real narratives provided by Black leaders in defense of their fight for humanity and equality under the law. It fully describes the ultimate “why� of the anti-apartheid movement as led by Africans and supported by rebel Whites. Although the whole of the narrative is centered around Hilda and her family’s experience, this trial scene is the most illuminating in showing the socio-political vibes in this time and space.
I do feel that a White woman’s perspective has its own privileges in being so wide spread, and how questionable it is that her narrative is one that remains the dominant story of personal experiences under apartheid in South Africa. I wish that she included more perspectives from *other* ordinary Africans in parallel with her own ordinary story. Political memoirs themselves, from the lens of the racially dominant person, should center the more oppressed experience alongside their own (imo). Since political memories can, and should be, considered pieces of Historical significance, it is the responsibility of a White author to provide more outside of just her family and White community of political rebels. This is a long winded way of me saying I need more expansive experiences within this type of memoir.
Overall, highly recommend this. Now I’m gonna read Nelson Mandel’s autobiography lol
The trial itself was the most interesting part in the book imo. Since this memoir is written from a White experience, it has its limitations in fully grasping the complex oppression of Africans that receive the full brunt of the apartheid system, regardless of how persecuted her and her comrades are involved in violent resistance. In the trial section she fully centers the real narratives provided by Black leaders in defense of their fight for humanity and equality under the law. It fully describes the ultimate “why� of the anti-apartheid movement as led by Africans and supported by rebel Whites. Although the whole of the narrative is centered around Hilda and her family’s experience, this trial scene is the most illuminating in showing the socio-political vibes in this time and space.
I do feel that a White woman’s perspective has its own privileges in being so wide spread, and how questionable it is that her narrative is one that remains the dominant story of personal experiences under apartheid in South Africa. I wish that she included more perspectives from *other* ordinary Africans in parallel with her own ordinary story. Political memoirs themselves, from the lens of the racially dominant person, should center the more oppressed experience alongside their own (imo). Since political memories can, and should be, considered pieces of Historical significance, it is the responsibility of a White author to provide more outside of just her family and White community of political rebels. This is a long winded way of me saying I need more expansive experiences within this type of memoir.
Overall, highly recommend this. Now I’m gonna read Nelson Mandel’s autobiography lol
December 6, 2024
This is such a beautifully written account of horrible times living in the opposition to Apartheid. Bernstein shows us daily life for the activists trying their best to be decent people and still avoid prison.
Two things stand out to me.
First: the South African apartheid regime went to incredible lengths to create and follow laws to uphold their system. The detail of their legalism shows itself as obsessive, especially when everyone could see the brutality of the system.
Second: it must have looked as though the government and the Afrikaners, with their wealth, their weapons, their laws, their jails and their elections, were unassailable, impossible to supplant. Yet within half a century the entire edifice of Apartheid would be entirely dismantled, the society unrecognizable.
Two things stand out to me.
First: the South African apartheid regime went to incredible lengths to create and follow laws to uphold their system. The detail of their legalism shows itself as obsessive, especially when everyone could see the brutality of the system.
Second: it must have looked as though the government and the Afrikaners, with their wealth, their weapons, their laws, their jails and their elections, were unassailable, impossible to supplant. Yet within half a century the entire edifice of Apartheid would be entirely dismantled, the society unrecognizable.
March 22, 2025
This is a gripping account of the experiences of white activists in the early years of the Apartheid regime in South Africa.
Bernstein provides a detailed account of how the government sought to crush resistance to its racist policies. This included increasingly repressive laws and the subversion of the legal system. A detail that particularly stuck with me is that the regime did not accept any real resistance, with non-violent criticism and forms of protest attracting extreme responses. Bernstein notes at several points that as awful as the treatment she and her husband received was, they were treated better than black South African activists.
The book is well written throughout, and is highly readable. As other reviewers have noted, it's a very chilling read but a compelling one.
Bernstein provides a detailed account of how the government sought to crush resistance to its racist policies. This included increasingly repressive laws and the subversion of the legal system. A detail that particularly stuck with me is that the regime did not accept any real resistance, with non-violent criticism and forms of protest attracting extreme responses. Bernstein notes at several points that as awful as the treatment she and her husband received was, they were treated better than black South African activists.
The book is well written throughout, and is highly readable. As other reviewers have noted, it's a very chilling read but a compelling one.
March 8, 2023
Very powerful account of one family’s experience of the increasing restrictions of apartheid in South Africa in the 1960s. The Bernsteins were friends of Nelson Mandela, and Rusty Bernstein was one of those tried with Mandela when he was imprisoned for life. The strongest section of the book is the part that focuses on Hilda’s experience when her husband was held for 90 days in isolation, followed by the trial that lasted for many months.
Hilda Bernstein’s writing style is mainly factual - she keeps her feelings hidden a lot of the time - but it is also very evocative, and brings real depth for me into a situation that I was only dimly aware about.
Hilda Bernstein’s writing style is mainly factual - she keeps her feelings hidden a lot of the time - but it is also very evocative, and brings real depth for me into a situation that I was only dimly aware about.
July 18, 2019
Wow, great telling of Rusty and Hilda Bernstein in the 60's in South Africa and their fight against apartheid. I learned so much. There are a few paragraphs from Nelson Mandela's speeches that make me want to read more of his writings. Recommend reading this. My copy is from #persephonebooks which makes it even more special!
December 11, 2017
kvifor gjekk det så gale i sør-afrika? og det noverande politiske klimaet er ikkje så bra for å sei det mildt
November 9, 2019
A fascinating read for those of us old enough to remember the tragedy and menace of Apartheid, and a necessary read for those to young to have lived through that period.
October 20, 2020
Did not enjoy the first 200 pages that much but by the end I kind of fell for it. Not an era I know anything about and I found the history terrifying, and so relatively recent.
August 18, 2023
This wonderful autobiography by an oppositionist to the apartheid regime in South Africa tells the story of her live, emphasizing the period of the early 1960s up to her escape into exile. As a member of the Communist Party, married with a leader of Party, and deeply involved with the opposition to the regime and the resistance movement in the anti-pass campaigns, women organizations, and so on, Hilda Bernstein left South Africa with her husband after he escaped house arrest in the aftermath of the Rivonia trial (where he was acquitted but immediately rearrested afterwards). The book is divided into four parts: it starts with what the author calls "normal lives", i.e., her and her family lives before Rivonia (but, as we expect of a Communist oppositionist in apartheid South Africa, not exactly normal by normal standards); then, a part about her life after her husband imprisonment in the Rivonia raid and before he and other activists were put to trial; the trial itself is the third part: a very interesting description of the trial proceedings that ended with the live imprisonment for all of the accused, among them Mandela, but for her husband who was acquainted but immediately rearrested. After his release to house arrest he and Hilda Bernstein escaped to Botswana and this constitutes the fourth and last part of the book: an adventurous escape by car and on foot across the border to what was then still a British possession, and the difficult escape from the Botswana border town of Lobatsi (where the South African secret service operated essentially without hindrance) to a small airfield ("an empty field with an windsock") where a tiny airplane finally took them to freedom and to an exile of thirty years. In conclusion: this is a really great reading!
May 14, 2012
Published in 1967, this book is a firsthand account about some of those who fought apartheid. Bernstein provides some historical context about the various organizations and their efforts over the decades, but the focus here is on the early 1960s and the Rivonia Trial (at which Nelson Mandela, and others, received life sentences). Bernstein's husband, Rusty, was the only one to be acquitted, though he would undoubtedly have been re-arrested, and his wife also imprisoned, had they not subsequently fled to England. Both husband and wife lived to see Mandela freed, apartheid ended, and Mandela inaugurated as President of South Africa.
September 25, 2012
It was a great differing point of view on apartheid from the typical Long Walk to Freedom. Bernstein's husband was the sole man charged in the Rivonia Trials that was found not guilty. The writing was your typical memoir and while it did drag in spots, was overall an excellent recap as to how two white people incredibly involved with anti-apartheid politics were treated under the Nationalist regime and escaped to freedom.
July 13, 2021
A brilliant read - started off as a family trying to live an ordinary life in extraordinary times, and ends with them having to flee as refugees from their home in South Africa. The Bernsteins were amazing people who stood up to apartheid due to their beliefs in equal opportunities for all. Rusty risked jail all the time, and stood trial with Nelson Mandela in The Rivonia Trials, but was aquitted. He and his wife, Hilda, the author of this book were then subject to instant recall to jail.
July 16, 2014
Wonderful Persephone cover, as always
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April 13, 2019only made it halfway through� parts of it are so interesting, but the recounting of the trials are, thus far, deadly boring despite the fact that the case itself is terrible and fascinating. will maybe try to return to this one day.
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