Yvonne Silbert was born in Krugersdorp In 1926. Before she was twenty she wrote a musical play called 'Take It or Leave It!' The play was produced in Johannesburg by Norah Taylor in August 1948.

Yvonne Silbert travelled around the reef teaching Speech and Drama, and acted in amateur theatre productions in South Africa. A play she wrote about Crippen was presented on Springbok Radio.

In 1950 Yvonne Silbert married Rupert Abrahams, an attorney. Two weeks later she contracted poliomyelitis and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She regained the use of one hand but composed no more songs as she could no longer play the piano.

She continued to write plays and short stories. Most of her time was taken up with teaching speech and drama, and she produced a number of Shakespearean plays at Afrikaans high schools.

She died in 1975

Helen Suzman was born Helen Gavronsky on the 7 November 1917, in Germiston, Transvaal Province. She studied Economy and Statistics at the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1937 she married Dr. Moses Suzman and they had two daughters. Between 1941 and 1944, Suzman worked as a statistician for the War Supplies Board. In 1944 she returned to the University of the Witwatersrand as a lecturer in Economic History, where she remained until 1952. During that time she joined the South African Institute of Race Relations

Suzman gave up teaching for politics when she was elected to parliament in 1953 as a member of the United Party. Six years later, when the Progressive Party (PP) was founded, she represented the Houghton constituency as that party's sole member of Parliament from 1961-1974, winning international fame for her courage and ability. She remained in Parliament with its successors, the Progressive Reform Party and then the Progressive Federal Party (PFP).

During her time in Parliament she defended the right to freedom of expression for all South Africans. As an English speaking Jewish woman in a Parliament dominated by conservative Afrikaner men she was even more of an outsider and often treated with disrespect. As a member of Parliament she was able to visit prisons, amongst them Robben Island, and inspected the living conditions of prisoners. She also visited Nelson Mandela numerous times in prison. In 1989 she retired from Parliament while remaining actively involved in South African politics. She spent a total of 36 years in Parliament.

Outside Parliament she became 'ombudsman' to the oppressed and unrepresented, and though sharply reviled by the nationalist government, she nevertheless achieved success in promoting human rights. Suzman won important changes for example in prison conditions. She campaigned against the reintroduction of the death penalty and also defended the right of women to choose on the issue of abortion.

Internationally, she has been awarded over 28 honorary degrees and nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1993 she published her autobiography "In no uncertain terms: A South African memoir". In 1996 she was awarded the Politeken and Dangens Nyheters Freedom Prize, jointly with Nelson and Winnie Mandela.

Helen Suzman died on the 1 January 2009, aged 91.

Enuga S. Reddy was the Former Assistant General of the United Nations and Head of its Centre against Apartheid.

T.C. Robertson was born in 1907 in Middelburg, Transvaal, where he grew up and matriculated at the Middelburg High School in 1923. He then completed two years of a law degree at the University of the Witwatersrand before entering the profession of journalism. In 1926 he was the Johannesburg correspondent of "Ons Vaderland" and the following year became editor of the "Livingstone Mail" in Northern Rhodesia and a correspondent of the "London Times". He then travelled to the Far East, working, in Ceylon and Australia. On his return in 1931 he was parliamentary correspondent of the "Cape Times" and in 1934 on the editorial staff of the "Rand Daily Mail" and "Sunday Times". He covered the 6th Imperial Press Conference in 1935 and was the author of a book on it. In 1937 he edited "Forward", a labour party newspaper.

In 1938 Robertson stood unsuccessfully as labour candidate for Fordsburg and in 1939 became parliamentary correspondent for "Rand Daily Mail" and "Sunday Times" visiting East Africa as a war correspondent. During, the war years he was director of the Union Unity Truth Service, a propaganda machine for General Smuts, supporting the war effort and editor of its journal ''Libertas". He was given occasional assignments in North Africa and reported the whole of the Madagascar Campaign. There is a small amount of material in this collection on the Union Unity Truth Service but the bulk of it is in a separate collection, A883.

In 1945 he returned to his original love, nature, and sat at the feet of Dr. Hugh Bennett, the father of soil conservation, who arranged a two year course for him in the USA. On his return General Smuts persuaded him to stand as a United Party candidate for Witbank but was unsucessful. In 1948 he became Director of the National Veld Trust and remained in this position until his retirement in 1966. He served on several committees connected with conservation and was the author of books and articles: Grond is Lewe (soil is life), 1968; Water, 1970; Big Game, 1970; South African Mosaic, 1978. This last was his major work, incorporating some extremely good illustrations. He was a speaker at many conferences and spearheaded the publicity campaign to make people aware of the environment and dangers facing it. He was truly the pioneer of South African Conservation, having a great influence on conservationists like Ian Player and James Clarke.

He received several honours, a doctorate from the University of theWitwatersand in 1979; the Decoration for Meritorious Service in 1983, was nominated for the Tyler Award and given the gold medal by the National Veldtrust in 1978.

T.C. Robertson spent his retirement years in Scottburgh, actively pursuing his conservation aims despite increasingly poor health due to diabetes. He was a man of great humanity and lover of life. He died on 11 January 1989 in Durban.

Leibl Feldman 1896-1975

He was born on 8 June 1896 in Skopiskis, northern Lithuania. He was the second son of Joseph and Minnie Feldman. He came to South Africa in 1910 at the age of 14. His education took place at the Jewish Government School, Johannesburg. Leibl went into partnership, in a small shop trading under the name of Feldman & Stein. After a year Stein sold out to Leibl. The firm then became L. Feldman and survived under this name for 40 years.

Trade did not occupy all his interest and energy. He was a man of wide interests and a strong social conscience. After the World War I he became involved with the Jewish War Victims Relief Fund. In November 1918 he was instrumental in founding a branch of the Socialist-Zionist Poalei Zion Party in Johannesburg. In the late 1920s he became involved in the Organisation for Rehabilitation and Training (ORT). The aim of the body was to reconstruct the nature of Jewish life all over the world. In 1929 he joined the Jewish Workers Club which was anti- Zionist. In 1932 he married Shura Miller. They had one son and two daughters.

When World War II broke out he became involved in the South African Jewish war appeal. In 1946 he volunteered to join the South African Jewish Board of Deputies which visited the Displaced Persons camp in (?).

V.R. Sargent was born in the Cape in 1909. However, the family returned to England shortly after he was born because of ill health suffered by Mrs. Sargent. After the end of the fist World War, V. R. Sargent had a long connection with the army in the U.K. and ended up in the officers training corp. He passed his exams, which entitled him to be commissioned in any British army unit. In 1928 he returned to South Africa. In 1930 he went to Rhodesia to the mining districts of Ndola and broken Hill. During the Second World War he was seconded from the South African Airforce to the position of Empire Training command in the Royal Airforce.

He spent most of his working life on the mines in South Africa. He retired as a shift boss. In latter years he was employed at the S.A.R.C. as a painter, where he met a lot of personalities. He was a great family man.

Issy Heymann was born on the 24th December 1910 in Lithuania. At the age of nineteen, in 1931, Issy arrived in South Africa. In 1935 he became an executive member of the Native Trade Assistance Union and in 1936 he joined the South African Communist Party. He was also a member of the Jewish Workers Club.

Issy Heymann fought during the Second World War and when the war ended he became a member of the Springbok Legion. After the Communist Party was banned in 1950 he became a member of the Congress of Democrats

During the State of Emergency which was declared in 1960 Issy Heymann was detained for 90 days. He was arrested and jailed in 1966 and released in 1971.

Issy Heymann died in 1989.

Leif Egeland, Ex MP, BA (N.U.C), MA (S.A.), LL.D. (h.c.) (Cambridge), was prominent in law, politics and international diplomacy. He was member of Council and National Chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs 1959-1980, subsequently Honorary President of the Institute. He also served as Chairman of the Smuts Memorial Trust.

Joyce Harris was born on 4th (?) October 1919 and was educated at Johannesburg Girls' High School and WITS University where she qualified in Social Work. She worked, for many years for Home and School Council. She was a founder Member of the Black Sash and became National President in 1978. She wrote many articles, press statements and letters to the press protesting about social injustice and discriminatory legislation. Many of her letters were signed by other Black Sash office-bearers such as Jean Sinclair. She corresponded with politicians and others and prepared papers on topics of political interest. She emigrated to Canada in 1991.

Mrs Esme Berman was born in 1929 and studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and Trinity College, London. She is a distinguished art critic and historian, and was involved in a great number of art projects. She was the founder of the Children's Art Centre in Johannesburg, Director of the Art Institute South Africa, executive member of the S.A. Association of Arts, professional adviser to the Rembrandt van Rijn Art Foundation and permanent art critic to the SABC and various journals. She was the selector and adjudicator for various national and international art exhibitions, and the author of 'Art and Artists of South Africa' and other books and articles.

Mrs Berman is now living in the USA.