08 May 2025- As We Mark 50 Years Since Bram Fischer’s Passing, We Share A Personal Letter from Ahmed Kathrada to His Daughters

This is a letter of sympathy to Ruth and Ilse Fischer on the death of their father, Advocate Bram Fischer and is a wonderfully moving tribute to the great person he was. His wife, Molly, who was also a wonderful human being had died tragically in 1964 when their car capsized into a river. Of the millions of people who sacrificed their lives for a better South Africa, Bram Fischer has to rank way up there as one of the country’s greatest sons!
For Kathy, he was “my fellow countryman, my mentor, my comrade, my lawyer, my co-prisoner, my friend”. Above all, he was a great human being. After Kathy was sentenced to life imprisonment, Bram Fischer went underground to continue the struggle but was captured and sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit sabotage. On humanitarian grounds, Bram, suffering from cancer, was released to his brother’s house where he died in 1975 .
“ In many ways, Bram Fischer, the grandson of the Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony, had made the greatest sacrifice of all. No matter what I suffered in my pursuit of freedom, I always took strength from the fact that I was fighting with and for my own people. Bram was a free man who fought against his own people to ensure the freedom of others”. (“Long Walk to Freedom”, Nelson Mandela. P.459. Little, Brown & Company.)

A. M. Kathrada
Robben Island Prison
11th May 1975

My Dear Ruth and Ilse,

For the third time in the last decade death has struck and removed a beloved member of your family. We had only been on the Island about a fortnight in 1964 when we received the shocking news of your mother’s death. A few years ago Paul breathed his last. And now, your dad. You have been cruelly singled out for tragedy to strike its harsh and relentless blows—almost as if to test your power of endurance. I am well aware that words can do little to lessen the impact of such irreparable loss. But I’m writing, nevertheless, in the hope that knowledge of shared grief will somehow help to bring a little bit of comfort at this dark hour.

To you Bram was father, the kindest and very best that any child could wish for. But he also meant so much for so many people throughout our country and, indeed, all over the world. Literally millions will, therefore, grieve at his passing.

South Africa could ill afford to lose him for he was a great patriot and statesman, rich in wisdom, selfless, fearless and determined in leadership. To the legal fraternity he brought brilliance, lustre and distinction. To his political colleagues he showed the path of courage, clarity and undying hope. To the prisoner he reenacted the well-established maxim that the road to light and progress traverses through the darkness of prison walls. To humanity at large he gave of his abundant love, his charm, his unequalled modesty, quiet dignity and disinterestedness. Bram possessed in profusion all the elements that go to make a perfect human being.

In all these capacities I lovingly remember and honour him—my fellow countryman, my mentor, my comrade, my lawyer, my co-prisoner, my friend. It is above all as a human being that he will forever stand out in my memory. His stature and eminence in all other fields stem essentially from his greatness as a human being. For this he enjoyed the love and respect, devotion and admiration of everyone.

Innumerable are the incidents and events that spring to mind relating to Molly and Bram since I first met them way back, I think, in 1944. I was fifteen and enthusiastic with almost four years of “political involvement” behind me. It was at an age when one sought and attached oneself to one’s own brand of heroes. Already looming large in my horizon was Yusuf Dadoo. He was soon joined, among others, by Bram and Molly! They made a big impression in my little mind, and my childish heart responded with a love that only children know how to give. I went with Bram to Pietersburg in 1946, and in 1947 I went with Molly to Potchefstroom. Every minute that I was in their company I was bursting with pride. This was the beginning of a personal relationship which grew with the passage of years. And with it grew my love and respect and admiration. How I looked forward to being with them again after this incarceration is over. But, alas, death has snatched them both away. It has caused me deep hurt and left a huge void in my life.

Yet I dare not allow myself to give way to despair, dejection or disillusionment. That would be disobedient to the wishes of Bram and Molly. Sorrow I cannot help, but mingled with it is the overpowering feeling of richness, pride and gratitude at having been privileged to be so closely associated with them. If I could but emulate, to the slightest degree, their exemplary lives, their goodness, warmth and love of humanity, their generosity, their confidence and tireless contribution towards the attainment of our common ideals, I shall have paid my tribute to two of the most wonderful people I have known.

Lots of love and good wishes to you, Ruth and Ilse, and to all relatives and friends from AMK.