Famous Jew in History: Helen Suzman (1917–2009)
Helen Suzman spent much of her political career speaking out against South Africa's apartheid system, one of very few in Parliament willing to do so.
Suzman was born in South Africa in 1917 to Jewish immigrant parents from Lithuania. She entered politics in the 1950s and became one of the country's most outspoken parliamentary opponents of apartheid.
From 1961 to 1974, Suzman was the only representative of the Progressive Party in Parliament. She used her position to challenge apartheid laws and expose the treatment of political prisoners. She also visited prisons, including Robben Island, where she met Nelson Mandela several times.
Her constant challenges were not appreciated by the government. When one minister accused her of asking questions that embarrassed South Africa, she famously replied: "It is not my questions that embarrass South Africa. It is your answers."
Suzman remained in Parliament for 36 years and continued to oppose apartheid until her retirement in 1989, just a few years before the system finally ended.
Helen Suzman showed that even one voice can make a difference. At a time when she was often hugely outnumbered, she continued to speak up for freedom and equality.