{"product_id":"when-they-came-for-me-the-hidden-diary-of-an-apartheid-prisoner-9781789209068","title":"When They Came for Me: The Hidden Diary of an","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eApartheid and its resistance come to life in this memoir making it a vital historical document of its time and for our own.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \tIn 1969, while a student in South Africa, John Schlapobersky was arrested for opposing apartheid and tortured, detained and eventually deported.  Interrogated through sleep deprivation, he later wrote secretly in solitary confinement about the struggle for survival.  \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \tThose writings inform this exquisitely written book in which the author reflects on the singing of the condemned prisoners, the poetry, songs and texts that saw him through his ordeal, and its impact.  This sense of hope through which he transformed his life guides his continuing work as a psychotherapist and his focus on the rehabilitation of others. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t“[T]hetale of an ordinary young man swept one day from his life into hell, testimony to the wickedness a political system let loose in its agents and, above all, an intimate account of how a man became a healer.”—Jonny Steinberg, Oxford University\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003eFrom the introduction:\u003cbr\u003e \tI was supposed to be a man by the time I turned 21, by anyone’s reckoning. By the apartheid regime’s reckoning, I was also old enough to be tortured. Looking back, I can recognize the boy I was. The eldest of my grandchildren is now approaching this age, and I would never want to see her or the others – or indeed anyone else – having to face any such ordeal. At the time my home was in Johannesburg, only some thirty miles from Pretoria, where I was thrown into a world that few would believe existed, populated by creatures from the darkest places, creatures of the night, some in uniform. I was there for fifty-five days, and never went home again.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“A chilling, gripping, harrowing reminder of the evil nightmare that was the apartheid police state – and the brave people like John who resisted it.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Peter Hain, Lord Hain of Neath\u003c\/strong\u003e. Former Labour Minister. Author of \u003cem\u003ePolitical Activist\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“\u003c\/em\u003eWhen They Came For Me \u003cem\u003eis many things - the tale of an ordinary young man swept one day from his life into hell, testimony to the wickedness a political system let loose in its agents and, above all, an intimate account of how a man became a healer.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Prof. Jonny Steinberg\u003c\/strong\u003e, African Studies Centre, Oxford University, Author of \u003cem\u003eOne Day in Bethlehem\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“John has made surviving into a creative act that includes documentation of his experience and elevating it through poetry and literature in writing (that) is also as an act of creative protest; a means to bear witness for the many who did not survive; and a holding of account for those perpetrators who did. It informs the principles he uses as a psychotherapist to help others with similar experience find their way back to life … the sign they had emerged from the relational damage inflicted was to truly live and love again. This memoir is both a powerful historical testimony and a window into the complexities of revival following state terrorism.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Jack Saul\u003c\/strong\u003e, PhD, Licensed Psychologist, Director, International Trauma Studies Program, New York. Author of \u003cem\u003eCollective Trauma, Collective Healing\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“An intriguing story of endurance and survival. A reminder of times, and the people who resisted them, that should never be forgotten.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Gillian Slovo\u003c\/strong\u003e, formerly President, PEN. Author of \u003cem\u003eEvery Secret Thing: My Family, My Country\u003c\/em\u003e (1997); \u003cem\u003eRed Dust\u003c\/em\u003e (2000); \u003cem\u003eIce Road\u003c\/em\u003e (2004); \u003cem\u003eThe General: The Ordinary man who challenged Guantanamo\u003c\/em\u003e (written with Ahmed Errachidi, 2014)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“One of the most vivid, intimate and sustained accounts yet, of the brutality that apartheid’s torturers unleashed - a remarkable book about our inhumanity, the resilience of the human spirit and a powerful explanation for the present past lingering in the intimate violence of South African society … and a gift, hopeful and uplifting, of how a victim of extreme violence turns his personal experience into a professional practice, psychotherapy, that restores the broken lives of those who suffered similar fates. In the telling, the prisoner is freed and his tormentors, all named in person, left with the tragic memory of what they have done.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Prof. Jonathan Jansen\u003c\/strong\u003e, Professor Emeritus, University of Stellenbosch; Former Vice Chancellor, University of The Orange Free State, South Africa\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \tList of Illustrations\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eForeword\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \t\u003cem\u003eAlbie Sachs\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \tPrologue\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eIntroduction: \u003c\/strong\u003eThe Years Before\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eThe Days\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \t    Arrest: University of the Witwatersrand   \u003cbr\u003e \t    Interrogation I: Swanepoel in Compol Building\u003cbr\u003e \t    Solitary Confinement:  The Hanging Jail\u003cbr\u003e \t    Interrogation II: Johan Coetzee\u003cbr\u003e \t    Signing the Statement and Negotiating Release\u003cbr\u003e \t    Release\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eEpilogue\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eAfterword:\u003c\/strong\u003e Memory and Testimony\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \tAcknowledgements\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eAppendix 1:\u003c\/strong\u003e Arrest Warrant, English Translation\u003cbr\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eAppendix 2:\u003c\/strong\u003e The Sword and the Ploughshare: The Terrorism Act and the Bill of Rights\u003cbr\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eAppendix 3:\u003c\/strong\u003e Principles for the Political Applications of Psychotherapy\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \tBibliography\u003cbr\u003e \tIndex\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Berghahn Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51042567717207,"sku":"9781789209068","price":99.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781789209068.jpg?v=1750954676","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/when-they-came-for-me-the-hidden-diary-of-an-apartheid-prisoner-9781789209068","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}