Arthur Goldreich | Friend to Mandela, 82

Posted: May 26, 2011

Arthur Goldreich, 82, a comrade of Nelson Mandela's who helped the antiapartheid leader hide out on a farm by posing as his employer, died Tuesday in Tel Aviv, Israel, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement Wednesday.

In his autobiography, Mandela describes the South African-born Goldreich as having fought in the 1940s with the military wing of the Jewish National Movement in Palestine. Mandela said Mr. Goldreich provided some guerrilla expertise to the then-nascent armed wing of the African National Congress. He and his family pretended to be the owners of a farm on the outskirts of Johannesburg that was the ANC underground headquarters in the 1960s. "A flamboyant person, he gave the farm a buoyant atmosphere," Mandela wrote of Mr. Goldreich.

Mandela hid out for a time at the farm. Neighbors have spoken of seeing Mandela, whom they knew as David Motsamayi, in blue overalls selling produce on the street outside the farm. A raid on the farm in 1963 led to the Rivonia Trial, and decades in prison for Mandela.

Mr. Goldreich was among those arrested. He and three others escaped from a Johannesburg police station, and he made it out of South Africa disguised as a priest, eventually settling in Israel. He visited South Africa after apartheid ended in 1994 for a reunion at the farm, which now is a museum.

Mr. Goldreich was an artist and designer as well as an activist. He created the sets for King Kong, a celebrated South African musical tracing the tragic story of a real-life boxer. He is survived by his four sons.

- AP

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