Ray Harmel (1 December 1905 – 11 March 1998) was a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n-born South African anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

activist. She was a member of the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

, the

Garment Workers' Union of South Africa The Garment Workers' Union of South Africa (GWU) was a trade union representing workers in the clothing industry in South Africa. The union was founded in 1909, as the Witwatersrand Tailors' Association, and its initial membership was focused on ...

and the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

.Ray Harmel: A life fulfilled
''The Mail & Guardian''. 13 March 1998

Early life and family

Harmel was born Ruchel “Toybe” Adler in

Raseiniai Raseiniai (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Raseinē'') is a city in Lithuania. It is located on the south eastern foothills of the Samogitians highland, some north from the A1 highway (Lithuania), Kaunas–Klaipėda highway. History Grand ...

, a ''

shtetl or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...

'' in

. Her father, Moise Adler ran a cartage business before going into trade. Her mother, Fagamilla, was the daughter of a

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

scholar and was herself a strict

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tran ...

. Ray was one of seven children and the family spoke

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

at home. The family lived in poverty and Ray began working to contribute to the household after five years of schooling. Together with her friends, she formed a Jewish sports club that also hosted talks and lectures with a socialist bent. She was further influenced by her brother, Taffa, who returned from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

. She later lived in

Vilijampolė Vilijampolė is a neighborhood in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania, located on the right bank of the Neris River and the Nemunas River, near their confluence. Part of a larger which consists of Vilijampolė, , , and neighorhoods, and covers 1438 h ...

, where she worked in a factory and then a bakery. She joined the

Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania (; ) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clandestinely until it was legalized in 1940 after the Soviet invasion and occupation. The party was ...

and became involved in its activities. She faced arrest for her activities and decided to flee the country. She eventually boarded a ship in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

that was bound for

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Her parents and five of her six siblings were murdered in the

Shoah The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Only her brother, Sydney, survived.

South Africa

She moved in with relatives that were living in

Bertrams Bertram Trading Limited, commonly referred to as Bertrams, was the second largest United Kingdom based wholesaler of books, owned since 2018 by Aurelius Investments. It has 200,000 titles available for same-day despatch and has access to over 13 ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. She took English lessons with the bookstore owner, Fanny Klenerman. She learned tailoring and worked in Sam Jaff's plant for the next decade. Around this time she joined the

. She sparred with the factory owner and with the GWU general secretary,

Solly Sachs Emil Solomon “Solly” Sachs (11 November 1900 – 30 July 1976) was a South African trade unionist and an anti-apartheid activist. Early life Solly Sachs was born in 1900 in Kamai, Lithuania to Abraham Saks and Hannah Rivkin. His early child ...

, over a tactical stance on racial segregation. Sachs believed that only with racially segregated facilities would white Afrikaner garment workers be persuaded to join the union. Harmel rejected the approach as she was opposed to any form of racial segregation and discrimination. She also attempted to convince prominent Afrikaner women to adopt her stance on the issue. In the early 1930s, she became a member of the

. Among her tasks were both fundraising and selling the party newspaper, ''Umsebenzi''. She was also Treasurer of the Johannesburg District Committee of the party.Oralek, Milan (2020). Michael Harmel (1915-1974): A South African Communist and His Discourse. Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.26686/wgtn.17144345.v1 After ten years as a factory worker, Harmel took on a new venture to sell clothes to Africans living in

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a poor multi-racial area and a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid. It produced some of South Africa's most famous writ ...

. In the 1950s, Harmel, a seamstress, opened a dress shop on Bree Street in central Johannesburg. She made

Winnie Mandela Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, second wife of Nelson Mandela. During ...

's wedding dress in 1958.

Exile in London

In 1963, Harmel and her political activist husband,

Michael Harmel Michael Alan Harmel OLG (7 February 1915 – 18 June 1974) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, journalist and editor. He was a political mentor and friend of Nelson Mandela. Harmel was a member of the Central Committee of the Sout ...

went into exile in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. From there, she worked for the

' London office.

Personal life

In the 1930s, Harmel was in a relationship with the

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n-born communist activist, Lazar Bach, with whom she moved in with. Their union was cut short by his ill-fated trip to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. There, he sought

arbitration Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...

amid growing discord in South African communist politics. He was instead sentenced to hard labour in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and died at the age of 35 in 1941. She married

in 1940, a fellow South African activist, with whom she had a daughter, Barbara. The couple separated in the mid-1960s, whilst living in

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

in London. The family lived in

Yeoville Yeoville is an inner city neighbourhood of Johannesburg, in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. It is located in Region F (previously Region 8). Originally intended as a "well-to-do" neighbourhood, it instead developed into a white working ...

before building a family home in 1954 in The Gardens, a suburb of

. This home became a place of welcome and refuge for key political figures being pursued by the South African police, such as

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC ...

Ahmed Kathrada Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada OMSG (21 August 1929 – 28 March 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. Kathrada's involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African Natio ...

Bram Fischer Abraham Louis Fischer (23 April 19088 May 1975) was a South African Communist lawyer of Afrikaner descent with partial Anglo-African ancestry from his paternal grandmother, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti- ...

and

Sheila Weinberg Sheila Weinberg (1 October 1945 - 11 November 2004) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician. Born in Johannesburg, she was the daughter of Eli and Violet Weinberg who were both members of the ANC and the South African Communis ...

and her family. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

now adorns their former home, commemorating the legacy of both Ray and Michael Harmel. Harmel and her husband were friends with

and his wife, Winnie. Glamorous photographs of the couple in their wedding attire were taken at the Harmel home in Johannesburg. Harmel spent her final years living in Hammerson House, a Jewish nursing home in

Hampstead Garden Suburb Hampstead Garden Suburb is a suburb of London, north of Hampstead, west of Highgate and east of Golders Green. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations. It is an example of early twentieth-century ...

Cheryl Carolus Cheryl Carolus (born 27 May 1958) is a South African politician. She was born in Silvertown, on the Cape Flats, Cape Town. Carolus became involved in politics while still at school and became an activist after joining the United Democratic Fro ...

, South African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom at the time of Harmel's death, commended her as: “one of those women who… laid down the groundwork for future generations of women.”Ray Harmel
Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved on 3 September 2024

References

External links

Ray Harmel - Jewish Women's Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmel, Ray Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists South African anti-apartheid activists South African socialists Lithuanian socialists Lithuanian activists Jewish socialists 1905 births 1998 deaths South African exiles Lithuanian exiles South African people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Members of the South African Communist Party Members of the African National Congress South African prisoners and detainees