Holocaust educator takes message to the masses

Clive Mashishi is a man on a mission. A former construction worker, he left his job to educate local communities about the Holocaust, Israel, antisemitism, and Jewish history. Last year, he joined the World Jewish Congress’ International Holocaust Remembrance Day initiative, #WeRemember, stringing banners across busy bridges and roads, opening up avenues of education for people who had never heard about the Holocaust.

So how did a man from the Vaal area of Gauteng who had no Jewish background or connection come to be the face of Holocaust remembrance in the region? He says that while his father called him Clive after his Jewish boss, and his grandmother worked for a Jewish woman, he had few interactions with Jews. In his community, stereotypes about Jews abounded, although he always had a fondness for the Jewish community.

It was only after a long journey through various political parties and movements, eventually finding a “home” at the South African Friends of Israel (SAFI), that he first realised the full extent of the Holocaust, and it changed his life.

“When [former SAFI director] Dr Gavi Sacks spoke to me about the Holocaust, I saw pain in his eyes. I’ve seen antisemitism at universities, and I’ve read a lot of books, watched a lot of movies. But it’s not the same as speaking to someone connected to the history of the Holocaust,” he says.

“Then, during International Apartheid Week, I spoke at the University of Cape Town and Wits [the University of the Witwatersrand]. I saw antisemitism and hatred there, even people saying the Holocaust was fake. After that, I worked with the World Jewish Congress on the #WeRemember campaign.

“Then last year when the pandemic started, I saw the hatred grow. Texts like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were distributed around communities, and people believed that Jews had created COVID-19 to control the world. After seeing that and knowing what Jewish students were facing, I sat with my small team and we decided to dedicate this year to educating our communities [about the Holocaust].”

He aims to educate based on fact. Many people simply don’t know about the Holocaust, he says, and their perceptions of Jews are based on stereotypes and a lack of knowledge and interaction as opposed to malicious intent. However, often political leaders buy into antisemitic ideas.

“Political parties are antisemitic, even if they try to hide it. They put it in the category of ‘white monopoly’, but you can sense it’s there in their policies and ideological thinking. I used to hope I could make them listen, but I’ve realised I can’t. So I would rather educate the masses. You can’t trust politicians, but if you go to the people, the politicians will listen to them.”

Mashishi says people welcome the information he shares with them. “There has been an amazing response. I thought the first #WeRemember banner I put up would be removed within a day. But it stayed up, people took photos, and wanted to know more. People called and asked me what we were remembering, and I explained about the victims of the Holocaust. Many were amazed to hear what the Jewish community had faced. People become invested, they want to learn more, they read up about it on their smartphones, or they borrow books. When they ask me more questions, I can hear they know more than they did before.”

One result of his work is that people have asked to visit the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre. “People didn’t have that education, and now they want to gain knowledge that they missed out on.”

Mashishi has started his year-long campaign with an advert on Hope FM radio station talking about the #WeRemember campaign and linking it to Human Rights Month in South Africa. He says he expected people to question the advert, but there have been only positive responses.

His next step is to screen the film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas on a projector screen in various communities. “People can sit in their yards and watch it, but still keep a social distance. It will give people a little bit of information, then they can continue with their own research.”

But he doesn’t want to stop there. “My goal is to go to other provinces. More vocal antisemitism often comes from rural areas.”

Mashishi often thanks the person who taught him the basics of what he knows, and he sees himself as continuing that chain. “I loved the Jewish community but I didn’t know the history. He found me in a political party, fighting with people about being anti-Israel. He didn’t tell me to leave, but after that, I realised that it wasn’t the right movement. He motivated me to study more. And now I’ve met a kid in Mafikeng, and he’s just like me. He’s very interested. So, it’s about educating the next generation.”

Mashishi’s work is supported by donations, but he emphasises that he has found his purpose, and will continue no matter what. He could benefit from having his own transport so that he can travel further and work with more people.

People don’t see how much the Jewish community works to uplift others in the country, Mashishi says. His own work goes beyond education – he has worked closely with The Angel Network (TAN), distributing food and other urgently-needed resources during the pandemic.

“We first met Clive in 2019. He was a quiet, shy, unassuming young man,” says Glynne Wolman, the founder of TAN. “At that time, he was trying to feed desperate people, and we tried to help where we could.. Now he assists us in distributing a portion of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies’ R15 million food relief fund (of which TAN is the custodian), to those most in need. He is one of our biggest advocates, and we are extremely proud to be associated with him. He’s done everything from helping people after a fire to mentoring drug addicts. He just wants to fix the world.”