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Product Description
A Human Being Died That Night recounts an extraordinary dialogue. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, a psychologist who grew up in a black South African township, reflects on her interviews with Eugene de Kock, the commanding officer of state-sanctioned death squads under apartheid. Gobodo-Madikizela met with de Kock in Pretoria's maximum-security prison, where he is serving a 212-year sentence for crimes against humanity. In profoundly arresting scenes, Gobodo-Madikizela conveys her struggle with contradictory internal impulses to hold him accountable and to forgive. Ultimately, as she allows us to witness de Kock's extraordinary awakening of conscience, she illuminates the ways in which the encounter compelled her to redefine the value of remorse and the limits of forgiveness.
About the Author
Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, a clinical psychologist, served alongside Archbishop Desmond Tutu as one of ten members of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She lectures internationally on issues of vengeance and forgiveness.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
17 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Profound Reflection on our capacity for Reconciation, Nov 4 2004
By Ann Mcelligott "Honolulu reader" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Human Being Died that Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid (Paperback)
Pumla Gobodo-Madikezela reflects on central human issues such as the nature of individual and social evil, the possibility of social reconciliation, the individual's ability to move from participation in violent evil to remorse, and the capacity to meet one another with forgiveness. As urgent at these issues are, her narrative makes compelling reading -- both her accounts of her face-to-face meetings with de Kock and her reflections on her personal story. She raises important questions. How are we to achieve reconciliation in an environment of domonization and divisiveness? Is the Nuremburg model of seeking justice for crimes against humanity actually a way of moving towards reconciliation? While she does not come to clear and definitive conclusions, her experiences and reflections raise some of the most urgent questions facing us as a human community.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Contemplating Forgiveness, Jun 17 2009
By Michael D. Moon "moon88" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Human Being Died that Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid (Paperback)
I read this book shortly after returning from a year in South Africa, when the Truth and Reconciliation Hearings were just waning. I originally bought it because of the timeliness of my visit. But I was also beginning the process of divorce. This book is a fascinating insight into the mind of a ruthless, apartheid murderer, but most important to me, the book has an underlying theme of the concept of forgiveness. We all have been taught that forgiving is the right thing to do, but is it? The author lets the reader decide. Terrific book!
5.0 out of 5 stars
We really didn't know, Feb 15 2012
By Kilkenny - Published on Amazon.com
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This review is from: A Human Being Died that Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid (Paperback)
I was born at the same time as the author, however as a middle class White, English speaking citizen who was politically aware and supported and worked for the official opposition - the Progressive Party and then the Democratic Party, I was completely in the dark as to the full horror of what the government was perpetrating in the name of all the Whites. This book is so interesting and so full of wisdom. It tries to make some sense of the times we lived through and the beliefs which led some people to such evil. A very good read, but remember, there were some of us who did not support Apartheid, but fought for a changed political system within the law and the moral code.
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