REVIEW BY HELEN BAGNALL

I have never been to South Africa.  I have known only a few white South Africans.  And I have heard 
a lot about the evils of Apartheid over the years.  I have read some about the Truth Commision 
and about Nelson Mandela.  But since I have read Gillian Katz's book, "Witness to the Birth and 
Death of My Country, I feel a deeper connection to the people and their struggles and fears, 
especially the black South Africans.  She has made a way to access their inner feelings and to 
enter the lives of people on a personal level whom I would otherwise never get to know.  Reading 
this book has enlarged my world view.  I appreciate her writing.  She has given me insight into 
both the blacks and whites and their difficulties they have faced when immigrating to America.  
They had to leave the country and families they loved, hoping for a new life in America that is often 
not what they hoped for, but they had to do the best they could to survive.


Best Regards,
Helen Bagnall
Camas, Washington, USA