Sabotage

On 16 December 1961, Umkhonto we Sizwe, meaning ‘Spear of the Nation’ and usually shortened to MK, publicly launched its campaign with sabotage attacks in Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. Mandela became its commander-in-chief. MK used sabotage: deliberate destruction or damage intended to disrupt an opponent’s activities.

The Bielski Partisans, formed by four brothers, hid in forests and carried out sabotage against the Nazis. Their example challenges the idea that persecuted people only endured Nazi rule passively.