{"record":{"aliases":[],"appointmentIds":["south-africa-a7cf8fd95f6e7c"],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":[],"birth":{"date":"1924","place":"Germany","sourceIds":["schwarz-obituary"]},"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/harry-schwarz-e2afad28e1/","countrySlug":"south-africa","death":{"date":"2010","sourceIds":["schwarz-obituary"]},"entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/harry-schwarz-e2afad28e1/#person","eventIds":[],"expandedParagraphs":["Harry Schwarz was born in Germany in 1924 and escaped Nazi rule, reaching South Africa as a child. During the Second World War he served as a navigator in the South African Air Force. He then became a lawyer and joined the defence team in the Rivonia Trial of 1963–1964, when Nelson Mandela and other opponents of apartheid faced prosecution.","As an opposition member of Parliament from 1974 to 1989, Schwarz challenged the government’s racial policies and spoke against antisemitism. He also participated in Jewish communal leadership, serving on the national executive and other bodies of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies between 1983 and 2000.","Schwarz presented his credentials in Washington on 11 April 1991 and served through the transition from F. W. de Klerk’s government to Nelson Mandela’s presidency, leaving in 1995. On 5 May 1994, he and African National Congress representative Kingsley Makhubela presented the new South African flag to President Bill Clinton on the White House South Lawn. Clinton was announcing American aid and investment measures and the delegation that would attend Mandela’s inauguration.","Schwarz died in 2010. In his State of the Nation address that February, President Jacob Zuma paid tribute to him alongside the surviving members of the Rivonia defence team."],"id":"south-africa:harry-schwarz","identifiers":{},"legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-e2afad28e1d576b3a9a8.html","name":"Harry Schwarz","notes":[],"paragraphSources":[["schwarz-obituary"],["schwarz-obituary"],["state-protocol","schwarz-community","schwarz-flag"],["schwarz-zuma-tribute"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-e2afad28e1d576b3a9a8.html","relatedEvents":[{"basis":"tenure-overlap","country":"South Africa","date":"1994-10-04","description":"Nelson Mandela returns to the White House as South Africa’s elected president. He asks Americans who opposed apartheid to invest in the country’s reconstruction.","id":"south-africa-1994-state-visit","note":"Schwarz’s independently documented 1991–1995 service overlapped Mandela’s October 1994 state visit. His biography records a separate May 1994 flag presentation; it does not establish his presence at the October ceremony. Sonn presented credentials in March 1995 and is excluded from this visit.","sourceUrls":["https://www.gov.za/issues/20years/milestones-20-years-freedom","https://clintonwhitehouse6.archives.gov/1994/10/1994-10-04-presidents-clinton-and-mandela-in-arrival-ceremony.html","https://clintonwhitehouse6.archives.gov/1994/10/1994-10-04-remarks-by-president-and-pres-mandela-at-state-dinner.html"],"title":"A president returns to Washington","url":"South-Africa.html#history-south-africa-1994-state-visit"}],"relatedPeople":[],"relationships":[],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-10-29","revision":"b3d44b1375a63a58","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-10-29","date":"","id":"state-protocol","locator":"Separate dated appointment/credentials entries","publisher":"U.S. Department of State, Office of the Chief of Protocol","title":"South Africa: diplomatic representatives accredited to the United States","type":"official-register","url":"https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/94442.htm"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-29","date":"","id":"schwarz-obituary","locator":"8 February 2010","publisher":"World Jewish Congress","title":"Jewish anti-apartheid campaigner passes away","type":"institutional-obituary","url":"https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/jewish-anti-apartheid-campaigner-passes-away"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-29","date":"","id":"schwarz-community","locator":"History section, Harry Schwarz: ambassador 1991–1995","publisher":"World Jewish Congress","title":"The Jewish community in South Africa","type":"institutional-history","url":"https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/za"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-29","date":"","id":"schwarz-flag","locator":"Scope note for 5 May 1994","publisher":"William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum","title":"White House photographs: Jesse Jackson, FOIA 2023-0675-F","type":"official-photograph-register","url":"https://www.clintonlibrary.gov/research/archives/finding-aids/white-house-photos-jesse-jackson"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-29","date":"2010-02-11","id":"schwarz-zuma-tribute","locator":"Opening tribute to the Rivonia defence team and Harry Schwarz","publisher":"Parliament of South Africa / President Jacob Zuma","title":"State of the Nation Address, 11 February 2010","type":"official-speech","url":"https://www.parliament.gov.za/state-nation-address-his-excellency-jg-zuma-president-republic-south-africa"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2026-10-29","id":"mission-3dfefc0ad25f9d02b74d","locator":"Recognition; diplomatic relations; elevation to embassy","publisher":"","title":"A Guide to the United States’ History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: South Africa","type":"Mission record","url":"https://history.state.gov/countries/south-africa"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2026-10-29","id":"mission-04cc885abd94828e470e","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"South African Government — National flag","type":"Mission record","url":"https://www.gov.za/about-sa/national-flag"}],"topics":[]},"schemaVersion":1}