Vladimir Herzog
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Herzog nicknamed Vlado, was a Brazil
ian journalist
, university professor
and playwright
of Yugoslavia
n origin. He also developed a taste for photography
, because of his film
projects. Although his birth name was Vladimir, he adopted the pseudonym of "Vlado", for considering his real name very exotic for Brazil.
In October 1975, Herzog, then editor in chief
of TV Cultura
, was torture
d to death by the political police of the military dictatorship, which later forged his suicide. His death had a great impact on the Brazilian society, marking the beginning of the redemocratization process of the country. According to journalist Sérgio Gomes, Herzog is a "symbol of the struggle for democracy, freedom, and justice".
, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
province of Sava Banovina
(currently Croatia
) on 27 June 1937, to Zigmund and Zora Herzog, a Croatian Jewish family who emigrated to Brazil in the early 1940s, to escape Nazi
persecution.
in Philosophy
from the University of São Paulo
in 1959. After his graduation, he worked as a journalist in major media outlets in Brazil, notably in the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo
. During that period he decided to use "Vladimir" instead of "Vlado" as his first name, because he felt that his real name sounded extremely exotic in Brazil. Herzog would later work in London
for the BBC
for three years.
On the 1970s Herzog became the editor in chief of TV Cultura
, a public TV station managed by the São Paulo State
government. He also became a journalism professor at the University of São Paulo School of Communication and Arts, and developed a career as a playwright, gathering with theater intellectuals. Later in his life, Herzog became active in the civil resistance movement against the military dictatorship in Brazil, as a member of the Brazilian Communist Party
.
agents summoned him to testify about his connections with the then illegal PCB. The following day, Herzog went to the DOI-CODI
in order to comply with the summons. His interrogation
, however, was conducted through a torture session. He was arrested with other two journalists, Jorge Duque Estrada Benigno and Leandro Konder, which later confirmed his beating.
On 25 October, Herzog's body was found hanging in his prison cell. Although the official cause of his death is "suicide by hanging", there is a consensus in the Brazilian society that he was tortured to death. The DOI-CODI officers would have placed his body in the position it was found in order to inform the press that he had committed suicide. There are several facts in the photos of Herzog's dead body that prove the impossibility of a suicide attempt. He could not have hanged himself with a belt, because the officers collected the belts from inmates. His legs were bent and in his neck there are two marks of hanging instead of only one, showing that he was strangled to death.
Generating a wave of protests from the international press, and initiating a process in defense of human rights in Latin America, the death of Herzog boosted the movement against the military dictatorship in Brazil.
The autopsy
was inconclusive, but at the time forensic pathologists
were members of the police and systematically produced false autopsy reports in cases of death by torture
.
Public opinion
, however, never accepted this version and his murder
generated national indignation. The president of the Republic at the time, General Ernesto Geisel
was also upset by these and other actions by what he called the "criminals" of the largely parallel power of military
-directed violent political repression. As a result, he ordered a clean-up and reduction in these activities, firing the main ultra-right wing general behind it, Ednardo D'Ávila Melo.
According to Henry Sobel
, the chief rabbi
of the main synagogue
of São Paulo at the time, the murder of Herzog changed the country. "It was the catalyst of the eventual restoration of democracy
. His death will always be a painful memory of a shady period of repression, a perpetual echo of the voice of freedom
, which will never be kept silent".
After finding out that Herzog's body bore the marks of torture
, rabbi Sobel decided that he should be buried in the center of the cemetery
rather than in a corner, as Jewish tradition demands in cases of suicide
. This was made public and completely destroyed the official version of suicide. Officially, the first irrefutable proof that Herzog's death was not a suicide was reported in Fernando Pacheco Jordão's Dossier Herzog - Prisão, Tortura e Morte no Brasil. The author points out that the picture provided by the military as proof of Herzog's suicide portrayed the prisoner hanging by his prison belt tied in his cell's bars with his feet touching the floor and his knees notably bent — it is physically impossible to kill oneself in such a position.
By the time time of Herzog's death, Brazil was in extreme tension. The military had been in power for over ten years and the Brazilian population was constantly in fear. Herzog was the thirty-eighth person to "commit suicide" after being arrested by the military. The first thirty-seven however, were not as renowned as Herzog was. Precisely because he was a public figure his death attracted public and governmental attention to the case. His death is seen today as the beginning of the end of the Brazilian military dictatorship. Herzog has become a symbol of the fight for democracy
in Brazil and has been honoured in many ways, such as by attributing it to the street where the TV Cultura is located in São Paulo. In addition, a public prize for journalism devoted to amnesty
and human rights
has been established with his name (Prêmio de Jornalismo Vladimir Herzog de Anistia e Direitos Humanos).
Later, in a civil lawsuit
filed by his widow against the government, a federal tribunal recognized his wrongful death and granted monetary damages to Herzog's family. A documentary by director João Batista de Andrade, titled Herzog - 30 anos, was filmed in 2005. In the same year, new photographs of a still-living and fully naked Herzog in the prison cell were released on the Internet
, authorized by a high-ranking military officer in president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
's office.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, university professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
n origin. He also developed a taste for photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, because of his film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
projects. Although his birth name was Vladimir, he adopted the pseudonym of "Vlado", for considering his real name very exotic for Brazil.
In October 1975, Herzog, then editor in chief
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
of TV Cultura
TV Cultura
TV Cultura is Brazilian television network headquartered in São Paulo and a part of Fundação Padre Anchieta. It focuses on cultural subjects but also has sports as entertainment options.- History :...
, was torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d to death by the political police of the military dictatorship, which later forged his suicide. His death had a great impact on the Brazilian society, marking the beginning of the redemocratization process of the country. According to journalist Sérgio Gomes, Herzog is a "symbol of the struggle for democracy, freedom, and justice".
Early life
Herzog was born in OsijekOsijek
Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 83,496 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja county...
, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
province of Sava Banovina
Sava Banovina
The Sava Banovina or Sava Banate was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1939. This province consisted of much of present-day Croatia and was named for the Sava River...
(currently Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
) on 27 June 1937, to Zigmund and Zora Herzog, a Croatian Jewish family who emigrated to Brazil in the early 1940s, to escape Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
persecution.
Education and career
Herzog received a bachelor's degreeBachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
from the University of São Paulo
University of São Paulo
Universidade de São Paulo is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian university and one of the country's most prestigious...
in 1959. After his graduation, he worked as a journalist in major media outlets in Brazil, notably in the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo is a daily newspaper published in the Metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil, and distributed mainly nationally. It is owned by Grupo Estado, a holding company which publishes the Jornal da Tarde and owns the radios Rádio Eldorado AM and FM and the Agência Estado, largest...
. During that period he decided to use "Vladimir" instead of "Vlado" as his first name, because he felt that his real name sounded extremely exotic in Brazil. Herzog would later work in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
for three years.
On the 1970s Herzog became the editor in chief of TV Cultura
TV Cultura
TV Cultura is Brazilian television network headquartered in São Paulo and a part of Fundação Padre Anchieta. It focuses on cultural subjects but also has sports as entertainment options.- History :...
, a public TV station managed by the São Paulo State
São Paulo (state)
São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
government. He also became a journalism professor at the University of São Paulo School of Communication and Arts, and developed a career as a playwright, gathering with theater intellectuals. Later in his life, Herzog became active in the civil resistance movement against the military dictatorship in Brazil, as a member of the Brazilian Communist Party
Brazilian Communist Party
Brazilian Communist Party is the oldest political party still active in Brazil, founded in 1922, and one of the only Brazilian parties with a Stalinist orientation...
.
Arrest and murder
On 24 October 1975 – when Herzog was already editor in chief of TV Cultura – ArmyBrazilian Army
The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military. The Brazilian Army has fought in several international conflicts, mostly in South America and during the 19th century, such as the Brazilian War of Independence , Argentina-Brazil War , War of the Farrapos , Platine War , Uruguayan War ...
agents summoned him to testify about his connections with the then illegal PCB. The following day, Herzog went to the DOI-CODI
DOI-CODI
The Destacamento de Operações de Informações - Centro de Operações de Defesa Interna was the Brazilian intelligence and repression agency during the military government . This period started on March 31, 1964 with the removal of the civilian government by military forces and ended in the 1984....
in order to comply with the summons. His interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
, however, was conducted through a torture session. He was arrested with other two journalists, Jorge Duque Estrada Benigno and Leandro Konder, which later confirmed his beating.
On 25 October, Herzog's body was found hanging in his prison cell. Although the official cause of his death is "suicide by hanging", there is a consensus in the Brazilian society that he was tortured to death. The DOI-CODI officers would have placed his body in the position it was found in order to inform the press that he had committed suicide. There are several facts in the photos of Herzog's dead body that prove the impossibility of a suicide attempt. He could not have hanged himself with a belt, because the officers collected the belts from inmates. His legs were bent and in his neck there are two marks of hanging instead of only one, showing that he was strangled to death.
Aftermath
Herzog was married to advertising agent Clarice Herzog, with whom he had two children. With the death of her husband, Clarice went through rough times having to tell her young children what happened to their father. Three years later she was able to legally blame the Union for the death of her husband. Still unable to cope with Herzog's death, she has said that "Vlado would contribute more to the society if he were alive".Generating a wave of protests from the international press, and initiating a process in defense of human rights in Latin America, the death of Herzog boosted the movement against the military dictatorship in Brazil.
The autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
was inconclusive, but at the time forensic pathologists
Forensic pathology
Forensic pathology is a branch of pathology concerned with determining the cause of death by examination of a corpse. The autopsy is performed by the pathologist at the request of a coroner or medical examiner usually during the investigation of criminal law cases and civil law cases in some...
were members of the police and systematically produced false autopsy reports in cases of death by torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
.
Public opinion
Public opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
, however, never accepted this version and his murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
generated national indignation. The president of the Republic at the time, General Ernesto Geisel
Ernesto Geisel
Ernesto Beckmann Geisel, was a Brazilian military leader and politician of German descent who was President of Brazil from 1974 to 1979.-Early life and family:...
was also upset by these and other actions by what he called the "criminals" of the largely parallel power of military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
-directed violent political repression. As a result, he ordered a clean-up and reduction in these activities, firing the main ultra-right wing general behind it, Ednardo D'Ávila Melo.
According to Henry Sobel
Henry Sobel
Henry Sobel is a Brazilian reform rabbi and an American citizen, and was president of the Congregação Israelita Paulista , the second largest Jewish congregation in Latin America, in São Paulo, Brazil....
, the chief rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
of the main synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
of São Paulo at the time, the murder of Herzog changed the country. "It was the catalyst of the eventual restoration of democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
. His death will always be a painful memory of a shady period of repression, a perpetual echo of the voice of freedom
Freedom (political)
Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...
, which will never be kept silent".
After finding out that Herzog's body bore the marks of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, rabbi Sobel decided that he should be buried in the center of the cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
rather than in a corner, as Jewish tradition demands in cases of suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. This was made public and completely destroyed the official version of suicide. Officially, the first irrefutable proof that Herzog's death was not a suicide was reported in Fernando Pacheco Jordão's Dossier Herzog - Prisão, Tortura e Morte no Brasil. The author points out that the picture provided by the military as proof of Herzog's suicide portrayed the prisoner hanging by his prison belt tied in his cell's bars with his feet touching the floor and his knees notably bent — it is physically impossible to kill oneself in such a position.
By the time time of Herzog's death, Brazil was in extreme tension. The military had been in power for over ten years and the Brazilian population was constantly in fear. Herzog was the thirty-eighth person to "commit suicide" after being arrested by the military. The first thirty-seven however, were not as renowned as Herzog was. Precisely because he was a public figure his death attracted public and governmental attention to the case. His death is seen today as the beginning of the end of the Brazilian military dictatorship. Herzog has become a symbol of the fight for democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
in Brazil and has been honoured in many ways, such as by attributing it to the street where the TV Cultura is located in São Paulo. In addition, a public prize for journalism devoted to amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
has been established with his name (Prêmio de Jornalismo Vladimir Herzog de Anistia e Direitos Humanos).
Later, in a civil lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
filed by his widow against the government, a federal tribunal recognized his wrongful death and granted monetary damages to Herzog's family. A documentary by director João Batista de Andrade, titled Herzog - 30 anos, was filmed in 2005. In the same year, new photographs of a still-living and fully naked Herzog in the prison cell were released on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, authorized by a high-ranking military officer in president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
's office.
Legacy
In 2009, over 30 years after Herzog's death, the Vladimir Herzog Institute http://vladimirherzog.org was founded. Its aims are to archive material about Herzog, to promote debate about the role of journalists and new media, and to award the Vladimir Herzog Prize for Amnesty and Human Rights to journalists and human rights activists.External links
- Vladimir Herzog
- Testimonials of witnesses (In Portuguese)
- Press clippings at the time of his death (In Portuguese).
- Photos bring up past for Brazilians. The military's response to the publishing of photos of a journalist who died in army custody decades ago has revived anger over military abuses. NY Times News Service, Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Oct 25, 2004.
- Brazil: healing the scars http://news.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR190152004?open&of=ENG-344. Amnesty International statement.