Conducts research and collects data on the global history of labour, workers, and labour relations

Toma Sik

In 2005 the IISH received a shipment from Hungary from the Hungarian-Israeli peace activist Toma Šik (1939-2004). From his early childhood, Toma Šik actively opposed Israeli militarism. His libertarian socialist ideas and vegan lifestyle were unique in Israel during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a familiar sight at demonstrations in central Israel for many years and also expressed active solidarity with the struggle of the Negev Bedouins. Šik headed the operations of the War Resisters International in Israel, which does not acknowledge the right to conscientious objection. In 2004 Šikmet with a tragic end when he was killed in an industrial accident on his farm in Hungary, the country where he was born, and where he had returned from Tel Aviv some years before.

Šiks papers include documentation on the peace movement in Israel in several languages, periodicals and leaflets about sustainable agriculture, organic agriculture, veganism and vegetarianism.

Text was taken from On the Waterfront - newsletter of the Friends of the IISH Issue 12 (pdf, 2.7 Mb).