their defence lawyers to temporarily withdraw from the case Other notable figures involved in the treason trial Prosecutors included: J.C. Van Niekerk, chief prosecutor Oswald Pirow (from January 1958 onwards) Jacob de Vos, who replaced Pirow after his death in 1959 Judges included: Justice F.L. Rumpff, president, who was also a judge at the 1952 Defiance Trial Justice Kennedy Justice Joseph Ludorf, who withdrew when the defence argued he had a conflict of interest Justice Simon Becker Witnesses included: Professor Andrew Howson Murray, Department of Philosophy, University of Cape Town, brought in by the prosecution as an expert on communism. Defence and Aid Fund After the British priest, Canon John Collins learnt about the trial, and the calls for the death penalty, he set up the Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa to pay all legal expenses and look after the families of those on trial. This was one of the first examples of foreign intervention against apartheid in South Africa and proved very successful with over £75,000 being raised towards defending those accused. Harry Oppenheimer allegedly contributed £40,000 to the fund. In 1957, the campaigner Mary Benson joined the Defence Fund as its secretary. Significance of the trial In many ways, the trial and prolonged periods in detention strengthened and solidified the relationships between members of the multi-racial Congress Alliance. Rusty Bernstein wrote:Inter-racial trust and co-operation is a difficult plant to cultivate in the poisoned soil outside. It is somewhat easier in here where ... the leaders of all ethnic factions of the movement are together and explore each other's doubts and reservations, and speak about them without constraint. Coexistence in the Drill Hall deepens and recreates their relationships.The trial and resulting periods of detention also allowed ANC leaders to consult about the direction of their struggle and the possibility of armed struggle. Ironically, the court found that the ANC was nonviolent just as the ANC was starting to question the effectiveness of this strategy. In court, the 156 defendants sat in alphabetical order, visibly displaying the multiracial nature of the anti-apartheid movement. While the defendants sat side by side in court, they were strictly segregated in jail. When the trialists took over their own defence during the State of Emergency, they eventually convinced prison authorities to let them meet to plan their defence and white female defendants, white male defendants and black women defendants were brought to