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Anglo Boere Oorlog/Boer War (1899-1902) PIETERSBURG Kamp/Camp

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Bezuidenhout, Botha, Bronkhorst, de Fortier and 16 others
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Profiles

Pietersburg

People in this camp

6533

Pietersburg was the northernmost camp in the Transvaal system, isolated and difficult to service. Although Pietersburg itself was relatively open, the nearby Zoutpansberg was mountainous and forested, bordering on Mozambique. The town was only occupied by the British on 8 April 1901 and, initially, the people of this region were housed in Irene camp. It was only after some thought that it was decided to establish a camp in such a remote area, in May 1901. This was still, in some respects, frontier territory, vulnerable to attacks from local African societies who remained unsubdued by the Boers. While there were some established farmers, much of the wealth of the area was derived from lumber and mining. Slave trading (the capture and sale of black children as apprentices to Boer farmers) still occurred occasionally. Many of the families were subsistence farmers at best and the presence of the Buys clan of Mara was an indication of the ‘in-between’ status of some of the people. These were the descendents of a Cape colonial renegade, Coenrad Buys, who had married into local black families. His descendents, however, did not identify with black society (in the camp context at least) and refused to be classed with black camp inmates. Instead, they maintained a separate identity in Pietersburg camp, living largely in their own wagons but rationed by the camp authorities. The head of the family was ‘a big burly negro, who rules his camp with great discretion’, the Ladies Committee noted in November 1901. Pietersburg was close to malaria country and the health of the region was notoriously poor so it was inevitable that the mortality in Pietersburg camp should be high.

A detailed description, Pietersburg, can be seen on the web site British Concentration Camps of the South African War 1899-1902. An overview is also provided (in Afrikaans) on Wikipedia: Pietersburg-konsentrasiekamp

One of the camp inmates Jacobus Johannes Potgieter compiled a personal perspective, Die JJ Potgieter manuskrip, of the Anglo-Boer War and of his own experiences (including grave digging and his eventual escape) relating to the Pietersburg Camp.

The object of reproducing the list here is to see if these people can be located on Geni (Please list surname at the time, i.e.1901-1902)

THEY LIVED TO GO HOME

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THEY DIED IN THE CAMP

Pietersburg Concentration Camp cemetery on the eGSSA web site.

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How to Participate

If you have an ancestor who was in the ABW Middelburg Concentration Camp:

  1. Get yourself added as a collaborator
  2. Navigate to your ancestor's profile
  3. Under the "More Actions" link choose "Add to Project"
  4. Select the ABO ===Pietersburg===" project

How to add a link is explained in the attached document - Adding links to Geni profiles to projects.

Optional:

  • Include in the "About Me" section of each person a brief biographical sketch of their lives. Also include their Settler party and ship name and arrival date if known
  • Include a photograph/painting of your ancestor if one exists.
  • Your ancestor's profiles should be marked as "public" and not "private".
  • All included profiles should include full identifying information including birth and death dates as well as birth and death locations. It would also be very helpful if the immediate family of your pioneer ancestor, (their parents, siblings and children) profiles were public profiles also.
  • Do not make public any profiles of living people. NOTE: All POW included on this project will have their profiles editable by other geni.com collaborators of this project. The object of reproducing the list here is to see if these people can be located on Geni and perhaps develop trees from them. To take part in any project - you do need to first be a collaborator - so join the project. See the discussion Project Help: How to add Text to a Project - Starter Kit to get you going! How to Participate • Please add only the profiles of people that are linked to this project. This is easily done from the profile page using the Add to project link. • If you have any queries related to these ABW people, please start a discussion linked to this project. (See the menu top right). • Please add related projects to the menu on the right. • If you have links to related web pages that would be of interest to others please add them in the relevant section at the bottom of the page. In order to do this use the drop down menu at the top left of the screen and Join the Project. If this option is not available to you then contact a collaborator and ask to be added to the project. As a collaborator you will be able to edit this page. • Add any documents of interest using the menu at the top right of the page, and then add a link to the document in the text under the heading below. If you do not know how to do this please contact one of the other collaborators to assist you. How to add a link is explained in the attached document - Adding links to Geni profiles to projects.

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