While taking Matthew home this afternoon, we decided to complete an Ingress Mission that just went live in Irene Concentration Camp. It is our first time at this sad place in Irene although we have been to the rows and rows of small children graves in Krugersdorp which are too from the British Concentration Camps that were put up to imprison Afrikaans women and children. Your heart gets pulled apart seeing the senseless loss of so many children every time.
Here is an Afrikaans poem by Jan F.E. Celliers when he saw these graves all overgrown with Kosmos flowers about 10 years after this tragedy.
Blomme
Ek kom om ‘n kransie van rou te breng,
op kindergraffies ‘n traan te pleng.
Maar kyk, dis ‘n fees wat my oog gewaar
van blommetjies, blommetjies aanmekaar,
op ranke stingel oor graffie en steen -
soos graan op die lande, aaneen, aaneen;
soos kindertjies selwe in feesgewaad,
in hupp’lende dans op die windjie se maat;
spierwit hul kleertjies en roserooi -
die sonlig se glans op hul hemelse tooi.
O, moedertjies wat in die verte nog ween
om blompies ontnome, wat God had geleen,
kom kyk, uit elkeen en elk bittere traan
is ‘n heldere blompie weer opgestaan.
Dis net of die Vader sê “Vertrou!
My blomme sal groei oor die kranse van rou,
Ek gee weer terug wat gegee is aan My:
waar blomme gesaai is, sal blomme gedy.”
Flowers and tears, we shall not forget. And the list of names of children so long...
Ahlers, Alberts, Alders, Annandale, Armstrong, Aucamp, Auret, Austen, and Avondale.
Badenhorst, Bam, Bernard, Bekker, Bester, Beukes, Bezuidenhout, Bodenstein, Booysen, Borcherds, Bornman, Botes, Botha, Bothma, Bouillon, Breedt, Breytenbach, Briel, Brits, Brockett, Bronkhorst, Brown, Buckle, Burgers, and Butler.
Cameron, Camper, Cilliers, Cloete, Coertse, Coetsee, Coetzee, and Conradie.
Damon, Dannhauzen, De Beer, De Jager, De Kock, De Lange, De Waal, De Wet, Dirks, Dorfling, Dreyer, Drummond, Du Plessis, Du Plooy, Du Preez, Durr, Du Toit, and Duvenhage.
Ehlers, Eibers, Els, Engelbrecht, Enslin, and Erasmus.
Fabricios, Farrel, Ferguson, Ferreira, Fouche, Fourie, and Frames.
Geldenhuys, Geyser, Glass, Goosen, Gous, Greef, Grobler, Groenewald, Grove, and Grundeling.
Hamman, Harmse, Hattingh, Henrico, Herbst, Herholdt, Heyns, Heyser, Heystek, Horn, and Human.
Jackson, Jacobs, Janse van Rensburg, Janse van Vuuren, Jansen, Jordaan, Joubert, and Jurgens.
Kelly, Kietson, Klaase, Klaazen, Klassen, Klopper, Kloppers, Koekemoer, Koelman, Korb, Kotze, Kraft, Krige, Kromhout, and Kruger.
Labuschagne, Lafrante, Le Roux, Lessing, Lewis, Lindeque, Lizamote, Loggenberg, Lombard, Lottering, Lourens, and Lovell.
Maartens, Malan, Marais, Mare, Maritz, Markgraaf, Marks, Mc Intyre, Minnaar, Moller, Mostert, Muller, Murpay, and Mynhard.
Nagel, Naude, Neethling, Nel, Niemand, and Nortje.
Oberholzer, Oelofse, Oelofsen, Olivier, Oosthuizen, Opperman, Oriet, Otto, and Oukamp.
Papenfus, Parker, Peacock, Pelser, Petser, Peyper, Phul, Piek, Pienaar, Pieterse, Polderman, Potgieter, Preller, Pretorius, Prins, Prinsloo, Purchase, and Putter.
Raath, Ras, Rautenbach, Riekert, Robberts, Roets, Roos, Rudolph, and Ruitenberg.
Sauer, Scheepers, Schoeman, Schutte, Senekal, Shalekamp, Smal, Smit, Snyders, Snyman, Stander, Stapelberg, Steenkamp, Steward, Stewart, Steyn, Steynberg, Storm, Strauss, Struk, Strok, Strubel, Stynfaard, Surinke, Swanepoel, Swarts, and Swartz.
Taljaard, Terblanche, Theunissen, and Truter.
Upton
Van Aarot, van Aswegen, van der Berg, van der Merwe, van der Sand, van der Wald, van der Walt, van der Westhuizen, van Deventer, van Dyk, van Etk, van Heerden, van Jaarsveld, van Rensburg, van Rooyen, van Schalkwyk, van Staden, van Tonder, van Vuuren, van Warmelo, van Wyk, Venter, Vermeulen, Vermoten, Viljoen, Visagie, Vogel, Volk, and Vorster.
Waltman, Ward, Weale, Wenzel, Wheelers, White, Wolder, Wolmarans, and Wyngaarden.
Yorks, Yzel, and Zietsman.
When will we ever learn?
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