05 Apr Bethulie and Springfontein Concentration Camps (1899-1902) – OFS
The Concentration camps were set up during the Boer War to prevent the Boer families from providing support to the Commandos in the field. These camps became places of misery with over 26300 Boers dying of diseases in the poorly managed camps.The main killer in the camps was measles, respiratory disease, and tyhus. Conditions started to change after Emily Hobhouse exposed the pitiful conditions in the camps, and the British public became better informed of General Kitchener’s operations.
This album has images of the Kemphof Camp at Bethulie. The 1737 graves were relocated in 1966 from the original position, which was to become flooded by the H.F.Vervoed Dam (now Gariep Dam). Many of the graves are now in mass graves and the old tombstones that survived have been set into collective monuments.
Also included are images of the Childrens Camp in Springfontein and the entrance feature which was opened in 1985 by Mrs Louisa Botha.
I have also included some images of some of the buildings and mouments in Bethulie.