BLOOD THICKER THAN WATER

The title sums up the attitude of Cornelis Broeksma (1863-1901) and it would cause the spilling of his own blood, in defence of that principle, on this day 30^th September,in 1901.

Born in the Netherlands in 1863, the young lawyer, moved to Bloemfontein, in the independent Boer Republic of the Orange Free State, in 1882, to work for a legal firm.

Later he opened his own practice at Dewetsdorp in 1893 before moving to the Transvaal where, four years later, he became a public prosecutor in Johannesburg.

During the Anglo Boer War, and the occupation of the city by the British, Broeksma took the oath of neutrality but  became appalled at the conditions in the Turffontein concentration camp, a place that included the wife and children of General Christiaan de Wet.

Apart from working to alleviate the conditions in that camp, Broeksma also determined the outside world would learn of such conditions and also the scorched earth policies of farm destruction.

He contacted Dr F.E.T  Krause who had been sent to Britain as an undesirable person and also the Transvaal’s diplomatic representative in Europe, Dr Willem Leyds, using a pseudonym and the American Consulate’s diplomatic immunity.

Interestingly, one of his dispatches was intercepted in the American Consulate in Rotterdam (that speaks volumes about the effectiveness of British Intelligence) and he was subsequently arrested in his home at Braamfontein.

Here was also found a clandestine pamphlet inciting others to violate their oath of neutrality and on 12 September he faced a special military court where he pleaded guilty to all charges.

Informed on 29 September that he had been sentenced to death by firing squad, the sentence was carried out the next day on Kitchener’s instructions.

He was hailed in the Netherlands as a hero and martyr with a fund being raised for his widow, Jacomina, and their children, whose guardianship  were placed in the care of the Rev. Herman van Broekhuizen- a spiritual mentor to exiled ZAR President, Paul Kruger, in Menton and Utrecht and a member of Danie Theron’s Scouts earlier during the war.