Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Historic stoep


This modest old house in Irene, near Pretoria, was the home of General Jan Christiaan Smuts, South Africa's leader during WWll, and his wife Issie. In the black and white photo, taken early in the war, are 3 old ladies who were during the Boer War at the turn of the century, incarcerated in a concentration camp in Howick, standing together on that same stoep. They are, L to R, Mrs Opperman, Issie Smuts, and my ouma (grandmother) Sue Nicholson. Revisiting the house last week was for me a powerful reminder of volatile times past.

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