Shepherd Stuurman

Shepherd Stuurman , also Klaas Shepherd or Hendrik Bekeer (* around 1874 probably in Hankey , Cape Colony ; † February 24, 1907 in Kimberley , today South Africa ) was an African traveling preacher . He gained significant influence on the Nama - Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi , the leader of the Witbooi clan in the uprising of the Herero and Nama . Stuurman took part in the fighting. Later he stayed among workers in the Cape Province under the name of Hendrik Beeker . In connection with the so-called Hopefield murders, he was sentenced to death in 1907 and executed.

Life

origin

Shepherd Stuurman came from the British Cape Colony , where he was probably born and raised in Hankey around 1874. He later lived in Port Elizabeth , where he joined a Cape Presbyterian ecclesiastical community . At the end of the Second Boer War (1899-1902) he settled in the Transvaal Province .

What is known about Stuurman's origins is based almost entirely on his own statements that he made during interrogations about the Hopefield murders . He described himself as a member of the " Hottentot tribe ". It is unclear whether he belonged to the family association of the Stuurmans from the Eastern Cape , from which the freedom fighters Klaas (around 1770–1806) and David Stuurman (1773–1830) came.

The name Shepherd Stuurman means in translation from English and Dutch shepherd helmsman . In the Christian context , “Shepherd” allows the association of the Good Shepherd .

Agitation in the South African colonial areas

As a member of a strongly anti-colonial and anti-western oriented church, he could be counted as part of the “ Ethiopian Movement ”, which strived for a purely African Christianity. In November 1903, he set out from Port Elizabeth to assemble the Cape chiefs behind his mission to free all blacks and drive out the whites.

This happened in the early stages of the Herero rebellion, even before the Nama became involved in the conflict. German colonialism was about to destroy the communities and economic foundations of indigenous society. Large parts of the country had changed hands, trade and economy had come to a standstill and the population plunged into poverty. The situation was therefore very tense, which also played into the hands of Stuurman's intentions to spread the unrest.

Caption:
Captain Hendrik Wittboi with his staff .
Greetings from German South West Africa

According to the self-proclaimed prophet , the journey took him via Kimberley and Upington to Gibeon , where he met Hendrik Witbooi. However, his efforts to convince the old chief to take up arms against the Germans were initially unsuccessful. Stuurman is said to have replied to the captain's refusal:

“ If you put obstacles in my way, I will go. I don't need the reds ”(meaning the Witbooi)“ [...] to drive the Europeans out. I can do that with the blacks (the Herero) "

According to reports from the Cape Police in Rietfontein, “Scheppert Stürmann” was arrested at the colonial border in early 1904 for making “inflammatory speeches”. In February 1904 he arrived in Rehoboth . He informed the locals, the so-called Basters (descendants of mixed marriages between Nama (women) and Boer immigrants), that God had come to him in a fire and commissioned him to spread the message that the time was black had come to be redeemed. But the captain of the Basters also rejected him when he declared that “a little king” was chosen to free the black people, leaving no doubt as to who this king was.

arrest

In May 1904, Stuurman was arrested by units of the Imperial Guard at the Herero camp in Windhoek after his activities aroused suspicion by the German military. It was found that he had two passports issued in South Africa. He was sentenced to several weeks of forced labor, but released again in June after paying a fine of ten marks. The German officials hoped to avoid trouble with the Cape authorities, who might have intervened on behalf of their subjects.

Before he was allowed to leave, he was questioned by a representative of the Rhenish Mission . The Pastor Carl Wandres noted that Stuurman was about 30 years old, English and Dutch language, but no African language. In addition, various substances were discovered among his things, such as: B. sulfur and devil's dung , which were used in witchcraft . Wandres concluded from Stuurman's information that he was an "agent" of the Ethiopian movement.

After his release from Windhoek prison, he promised to leave the German colony. In fact, colonial officials heard rumors about him in the Keetmanshoop area, where he preached, converted and had religious conversations.

Relation to Hendrik Witbooi

Stuurman's fame grew and from June 1904 the Rhenish missionaries became aware of his presence in Rietmond, where Hendrik Witbooi had set up his headquarters. The captain, who was very open to religious matters, introduced Stuurman to the technical assistant of the mission society Ludwig Holzapfel and his wife Meta. He later reported from Stuurman that he was "intelligent, of small stature and dark brown complexion, a real Kapenaar" (Cape resident).

On October 3, 1904, Hendrik Witbooi terminated the protection treaty with the Germans and the Nama revolt against colonial rule developed.

By this time, Stuurman seems to have cemented his reputation as a prophet, enjoying widespread recognition and influence. In a report to the Rhenish missionary in Gibeon, Christian Spellmeyer, it is said that he was only called "the Prophet" in Rietmond. In the following it is said that he appointed several people to be “servants of God” and gave them “the Holy Spirit”. Only these elect are allowed to preach and pray. The Nama chief became a follower of the Prophet.

The letter to the missionary also speaks of a light emanating from the prophet's body and a halo surrounding his head. In addition, it is said that no one is allowed to touch him and that he always walks alone. Spellmeyer wondered if the Prophet used modern technological tools. "Maybe he has some electrical machines on his body that nobody is allowed to see, of course."

Overall, Spellmeyer now shared Wandres' view that Stuurman could belong to the Ethiopian movement, which is not confirmed in the records. But Spellmeyer was concerned about the strange behavior of some of his old acquaintances among the Namas.

Isaak Witbooi, Hendrik's son, later stated in an interrogation that his father was encouraged by the prophet to declare war on the Germans. Isaak stressed that Stuurman “never spoke about ecclesiastical matters in the Cape Colony” and added, “I don't know anything about an Ethiopian church. Stuurman never mentioned it ” .

Fight together with the insurgents

Lothar von Trotha with his staff

In July 1904, Governor Leutwein was replaced as commander of the Schutztruppe by Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha . In contrast to his predecessor, who favored a political solution to the conflict, Trotha pursued the destruction of the insurgents with his warfare .

In September 1904 Stuurman married the daughter of the bastard Moses Meier in Marienthal . The seventeen-year-old woman later stated that her father forced her to do so. She resisted until she was finally forced to have sex by Stuurman at gunpoint.

Stuurmann set up an elite troop, the so-called "God fighters". He promised invulnerability to young men who were thirsty for action, after he had anointed them to be "holy warriors". This is said to have been enough that they willingly followed him.

Trotha's extermination order (last copy in the National Archives Botswana)

When the Nama, under their captains Hendrik Witbooi and Jakob Morenga, took part in the Herero uprising in October 1904 , Sturrman played an active role with about thirty of his fighters and took part in several skirmishes with the Schutztruppe.

On October 2, 1904, General von Trotha issued a proclamation to the Herero people, which later became known as the "extermination order". In it he put a bounty on the leaders of the insurgents. For Hendrik Witbooi's capture, dead or alive, a premium of 5,000 marks was offered; Stuurman's value was put at 3,000 marks. After the uprising was put down in 1907, Stuurman was later accused by several Witbooi-Onderkapsteine ​​of having ordered the shooting of Holzapfel the next day in addition to the murder of District Administrator Henning von Burgsdorff on October 4. Holzapfel was one of the first dead to be mourned in the Nama war against the occupying forces. He was shot dead by a Witbooi squad for refusing to hand over his firearm and ammunition.

From the report of a bastard who spied on the Witbooi on behalf of the Germans after the outbreak of hostilities, it emerges that the position of “Skipper Stuurman” in Rietmond was almost godlike. He preached that all whites would be given into his hands and that all whites would die. The Witbooi believed in this man who had enormous power over Hendrik and all Witbooi. He just has to give orders and instructions. Everything will be followed without question.

After the Witbooi had been defeated several times by the Germans, the battle-hardened Witbooi began to harbor doubts about the prophet and his sacred mission. They noticed that Stuurman was afraid of the German machine guns and field artillery , while they themselves, certain of their invulnerability, were rather indifferent to the enemy rifle volleys. Due to his discouragement, which was also paired with military incompetence, he gradually lost his nimbus .

When Stuurman came across a German patrol near the Stamprietfontein trading post , he barely managed to escape after throwing away his rifle and ammunition belt and taking off his clothes so that he would not be identified if he were captured. During the subsequent German offensive of several days at the Battle of Stamprietfontein on January 1, 1905, Stuurman gave the Witbooi inaccurate information and claimed that the German troops had miraculously escaped. This misinformation led to a hasty withdrawal of the Witbooi in a military situation that was not unfavorable for them. After this setback, he accused the "holy warriors" of not being firm enough in the faith. It appears that Hendrik Witbooi was skeptical of Stuurman's claims but did not openly express his doubts.

The exhausting fighting weighed heavily on the Witbooi and the first units deserted . When the Witbooi and their allies held a council of war in the Kalahari Desert , Stuurman accused the Nama of a lack of belief in his divine mission. There was an open confrontation between him and the “Onderkaptein” Samuel Isaak, who ridiculed the prophet's courage. Stuurman desperately appealed one last time to the unconditional acceptance of his role as prophet by the Witbooi. Hendrik Witbooi refused to take sides in this dispute. After Stuurman's authority was openly challenged, he left the Witbooi and lived with the family of his father-in-law Moses Meier near the dry rivers Auob and Fischfluss . In the following years Stuurman established himself there as an independent warlord and attacked German units.

In April 1905 he met Samuel Isaak again, who was looking for scattered Nama partisans near Heirubkobis Vley. He worked with Samuel Isaak again, but when an operation failed, tensions rose again between the two. The Prophet's reputation was at a low point after that and it appears that he was universally despised as a coward. Once he is said to have stopped an attack because a ghost in the form of a jackal warned him of its near end if he carried out the attack. In May 1905, Isaak and Stuurman were expelled from their hiding place near Mukurob by German soldiers .

But Stuurman saw himself now driven to the extreme. During a new attack at Keetmanshoop, he dictated a message to the protection force. He declared, "In the last days a king will be born to destroy a kingdom". A missionary in Keetmanshoop, Tobias Fennel, commented on this “confused letter” and concluded: “The poor, misguided people were drawn into the war by a fanatical visionary and are now bleeding to death” .

However, the German military command took the prophet very seriously. On April 22, 1905, Trotha published another proclamation, addressed to the Herero people, and affirmed the head bonuses for the leaders of the rebellion. Stuurman knew about the proclamation. By order of the general it had been attached to stakes in the sand field (Omaheke), where Stuurman, who did not speak the Nama language , had come across a copy which was read to him by his companions.

On the run

A little later, the Witbooi learned that Stuurman had left German Southwest Africa by night and fog and was hiding in the Upington region. In August 1905, Trotha informed the German consulate general in Cape Town that Stuurman was probably hiding in the British Bechuanaland . He directed the consulate to ask the British police to prevent Stuurman from returning to the German colony. The German Legation Councilor in the Consulate General of Cape Town, DH von Jacobs, wrote to the High Commissioner, Lord Selborne, that Stuurman was known as one of the most fanatical members of the Ethiopian Church and was seen as a grave threat to Christianity and the White Race in South Africa as a whole. The mounted unit of the Cape Mounted Police (Cape Police) then sent a patrol in search of the "native Hottentot leader Stuurman Scheppert". The police report states that the Prophet was seen at Twee Rivieren near Rietfontein in August.

It is difficult to reconstruct the Prophet's whereabouts. There are indications that the German authorities tried to track him down in the British Cape Colony in order to have him eliminated by a hired murderer. But Stuurman seems to have succeeded in disappearing from the picture for several months.

Among workers in the north of the Cape Province

It was not until almost a year after his disappearance from Deutsch-Südwest that he reappeared. As it became clear from later findings, he had in mid-1906 under the name of Hendrik Bekeer in Hopefield - asbestos mine in the north of Cape Province (today Province Northern Cape ) hired as a laborer and was still ready to continue its holy war on the spot.

Here, too, his hatred of the whites fell on more fertile ground, because the working conditions for the predominantly native men, women and children were not only very dangerous, but they were also paid very unequally by the Cape Asbestos Company. Whites generally received double wages as their “colored” colleagues. Dissatisfaction with insufficient food rations exacerbated the situation.

Stuurman (Beeker) returned to the role of preacher and agitated against white rule. At a prayer meeting on the night of September 4th to 5th, 1906, his plans for a conspiracy, which was mostly carried out by men, were approved by about 20 workers.

The Hopefield murders

On the morning of September 5, 1906, six men had found each other who had the courage to "kill two white men for the Lord," as Bekeer (Stuurman) had ordered. The assassins gained access to the tent of their white foreman and his family. They attacked the sleeping people with stones, knobkierries (a kind of killers ), a chair leg and an ox yoke . The foreman, Dirk Mans, died 18 hours later from his injuries. His wife and children found it difficult to get to safety. Another victim, William Swanepoel, the well-digger, was beaten to death so cruelly that his skull was split open. The perpetrators wanted to kill even more whites, but were confused by what had happened and dispersed. All six men were tracked down by the police after several days.

Bekeer, the ringleader of the murder gang, said when he was arrested: "He was glad to be caught even though he knew his life would be at an end." He couldn't wait to tell the prison guard that the group had planned to to kill all whites in the Cape. The deeds, which the press dubbed “Hopefield Outrage”, made the headlines for a long time and, as the “war against the whites”, contributed to a general uncertainty among the white population. The farmers took precautionary measures and feared a "general massacre". The authorities were asked to provide police protection to the whites and their property.

Trial and conviction

Even in court, Bekeer seemed eager to confess his crimes, but he did not ask for forgiveness. He explained:

“ I admit it's my fault. I, Hendrik Bikier [sic], laid hands on both souls. I have a desire in my heart that needs to be made known to everyone. I admit that I am a worker of God. I confess to the court and to all whites that I am brought here by the Lord and that I will do his will ... The time when whites had the upper hand is over. This is for Africa only, but God has taken power over whites all over the world. "

He received the authority to act directly from God, who chose him by saying to him:

“ I will take you from the Hottentot tribe and make you king over all kings. "

The judge emphasized the importance of the nom de guerre that Stuurman had used in the Cape Colony and seemed to want to emphasize the intent of the act. "Bekeer" means something like "convert". Bekeer's attorney tried to portray his client as insane, but the judge rejected that line of defense. The prosecution called for the death penalty and left no doubt that this penalty was the only way to counter the tendency towards religious fanaticism among the lower strata of the local population with a chilling verdict.

The jury only needed five minutes for their verdict. The judge's reasoning in the full courtroom took 85 minutes. He handed down four death sentences. Two of the defendants were sentenced to hard labor on extenuating circumstances. On February 24, 1907, Shepherd Stuurman aka Hendrik Bekeer and three of his accomplices were hanged in Kimberley Prison.

Review

After the death of Hendrik Witbooi, the Witbooi uprising collapsed and many Nama fighters were imprisoned. The inspector of the Rhenish Mission, J. Spiecker, visited the prisoners of war in the concentration camp on the notorious Shark Island in Lüderitz Bay . Spiecker's account suggests that the Prophet had become the evil spirit in the memory of the Witbooi, whom they accused of driving their captain into a self-destructive war. Some prisoners claimed that the death of many settlers was ordered by Stuurman without the captain's knowledge. The view that Hendrik Witbooi had become a mere tool in the hands of the "false prophet" was shared by many missionaries and also by German officers. Even the German governor Theodor Leutwein had no doubt that “the false prophet from the Cape Colony” was the main reason for Hendrik Witboois overflowing.

literature

• Tilman Dedering: The Prophet's 'War against Whites': Shepherd Stuurman in Namibia and South Africa, 1904–7 (=  Journal of African History . Volume 40 ). Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 1–19 ( cambridge.org [PDF; accessed March 16, 2019]).
• Horst founder : history of the German colonies . UTB GmbH, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8252-3639-7 .

Literary adaptations

• Uwe Timm : Morenga . Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2001, ISBN 978-3-462-01604-8 .
• Eduardo Garrigues: The Lady of the Savannah: An Africa Saga . Aufbau Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-8412-0649-7 ( google.de [accessed on March 16, 2019]).

References and comments

1. ↑ ^{a b} Note 1: Post-processed photo

1. ↑ Note 2: The use of an electrical device does not seem very likely given the state of the art at that time. But the use of so-called "Foxfire" as a light source would be an option. This phenomenon has been known since ancient times and is described for example in Mark Twain's novel " The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn " (published 1884).

1. ↑ Cape Archives, Attorney General Files, 2663 Letter Book, V. Sampson, 24 Feb. 1907, Re Hendrik Bekeer and others
2. ↑ ^{a b} Federal Archives of Lightsfelde, Reich Colonial Office. 2134, Wilhelm Koopmann, Rehoboth, November 11, 1904
3. ↑ Bundesarchiv Lichterfelde, Reichskolonialamt, 2134, Police Master Lauterbach, Windhoek, 10 Nov. 1904
4. ↑ United Evangelical Mission, Rheinische Missions Gesellschaft, personnel files, 1.623 (B / cII 51), Carl Wandres, Windhoek, 25 Oct.
5. ↑ Rhenish Missions Reports, April 1905
6. ^ ^{A b c} Central Bureau, Imperial Gouvernement of German South West Africa, interview with Isaak Witboi. Windhoek, June 2, 1906
7. ^ Theodor Leutwein: Eleven years governor in German South West Africa. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1906, p. 521 f.
8. ↑ Questioning of the two sons, daughter and wife of Moses Meier, Keetmanshoop, May 15, 1906
9. ↑ District Office Keetmanshoop to Leutwein, November 8, 1904
10. ↑ Central Bureau, Imperial Gouvernement v. German South West Africa, Lucas Hans, Windhoek, June 14, 1906
11. ↑ Zentralbureau, Imperial Gouvernement of German South West Africa, Samuel Isaak, Windhoek, March 15, 1906.
12. ↑ Bundesarchiv Lichterfelde, Reichskolonialamt, 2135, Von Trotha to the General Staff, Windhoek, 29 March 1905
13. ↑ United Evangelical Mission, Rheinische Missions Gesellschaft, personnel files, 1.617 d (B / c II 45, vol. 4), Tobias Fenchel, Keetmanshoop, 9 Sept. 1905
14. ↑ General Staff. Battles of the German troops, 186
15. ↑ Zentralbureau, Kaiserliches Gouvernement von Deutsch-Südwestafrika, D.1V.m.2, Volume 4, Samuel Isaak, Windhoek, March 15, 1906. The proclamation was translated into Khoekhoegowab
16. ↑ Public Records Office, London, Foreign Office 64/1647. Native uprising in German South West Africa. Jacobs to the High Commissioner, Cape Town. Aug 19, 1905.
17. ^ Commissioner, CMP to Major Berrange at Upington, Cape Town, Aug. 28, 1905.
18. ^ Diamond Fields Advertiser, Sept. 7, 1906.
19. ^ Cape Archives, Colonial Office, Defense and Police Correspondence Files, 833: X 6 585, Sept-Nov. 1906, Wimble to Commander CMP in Cape Town, Sept. 16, 1906.
20. ↑ High Court Kimberley 1/1/1/38, preliminary investigation, Hendrik Bekeer, Hendrik Viviers
21. ^ ^{A b} District Surgeon for the district of Hay, J. Cranke. Diamond Fields Advertiser, Oct. 2. 1906; 13 Feb 1907
22. ^ Cape Archives, Colonial Office, Defense and Police Correspondence Files, 8331, X 6585, Sept-Nov. 1906, Wimble to Commander, CMP Cape Town, Sept. 16, 1906.
23. ^ Diamond Fields Advertiser, Feb. 13, 1907
24. ^ South African News, February 2, 1907. Judge Lange was later criticized by Crown Attorney Victor Sampson for misleading the jury. Sampson argued that Bekeer was moved not by "malice" towards his victims, but by "his insane beliefs", which would have justified life imprisonment as a "criminal madman". However, he emphasized that, contrary to the ringleader's mentally disturbed state, his accomplices had deliberately joined the conspiracy. In his opinion, they fully deserved their death sentences. Cape Archives, Attorney General Files, 2663. Reports on Matters Referred to the Crown Attorney, 1907-8, Victor Sampson, February 24, 1907, Re Hendrik Bekeer and others: Murder.
25. ↑ United Evangelical Mission, Rheinische Missions Gesellschaft, Feldakten, 3,346 a (C / s 5, 8a-b), vol. 8, I - Part 2, Spiecker, April 22, 1906, 15-16.