Abstract

LA GRANGE, Anna. The Bond van Oudgeïnterneerdes en Politieke Gevangenes as a Direct and Long-Lasting Social Manifestation Related to the Internment Policy of the Union of South Africa, 1946-1985. SM [online]. 2023, vol.51, n.2, pp.39-60. ISSN 2224-0020.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5787/51-2-1416.

During the Second World War, the Union of South Africa implemented emergency regulations, including an internment policy, to curb anti-war efforts within South Africa. These regulations and the internment policy affected one of the biggest anti-war organisations, the Ossewabrandwag ("Oxwagon Sentinel"), and many of its members were detained during the war in internment camps. In 1946, the Bond van Oudgeïnterneerdes en Politieke Gevangenes (freely translated as "the Association of Former Internees and Political Prisoners") was formed by individuals, mostly Ossewabrandwag members, who were interned in South African internment camps. Using the Bond van Oudgeïnterneerdes en Politieke Gevangenes collection that forms part of the Ossewabrandwag Archive, this article provides a brief historical background to the Bond van Oudgeïnterneerdes en Politieke Gevangenes. Some key themes are discussed, and the focus is on the organisation, and the possible effect of the organisation on its members is explored by framing nostalgia or nostalgic longing as central to its existence. By considering the Bond van Oudgeïnterneerdes en Politieke Gevangenes as a direct and long-lasting social manifestation related to the internment policy of the Union of South Africa, the ongoing study - from which this article derives - constitutes a first attempt at exploring the Bond van Oudgeïnterneerdes en Politieke Gevangenes and understanding its role in the larger picture of the South African Second World War experiences and memories.

Keywords : Bond van Oudgeïnterneerdes en Politieke Gevangenes; BOPG; Ossewabrandwag; Memorable Order of Tin Hats; Internment; Emergency Regulations.

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