Manie Maritz (26 July 1876 – 20 December 1940), also known as Gerrit Maritz, was a Boer officer during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. He was also a participant in the

Herero and Nama genocide The Herero and Nama genocide or Namibian genocide, formerly known also as the Herero and Namaqua genocide, was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment waged against the Herero people, Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama people, N ...

and later a leading participant in the pro-

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Maritz rebellion in 1914. In the 1930s, Maritz became an outspoken Nazi sympathizer and supporter of Nazi Germany.

Early years

Maritz was born in

Kimberley, Northern Cape Kimberley is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal River, Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historica ...

then in the British colony of the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, and as such, was a British subject. He was christened Salomon Gerhardus Maritz. When he turned 19 he went to Johannesburg and was employed as a cab driver by his uncle. During the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (Afrikaans: ''Jameson-inval'', , 29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson ...

he volunteered as a guard of the Johannesburg fort. This entitled him to become a citizen of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR). This, in turn, permitted him to join the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek Politie (ZARP), the police force in Johannesburg.Maritz, Manie, My lewe en strewe, published by the author in 1939.

Second Boer War

Maritz joined the Boksburg Commando and proceeded to the Natal front. Later he joined

Daniel Theron Captain (armed forces), Captain Daniël Johannes Stephanus Theron (9 May 1872 – 5 September 1900) was a Boers, Boer military officer, teacher and lawyer best known for his service during the Second Boer War. Born in Tulbagh, Cape Colony, he wa ...

's reconnaissance corps and then participated in the invasion of the Cape Colony. He eventually landed up in the desert-like terrain of the North-western Cape. Maritz claims that

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts, 24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as P ...

appointed him as a ''veggeneraal'' ('fighting-general'). At that time Deneys Reitz was on the staff of General Jan Smuts. Reitz writes that Maritz was only a "leader of various rebel bands".Reitz, Deneys, Commando:A Boer journal of the Boer War, Albion Press, 2015, Kindle Edition, locations 3916 - 3921. If Smuts had appointed Maritz as a fighting general, Reitz would have known about it. Near the end of the war Maritz ordered the killing of 35 Coloured (

Khoikhoi Khoikhoi (Help:IPA/English, /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally Nomad, nomadic pastoralist Indigenous peoples, indigenous population of South Africa. They ...

) in what became known as the Leliefontein massacre. The massacre was a retaliation for an attack against Maritz and his party, when he went to interview European missionaries in Leilefontein. Gideon Scheepers and

Breaker Morant Harry Harbord "Breaker" Morant (born Edwin Henry Murrant, 9 December 1864 – 27 February 1902) was an English horseman, bush balladist, military officer, and war criminal who was convicted and executed for murdering nine prisoners-of-war ...

were court-martialled and shot for similar crimes. When peace was made, the burghers of the erstwhile republics were obliged to lay down their arms and sign an oath of allegiance to the British monarch. Instead, Maritz slipped over the border to

German South West Africa German South West Africa () was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. German rule over this territory was punctuated by ...

. In his autobiography, he did not explain why he did so.

Inter war years

Maritz went to Europe and then to Madagascar and back to Europe. He returned to South Africa, where he farmed horses in the Cape and is believed to have helped the Germans during the

. When Maritz returned, he went to the Transvaal, but was arrested for entering the colony, not having signed the oath of allegiance. He departed for the Cape. When the Free State received responsible government, he went there and later joined the police in the Transvaal.

First World War

In 1913, Maritz was offered a commission in the Active Citizen Force of the Union Defence Force. He accepted and, after attending a training course, he was appointed to command the military area abutting

German South-West Africa German South West Africa () was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. German rule over this territory was punctuated by ...

. In August 1914, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. There is evidence that he started colluding with the Germans at a very early stage. As early as the (southern hemisphere) autumn of 1913 he had contact with the German governor in the neighbouring country.Britz, Jurgens Johannes, Genl S G (Manie) Maritz se aandeel aan die rebellie van 1914 – 1915, unpublished M.A. dissertation University of Pretoria, 1979. On 23 September 1914 Maritz was ordered to advance in the direction of the German border, to support the Union's invasion in the vicinity of Sandfontein, where a portion of Lieutenant-Colonel Lukin's force was stranded. He refused to do so. Then he was ordered to relinquish command to another officer and return to Pretoria, but again refused to do so. On 9 October he eventually decided to rebel. The next day he occupied the town of Keimoes. Then on 22 October he was wounded in a skirmish with government troops and he was taken to German South-West Africa. Some people have named the rebellion after him.

Later life

When Maritz returned to South Africa in 1923 he was arrested and charged with high treason. He was convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment. When General Hertzog's National Party won the 1924 election, they released him after he had served only three months. During the 1930s, Maritz became a Nazi sympathiser and was known as an outspoken proponent of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

. In 1939 he published his autobiography called ''My Lewe en Strewe'' (''My life and aspiration''). Britz points out that the book was written many years after the events, lacks objectivity and has a strong emotional flavour. The anti-Semitic statements in his book resulted in his prosecution for fomenting racial hatred. He was found guilty and fined £75.

Death

Maritz died in a car crash in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

on 19 December 1940, at the age of 64. He was buried in the Pretoria West Cemetery.

In popular culture

The character General Manie Roosa, in

James Rollins James Paul Czajkowski (born August 20, 1961), better known by his pen name of James Rollins, is an American veterinarian and writer of action-adventure/ thriller, mystery, and techno-thriller novels who gave up his veterinary practice in Sacra ...

and Grant Blackwood's novel ''The Kill Switch'' (2014), is "very loosely based on the real-life Boer leader Manie Maritz. Maritz is referred to many times in

John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, British Army officer, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a ...

's ''

Greenmantle ''Greenmantle'' is the second of five novels by John Buchan featuring the character Richard Hannay. It was first published in 1916 by Hodder & Stoughton, London. It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being ...

'' (1916) in which the heroes, who are British spies, masquerade as veterans of Maritz's rebellion in order to infiltrate among German strategists.

Notes

References

* * * * Jurgens Johannes Britz, Genl S G (Manie) Maritz se aandeel aan die rebellie van 1914 - 1915, unpublished M.A. dissertation University of Pretoria, 1979. * Manie Maritz, "My lewe en strewe", published by author in 1939