Nederlandsche Unie

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Nederlandsche Unie
Founded24 July 1940 (1940-07-24)
Dissolved6 May 1941 (1941-05-06)
HeadquartersAmsterdam, Netherlands
IdeologyNazism
Fascism
Dutch nationalism
Dutch irredentism
Collaborationism
Political positionFar-right
  • Politics of the Netherlands
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Politics of the Netherlands
Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. [The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.] The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)
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The Nederlandsche Unie was a Dutch political rallying movement in the Netherlands at the time of World War II. During the short period of its existence, up to 800,000 Dutch people were members of the Nederlandsche Unie, which was about a tenth of the population at the time. It represented the largest political movement in the history of the Netherlands.[1]

Foundation and goals[]

The Nederlandsche Unie was founded on July 24, 1940, a few days after the Dutch surrender, by the lawyer Louis Einthoven and the two politicians Johannes Linthorst Homan and Jan de Quay. On the day of its founding, the three circulated a Manifesto setting out the goals of the movement. It called on the Dutch to accept the new political reality and promoted cooperation with the German occupiers.

The background was the conviction of the three founders that the Dutch culture and way of life could only be preserved through collaboration with the Germans. Furthermore, they wanted a more moderate alternative to the openly fascist one NSB (Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging) offer and prevent that this would transfer all political power through the German leadership. The NSB and the Germans should not alone be able to determine the future of the Netherlands.


Attitude to the "Jewish question"[]

The leadership of the Nederlandsche Unie took the position from the beginning that a regulation on the status of Jews who immigrated to the Netherlands before and during the war was necessary. What kind of this regulation should be, however, remained unclear. However, native Dutch people of the Jewish faith were expressly accepted, who were not seen as a threat to Dutch culture by the university. Einthoven, de Quay and Linthorst Homan emphasized that these fellow citizens must be treated with tolerance and respect.[2]

It was therefore also possible for Jews to become members of the university. Nevertheless, the leadership was well aware of the importance that the German occupiers attached to the Jewish question. For example, the three founders asked , the chairman of the and influential member of the Jewish community, recommending Dutch Jews to retire from public office. Visser flatly refused this request.[3] An active exclusion of Jewish members from the university did not take place at any time.

Organization and work[]

The Nederlandsche Unie was very well received by the population, with around 200,000 members within a week, and around 800,000 at the time of the movement's heyday. This enormous popularity, however, had less to do with the program and the goals of the movement itself than with the feeling of protesting against the National Socialist Movement (and thus indirectly against the German occupiers) by joining the Unie.[4] In order to organize this high number of members, the division into dozen regional districts was necessary, which in turn were locally divided into district groups.

The general agenda of the Nederlandsche Unie included a stronger community spirit, an “organic further development of society” and the obligation to work for everyone. In addition, people committed to freedom of religion and freedom of belief. Despite the protest attitude of many members, the leadership of the Nederlandschen Unie basically stuck to a constructive cooperation with the Germans. For example, Unie made donations for the Winter Relief Organization of the German People. This attitude led to criticism from the Dutch Resistance 1940–1945, who saw its efforts undermined by the Nederlandsche Unie. Furthermore, the university was loyal to the exiled Dutch royal family Orange, which led to tensions with the German administration. After the start of Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet Union, the occupiers expected a pro-German mood in the political organizations they tolerated in the Netherlands, which, however, largely failed to materialize among the members of the Unie.[5]

De Unie[]

The weekly paper De Unie was published by the Nederlandsche Unie as the official organ of the movement. The first edition appeared on August 24, 1940 with a circulation of 135,000 copies, while the tenth edition has already been printed 250,000 times. By the spring of 1941 the paper had a circulation of around 400,000 copies, of which 60,000 were sent directly to subscribers.[6] The editor-in-chief of the newspaper was the journalist .[7]

Prohibition[]

After the Nederlandsche Unie refused to express its official support for the German attack on the Soviet Union, their relationship with the German occupiers cooled noticeably. In addition, an article appeared in "De Unie" in July 1941, in which the leadership clearly distanced itself from Nazism and called for the national sovereignty of the Netherlands. Only then could the Dutch people participate in the "war against Bolshevism". The appearance of this article led to various reprisals on the part of the occupying powers: In addition to a ban on assembly and a fine of 60,000 guilders, the distribution of De Unie was also prohibited. This was followed by a ban on all activities on August 31, 1941 and then the dissolution of the organization at the end of the year by Arthur Seyß-Inquart, the Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands.[8]

After the dissolution of the movement, the founding trio were arrested and detained in the internment camp Sint-Michielsgestel. In particular, the later Prime Minister de Quay stood out as a member of a group of men, the so-called Heeren Zeventien (in German: "Seventeen Gentlemen"), who were still in captivity after the future of the Netherlands Planned the end of the war.[5]

Literature[]

  • Wichert ten Have (1999). Enfants terribles et dames indignes : Agrippine. De Nederlandse Unie. Aanpassing, vernieuwing en confrontatie in bezettingstijd 1940-1941 (Prometheus ed.). ISBN 978-90-5333-875-9.

References[]

  1. ^ "Nederlandse Unie". Verzetsmuseum.org.
  2. ^ Dokument VEJ 5/40 in: West- und Nordeuropa 1940 – Juni 1942. In: Katja Happe et al. (Hrsg.): Die Verfolgung und Ermordung der europäischen Juden durch das nationalsozialistische Deutschland 1933 – 1945. Band 5. Oldenbourg Verlag, München 2013, ISBN 978-3-486-71861-4, p. 171.
  3. ^ "About Lodewijk Ernst Visser". Joodsmonument.nl.
  4. ^ ""VEIIZET" ONTSTAAN UIT "DE NEDERLANDSE UNIE"" (PDF). Heemkundekriggemert.nl. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Nederlandse Unie". Parlement.com.
  6. ^ Chris van der Heijden (2008). Grijs verleden: Nederland en de Tweede Wereldoorlog (10 ed.). Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Contact. ISBN 978-90-254-3110-5.
  7. ^ "103948". Beeldbankwo2.nl.
  8. ^ Johannes Koll (2015). Arthur Seyß-Inquart und die deutsche Besatzungspolitik in den Niederlanden (1940–1945) (1 ed.). Wien: Böhlau Verlag. pp. 235–239. ISBN 978-3-205-79660-2.
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