THE STRUGGLE IN HOLLAND
By M. VAN BLANKENSTEIN
THE latest news from the Netherlands mentions the great unrest in the land. The people are in a ferment. The execution of the hostages in France has made a deep impression, but an impression different from what the Germans expected. The population has been so stirred by this event that the usurpers, the Dutch Nazis and also the committee of permanent secretaries of the ministries, who, under German guidance, function as a deputy-government, have addressed all kinds of appeals to the population admonishing, even entreating, them to remain calm. A great number of Dutchmen have been gathered together to be transported to concentration-camps in Germany. But this is not the way to calm the Dutch. They only become the more obstinate. Hatred for their own traitors, if that were possible, is increasing. These know what they may expect and they are organising themselves in armed bands to defend their lives if their protectors should have to flee from the Netherlands.
Thus the murders in France promote the ferment in the Netherlands. As against this, Nazi henchmen plead over the Hilversum radio : " The executions were a sacrifice which the French had to bear." They have merely succeeded in making their listeners wilder still. " Aren't you being treated decently? " the commentators asked. " And if you won't admit as much, surely you do recognise that your lot is bearable, even though you have been defeated? " All this talk does not help ; embitter- ment simply increases. The Dutch Nazis are the pariahs of the community. The Gestapo men are hated and despised, not only because they are underhand and cruel but also because much can be achieved with them with money. As in Norway, the German military and political authorities are ranged on opposite sides. The Dutch Nazis only appear in groups ; otherwise they are not safe. This, however, does not prevent them from being occasionally beaten up in the streets. The German police help them if they can ; but the German soldiers are merely interested spectators at these fights ; sometimes they even display benevolent neutrality in favour of the patriots.
The Dutch clergy, Protestant and Catholic, show much courage. In numerous Protestant churches the sermons are given as though there were no enemy listening. ,In a courageous proclamation to the faithful, the Catholic Bishops have excommunicated all members of the National Socialist Party. In the case of Catholic members of the party who had left the wish to be buried in consecrated ground, it has several times been necessary for Party friends to occupy the cemetery before such a wish could be realised. The clergy did not, of course, officiate. When the Nazis took over the Catholic trade unions the Bishops caused a much more emphatic denunciation to be read in the churches. The faithful were forced to leave the unions. He who remained a member of a union controlled by the Nazis would be treated by the Church as a Nazi. The episcopate became even more forcible in its condemnation when the Catholk agricultural unions were brought under Nazi rule. The Nazis have tried to prevent these proclamations from reaching the faithful in the churches, but they have never succeeded.
The part played by the Netherlands Government in London in the fight in the Netherlands has become much more effective. At first the Government thought it better not to give guidance. They thought that such encouragement would be badly received by the people, who would have to bear the consequences of carrying out such instructions. They were also apprehensive of unnecessarily imperilling the people by premature incitement to revolt. Through the many refugees from the Netherlands, who arrive in Great Britain by boat, canoe and even by stolen aero- planes and along other routes, the Government have obtained a first-hand idea of the spirit which prevails in the country. The people wanted nothing better than guidance from the legitimate Government in London. They are getting it. Sabotage is encouraged, though warnings are given against carelessness.
From the beginning of the occupation there has been sabotage in the Netherlands, not only in specific instances, but organised on a large scale ; but in such a way that it could only with great difficulty be proved 'to be deliberate. The Government in London now incites to sabotage through the radio, and the orders are carried out. They have instructed civil servants not to serve the enemy any longer. People are enjoined to refuse—as much as is possible—to do anything that might assist the usurper.
The Nazis are pushing their Dutch friends more and more into the foreground. They hesitated for a long time. But now this is being done at an ever-increasing rate. In most provinces the Governors have been replaced by Nazi creatures. The more important large municipalities have been placed under Nazi rule.
There were no Nazi candidates for the smaller municipalities. So the Germans have started a course for the training of burgomasters in a few months. The candidates are often people of little culture, who show almost at once that they are spoilsmen. As the pupils taking the course become available so the old burgomasters are discharged. The Dutch municipality was a democratic institution ; the burgomaster was the premier, the aldermen formed the cabinet and the council was the parliament. The burgomaster has now been elevated to the rank of dictator. Slowly but surely the country is being Nazified. The univer- sities are particularly difficult to contaminate. Professors and students show much courage. The Nazis have nominated pro- fessors to lecture on their creed ; only very few students attend these lectures. In the student world, too, National Socialists are scarce. Daily and weekly papers have been prohibited or have been brought into line. D. J. von Balluseck, editor of the Algemeen Handelsblad at Amsterdam, for a long time spoke his mind. In July he was imprisoned ; by this act the last light of the Dutch Press was extinguished. Months later he was released, a man prematurely aged.
The German intentions regarding the future of the Nether- lands have been cryptic. Now an independent existence, of course within Hitler's new order, was predicted ; then the impres- sion gained ground that it was intended to incorporate the Netherlands in the German Reich. Protagonist of the incorpora- tion idea was a small group under the leadership of a Eurasian, van Rappard. This party had special German protection. As conditions in Eastern Europe and in occupied Western Europe become more difficult for the Germans, this group was pushed more into the background. A few months ago they were ordered to disband and to join Mussert's NatiOnal-Socialist movement. Mussert, weak and vain, who had slowly come forward under the Germans as the Dutch " Fiihrer," now assumes more and more the airs of a person of importance. He believes he has a chance of officially becoming the Netherlands' Quisling. During the last fevi weeks the Germans have proclaimed that the Government in London must be disowned and that a new Government must be formed in the Netherlands under Mussert. The question is whether the Germans will dare to do this. They expose themselves to the danger that the civil servants will not be prepared to demonstrate their allegiance to Mussert. The Germans probably prefer to avoid such a conflict. Up to the present they have been more careful in the Netherlands than in all other countries.
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