National Socialist Movement

The National Socialist Movement (NSB) was founded in Utrecht in December 1931 by Anton Adriaan Mussert. Mussert led the movement until the German capitulation in May 1945. In the pre-war years, the NSB failed to grow into a serious power factor. However, elections in 1935 and 1937 did bring NSB candidates to the Provincial Council, the Senate and the Lower House.^[1] Electoral support for the NSB had declined very sharply in the two intervening years, though. From 294,000 votes at the Provincial Council elections in 1935, only 171,000 remained at the Lower House elections in 1937.

The movement had its own resistance corps, the Resistance Division (WA), from November 1932. This corps caused a great deal of street violence. Mussert disbanded it at the end of 1935.^[2] However, radical NSB groups continued to cause violence, often aimed at Jewish targets. This also happened in Anne Frank's surroundings. In May 1939, NSB members staged a major brawl in ice cream parlour 'Koco' on Amsterdam's Rijnstraat. They seriously abused some visitors there.^[3] Two years later, NSB members tried to break into ice cream parlour 'Oase', which some policemen managed to prevent.^[4]

The NSB, with initially mainly Mussolini-inspired ideas, sought a Dutch variant of fascism. During the German occupation, the NSB tried to create its own position, but eventually subordinated itself to the occupation authorities. Many NSB members ended up in high civil service positions and mayoral posts. Numerous members also joined the German military, ending up on the Eastern Front.

On 17 September 1944, the government placed the NSB on a list of treasonous, and therefore banned, organisations.^[5]