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Tonny Ahlers

Tonny Ahlers was a Dutch Nazi and bounty hunter in World War II.

Person

  • Anton Christiaan Ahlers
  • Born on: Dec. 29, 1917
  • Born in: Amsterdam, Nederland
  • Died on: Aug. 4, 2000
  • Died in: Amsterdam, Nederland

As a youth, Anton Christiaan (Tonny) Ahlers went rather off the rails.[1] In March 1938, because of 'a matter of love', he jumped into the river IJssel near Zutphen. He survived and the next day the Marechaussee took him to the Police Headquarters in Amsterdam. There his father picked him up.[2] 

Later that year he came into contact with the National Socialist party of Ernst Herman van Rappard (1899-1953). As a result, he got in trouble with the police for an anti-Semitic riot in De Bijenkorf and for smashing a window of the Committee for Jewish Refugees. For the latter offence he and an accomplice received a six-month prison sentence.[3]

On 5 November 1940, political associates of Ahlers tried to extort money from the German-Jewish businessman H. Rothe.[4]

On or around 18 April 1941, Ahlers appeared at Otto Frank's office. He showed a letter from Job Jansen to the SD, in which he mentioned negative statements by Otto about the chances of the German army in the war. Otto accepted the letter and gave Ahlers 10 guilders, without being asked. When, after the liberation, Otto heard that Ahlers was locked up in a prison in The Hague, he wrote to the Bureau of National Security. He believed that Ahlers' intervention had saved his life.[5] ​​​​​Only when he was shown evidence that Ahlers had betrayed many others did Otto change his mind.

Ahlers carried on a variety of businesses under the name Petoma. The product range included the artificial sweetener 'Suikerzoet',[6] but also old wax figures, wood turning[7] and 'all consumer products and consumables, for export'.[8]  In the latter case, Ahlers explicitly advertised himself as an official Wehrmacht buyer.
In November 1944, he offered manuals for 'Electric Light by own installation on roof', under the name 'Agentuur A.C. Ahlers'. Advertisement "Electric Light".[9]

In 2002, in her biography of Otto Frank, Carol Ann Lee introduced Ahlers as the probable betrayer of the people in hiding in the Secret Annex.[10] The implausibility of that theory was indicated in 2003 in a booklet by the NIOD, in which various theories were analysed.[11] 

Source personal data.[12] Addresses: Prinsengracht 253 huis, Amsterdam ('37-'38), Rozengracht 44boven ('38-'39), Leliegracht 34-II ('39), Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 144, Admiraal de Ruyterweg 95-I, Van der Hoochlaan 24, Amstelveen (April '44).[12] Ahlers moved about fifteen times between 1937 and 1944. Therefore this overview is not complete

Footnotes

  1. ^ See: Wikipedia: Tonny Ahlers.
  2. ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA), Gemeentepolitie Amsterdam, inv. nr. 3213: Meldingsrapport Centrale Recherche, 20 maart 1938, mut. 12.15 en 1,45 uur.
  3. ^ Gertjan Broek, Weerkorpsen. Extreemrechtse strijdgroepen in Amsterdam, 1923-1942. Ph.D. thesis Universiteit van Amsterdam 2014, p. 239-255.
  4. ^ SAA, Gemeentepolitie Amsterdam (toegang 5225), inv. nr. 6729: Rapporten bureau Singel, 5 november 1940, mut. 8.30 n.m.
  5. ^ Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Centraal Archief Bijzondere Rechtspleging, inv. nr. 107869: Otto Frank aan Bureau Nationale Veiligheid, 21 augustus 1945.
  6. ^ Nieuws van den Dag, 12 september 1942.
  7. ^ Nieuws van den Dag, 15 november 1943 en 31 maart 1944.
  8. ^ Nieuws van den Dag, 17 mei 1943.
  9. ^ De Telegraaf, 11 november 1944.
  10. ^ Carol Ann Lee, Het verborgen leven van Otto Frank. De biografie, Amsterdam: Balans, 2002.
  11. ^ David Barnouw en Gerrold van der Stroom, Who betrayed Anne Frank?, Amsterdam: Boom, 2003. Also see: Rosemary Sullivan, The betrayal of Anne Frank: a cold case investigation, New York, NY: Harper, 2020, p. 121-128.
  12. a, b Uittreksel Gemeentelijke Basisadministratie, Register Amsterdam, d.d. 6 september 2002.