The Hitler Wannabe - Dutch Quisling Mussert

Anton Mussert was 'Leader of the Dutch People' during the German occupation of the Netherlands. A classic Quisling figure, he rose from political outsider to puppet dictator under Hitler's patronage. Find out his full story of treachery and his ultimate fate at war's end.
Dr. Mark Felton FRHistS, FRSA is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fe...
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; Bundesarchiv; Willem Huberts; Regionaal Archief Alkmaar; Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld & Geluid

[@denniskos2806]

As a Dutchman I want to emphasize that having a romantic relation with one’s aunt is not a Dutch custom

[@BenRush]

I hope not! Though I'm a quarter Dutch, meaning I'd only have to get to first base with my Aunt.

[@ikkeaxel]

Only in Volendam it is a custom 😂

[@mamnan8953]

Should I be laughing at your comment lol

[@mariussielcken]

Actually, Holland is a rare country where incest is not illegal, owing to our liberalism and introversion. Even the most desolate people forbid it and animals have an instinct against it!

[@jooststeenbergen8264]

@@ikkeaxelprecies 😂

[@FR-nc3vb]

According to my grandfather, Mussert was more hated in the Netherlands than Hitler himself. Even the nazi’s didn’t take him serious..

[@BadgerOfTheSea]

Makes sense. Hitler was a foreign aggressor, Mussert was a home grown national traitor.

[@Colincamera363]

So basically, he was the Dutch equivalent of Vidkun Quisling

[@AudieHolland]

Hitler joked behind Mussert's back because the latter wished to become 'leider' or leader of The Netherlands. In German, the word leider means 'unfortunate.'

[@FR-nc3vb]

@@Colincamera363 Thats a very solid comparison. They have quite some similarities

[@greenockscatman]

Mussert seems like a pathetic figure really. A true opportunist.

[@lucas_westland4076]

I'm from a small town in Northetn Brabant in the Netherlands, and the town where Mussert was born and where he lived (Werkendam) is just over 10km from here. In the local area it's kind of a running joke that people from Werkendam are attracted to their family members, as it's a pretty closed-off heavily christian town, so the fact that Mussert had romantic relationships with both his aunt and his Niece is absolutely hilarious to hear.

[@Magere-Kwark]

I will bet you good money that the reason Werkendam is known for incestuous activities has nothing to do with the fact that it's a fairly closed off Christian town and everything to do with Anton Mussert.

[@BeachsideHank]

@@Magere-Kwark There's some pretty salacious stuff among family members in the Christian bible.

[@laziojohnny79]

@@Magere-Kwark Then why is it more closed-off, highly religious towns and villages have the same reputation? Volendam, Urk, Stavoren, Veerle and Spakenburg spring to mind and that's just in the Netherlands. I could go on when we look across the border and certainly at the middle-east or the southern US.

[@kaizokuo5850]

​@@Magere-Kwark Let's hear it then, how much money are we betting 😅

[@rwottevanger]

Haha nice. I myself live in Woudrichem, also like 7 km away or so. So I was already familiar with anton mussert as well lol

[@benallen7704]

"No tears were shed for Anton Mussert."

[@istoppedcaring6209]

i'm pretty sure many did cry for him, and as another comment noted he seems to have believed in nationalism and solidarism probably but he wasn't considdered a national socialist by Hitler but rather a national conservative, his party initially seems to have foregone the racial element as well, if i had to guess he was likely convinced of cultural superiority of Dutch and Germanics in general and wanted to enforce his version in the netherlands, (probably flanders as well if he had any opportunity) and on the dutch east indies as well. Hitler believed in a chosen people narative from a racial perspective, Mussert probably just thought Dutch culture was better. In all honesty, plenty people believe this, in some cases they are right, forcing your culture on any other people is wrong (french did it, english did it, germans did, russians did and yes the dutch did, ...) but enforcing core nationally accepted vallues in your own country as a base requirement makes perfect sense.

[@charliebrownie4158]

There were some countries where the ones who worked with the forces who came into the country where they actually received a very dark punishment for their endeavors. But there were other ones where they didn't get that much of a reaction from people as much as you would assume they would have gotten. Some people some other traitors slipped under the radar.

[@tsarbomba01]

@@istoppedcaring6209he is quoting some AI rendered low quality mini history doc channel on KZbin, of poor quality.

[@jipke]

@@istoppedcaring6209 I read a book about Dutch war history and I too recall that Mussert wasn't in it for the antisemitism. Too bad that kind of nuance didn't shine through the video.

[@DanAndHoe]

​@@istoppedcaring6209I don't know about Mussert, but the party's newspaper definitely subscribed to a "Blut und Boden" mentality. If you can read Dutch I'd advise you to read an article in the NSB paper "Volk en Vaderland" from 19 February 1937. You can find it on Delpher, an online newspaper archive. On page 6 is an article called "Volksche kracht en anti-semitisme." The article basically argues that the NSB isn't antisemitic, but nonetheless also argues that Jews are a driving force in the opposition to the Dutch people. There's definitely talk about Dutch racial purity, combined with Dutch cultural purity. "Us, the Dutch, are one of the most pure Germanic peoples, even more pure than the Germans." The Jews are deemed as nothing more than "guests who've remained among us for centuries" and accused of being the leaders of any organisation that seeks to harm the Dutch people.

[@randyeller8139]

“What is it exactly that makes corporals turn into dictators?” An interesting bit of history and a good chuckle as a bonus. Well done Dr.Felton!

[@shldnfr]

It's not just corporals. Obese draft dodgers with sore feet and a love of KFC also like to be dictators.

[@Dogsontheloose]

He put a fantasy medal in the thumbnail guy. They were never awarded during the war and show up in no period documents.

[@sweden_is_gone]

Yeah, today's rulers would be much too afraid to go anywhere near the front and risk their own lives.

[@AndrewMitchell123]

hmm interesting question actually... seems like insecurity so far

[@bobjames6622]

The answer to that is simple; the absolute damned fools who go along with them and give them permission by their silence. Much like the UK public over the last 4 years.

[@johngeen7219]

I was a corporal and have no ambition to become a dictator. Thanks and regards from the Netherlands.

[@skysurfer5cva]

We were all worried. Very worried. Thanks for the clarification. 🙂

[@christianpethukov8155]

How about enrolling in art school? 😉

[@T_bone]

Bet you weren't. You don't even know how to spell it.

[@maximilianw9671]

... yet

[@johngeen7219]

@@T_bone Yes I was, but sorry for the typo😂

[@user-mw7cq3wn7x]

One of the reasons that Mussert was far more successful in establishing a fascist party in the Netherlands than any of his predecessors or competitors was his respectability: he was a university-trained civil engineer - and a good one. His character could not have been more different from that of Hitler: the work-shy bohémien romantic ‘genius’ without any formal education versus the scientific, methodical and thoroughly unromantic regular worker. Yet, Hitler fascinated Mussert (which is pronounced ‘Mus-surt’, not ‘Moe-zurt’) from the first meeting they had in ‘36. This was not reciprocal: Hitler deemed Mussert to be a petit bourgeois conservative nationalist, ‘definitely not a nationalsocialist’. In the first years of the movement, the NSB (which stands for ‘Nationaalsocialistische beweging’, or ‘nationalsocialist movement’ pained itself on distancing itself from the German Nazi’s: Mussert underlined for instance that his NSB had no racial ideology and was open to Jews and in the Netherlands East Indies to Indonesians and people of mixed blood. That only changed after it became clear that the NSB could not gain a majority in parliament, despite the relative succes in the 1935 provincial elections (not national elections, as the video incorrectly states). Only then Mussert started leaning heavily on the Nazi’s, always half-heartedly and always overtaken by fanatics in his own party, such as Feldmeijer and Rost van Tonningen. Mussert generally supported Hitler’s policies, but he despised Himmler and the SS, always fearing that Himmler wanted to annex the Netherlands to Greater Germany and believing that the only way to prevent that was to stay as close as possible to Hitler, of whom he believed that he was a proponent of Dutch independence in a future nazi-dominated Europe. He wrote a number of memo’s for Hitler in which he laid down blueprints for a future Europe that would be a confederate union of autonomous states under German leadership, the so-called Germanic Union of States (Germaansche Statenbond), in which all of the member states would work together closely and be politically united by nationalsocialism, but would still be relatively independent and maintain their own army and (in the case of the Netherlands) its overseas empire. Needless to say that Hitler was utterly uninterested. Yet Mussert soldiered on, hoping against hope to win over the Dutch people for his version of nationalsocialism on the one hand and convincing Hitler in the other hand of the benefits of Dutch political autonomy. In both, he failed miserably. But although he was undoubtedly a criminal, Hitler was probably right in dismissing him as ‘not a nationalsocialist’. He was a civil engineer who got lost in politics, a man of strong beliefs and a thoroughly calvinist work-ethic, a weak character and little talent for politics. He was thoroughly uncharismatic, yet to his followers he was almost a messiah. Anton Adriaan Mussert probably deserved the death penalty: but he was a far more interesting and complicated man then just ‘the Dutch Hitler’.

[@ranulf8477]

Thats very intersting to read. In the book "Hitlers Tischgespräche" Hitler himself told everyone at Wolfsschanze that it dont make sense to make every country in europe a part of germany. The people want to go to foreign countries for vacation too and they dont want to hear german all the time. He saw WW2 as a chance to unite every germanic people so maybe he was very keen with Mussert ideas.

[@VTPSTTU]

Thanks for an interesting perspective.

[@noneofyourbusiness9369]

Thank you that was very interesting.

[@istoppedcaring6209]

@@ranulf8477 i am not aware of that speech but it is certain that Hitler was fully intent on Flanders and the Netherlands being part of his northern empire. Even so it should be clear that romance language countries would still be held defacto under German influence and would be dependent on Germany, slavic language countries would largely be controlled directly, and likely most would be turned into puppet states of Germany had he had his way. Hitler was also notorious for contradicting himself, and his ramblings can actually be listened to in his tabletalk recordings, which got more unhinged and paranoid as time progressed and the war turned for the worst, blaming anyone and anything but himself.

[@charliebrownie4158]

Well one thing I will not forget. Was my grandfather who was in Indonesia after World War II ended he went over there to help with a group in Indonesia that was setting up the people in their countries who were Christians who wish to put together a Bible College. And there was a lot of Dutch influence in Indonesia. I later found out is my mom brought to my attention that in Indonesia there was quite a lot of Dutchman who married with Indonesians. And as a matter of fact Eddie Van Halen's half-brother is half Indonesian. And I knew other Dutchman who were likewise brown skin but tall and they explained to me that there were Indonesian but also Dutch. And but there were quite a few who were Dutch who were even more on the Aryan minded side then those who were German. There were different people whose books I read about those who tried to save Jews during the a second world war who lived in in different parts of Holland. And they spoke about how different Christians in their circles were quite angry at with them for trying to save Jews. And they would do everything but actually call the Gestapo on them. Although they weren't entirely sure who it was who did call and narc on them. There was at one point in time a code that they were putting through that family who though they were very much a kind of Christians who tried to do everything they could as much as they could to live the kind of a Godly life that tried to live as close as they could regarding not breaking the law and so forth but they felt that with working with the underground that that was the best way to get Jews out of Holland. But there were times when the message would come through saying we have this name of this person within the underground who needs to be put down because they are traitor and they have compromised part of their group. And the sisters were having problems with allowing that name to go through because they were worried that obviously cuz of the way that the one person had put it they were going to kill the person that they knew that if the message got to the underground they would kill him. Had I been able to have spoken with them I would have taken them down the path that would have shown them that what they were doing was actually the exact same thing is what King David did regarding following through on the times when God would command him to do something and for whatever reason, when people see those kind of things they somehow they get into this attitude of how does he know what's best how do we know that you know he's not even worse than the people that he decides the other people have to come against. But what I would say is that after the fact I'm sitting there thinking to myself maybe the fact that they didn't if they didn't go through and bring that information through and maybe the person whose life they saved in the end killed the majority of their family members when the Dutch arm of the Nazi party descended on their home it took all their family away and only one member of their family ever returned from prison the rest of them died in concentration camps. The lady who did survive she went around the world speaking about her life speaking about what her family did and with how she remembered her older sister when she told her that their father died in a crowded Hospital waiting to be seen by a doctor but of course they had no interest in having him taken care of because he was hiding Jews. And when they Soldier told that the daughter of that said man she began to cry and he said to you do you now see how foolish you were to to worship a God who would elect an old man like that die in a hospital walkway instead of warming in his bed if had he not had Jews he was hiding him and the other illegal things that their family was doing. And she said no he said his grandfather began praying for Israel praying for the Jews over 100 years before then and she said that grandfather would be rejoicing that my father and his progenitors or his children would die in the cause of saving God's chosen people. And she added to the man she said and God will come down even harder on someone like you because you've touched the apple of God's eye. And she told him, I pity you and all of Germany. Because you have loose the World Wind that is going to destroy so much of your nation and your people she said you have no idea. And he said I have plenty of idea he said we are going to win this war we will destroy it the Jews and we will destroy anyone who stands with Jews including Christians. Unless they decide to abandon the Jewish people. She later on said many years later that whenever she went and spoken a place if she was to find out that somebody within the like if the pastor of the church had said anything that was anti-semitic or against Jews she would turn on them not not in the mean or malicious way but she would turn on them and say to them I can always tell how strong a person's relationship is to God depending on how much love they have for the Jewish people. If they have no love for the Jewish people she said that they have no love for God. How very apropos her words, today.

[@rewild6134]

Another fantastic video Mark, thank you. I'm 30, spent some time in the military in the UK as a teenager/early 20's and now live and work in Australia. I'm married to a half Dutch Australian and when we visited the Netherlands in 2016, I got to meet my wifes Grandmother, she was a teenager in Amsterdam in the war, as my own grandparents were in Northern England. I'd grown up listening to stories about the war from them, rations, air raids on the steel works, one grandfather was a RAF engineer from 1940 and took part in the occupation of Germany post-war. But hearing it from someone who experienced the Nazi occupation was very different and quite sobering. Particularly her recalling people simply disappearing. It may not have been clear to all politicians at the time, but hindsight shows us that Britain undeniably made the right choice to fight on.

[@HansLasser]

I heard the same from my grandparents generation. Sadly they are all gone. They could have told these stories to the ones in Europe who fantasize about so-called strong regime.

[@rewild6134]

@HansLasser I fear we're doomed to mirror history, unfortunately. From Brexit to Wilders and the rising popularity of AFD, stifling of freedom of speech due to the pervasiveness of 'woke' culture on social media, and of course, belligerence from Russia, China etc. For those of us who study history, it has an unnerving familiarity.

[@lukefriesenhahn8186]

My Oma who lived in Zuid-Holland (Netherlands) during WWII also spoke about people just disappearing. One day you would see them, the next day there would be no trace of them...

[@StevenKeery]

​@@rewild6134: To equate people who voted for Brexit with those collaborators who sided with Hitler is ludicrous. Get a grip of yourself.

[@rewild6134]

@@StevenKeery I wrote a longer reply, but it seems to have disappeared. That's not what I was doing. I'm not sure how you read into it in that way, I was merely pointing out how tumultuous times are. Brexit unarguably represents part of that turmoil and fracturing over the last decade or so. It just feels like the world is simmering currently, a few degrees from boiling over. Apologies if that was the inference you took from it.

[@thamepper]

Funnily enough some of the bridges he designed while he was an engineer are only now being replaced. He was a better engineer then he ever was a Quisling.

[@mariussielcken]

He engineered the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal.

[@CrizzyEyes]

It also makes me wonder what the world would be like if Hitler were an architect like the art school he applied to originally recommended

[@thamepper]

@@mariussielckenvery true, forgot that one.

[@SEAZNDragon]

@@CrizzyEyesthe more I think about the “Hitler gets admitted into art school” hypothetical the less I’m convinced he would end up differently. Maybe not the Fuhrer but definitely a mid-level functionary. As much as I love alternative history I’ve come to realize one fault it has: the tendency to focus on one point of divergence when multiple points exists. You have to remember Hitler got exposed to a lot of hard core racist rhetoric in Vienna while he was applying to art school. Then he joined the German Army which had him joined the early Nazi party post-WWI in an infiltration attempt. And that’s before you have Europe’s centuries long history of anti-Semitism and wreckage WWI brought.

[@Korporaal1]

Didn't he also work on the A1 motorway? To paraphrase dr Felton: 'What is it with dictators and motorways?'

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

To her dying day my late grandmother would maintain that the Netherlands were betrayed by the NSB during the German invasion of 1940. This theory was quite popular in the aftermath of the German invasion but proven to be false by historians after the war. But as my grandmother proved, once you get an idea in, its next to impossible to get it out. Which is why politicians and generals are always so quick to publish their memoirs. The real villain and biggest traitor was of course not Anton Mussert, who was a joke, but Rost van Tonningen. Who was to Mussert what Heydrich was to Himmler. Far more cunning, far more brutal, far more traitorous. And his widow, nicknamed the black widow, became a post-war focal point of Dutch Neo-Nazis, remaining a staunch Nazi.

[@MothaLuva]

Maybe we ll get a video about this Tonningen guy in the near future.

[@gauloiseguy]

My grandfather could forgive Germans who followed their crazy dictator during the war. Told us we should respect German people. He never, ever, forgave Mussert or his NSB goons.

[@rickglorie]

The NSB was exploited by the Germans to get as much out of our country as possible. The dynamic between Musserts 'Greater Dutchland" movement (No merger with Germany, but with Belgium) in the NSB was played against the "Volkisch" movement (Merger with Germany) represented by Rost van Tonningen and Henk Feldmeijer. With Mussert raising 2 regiments, complying with expulsion and hunting of Jews and van Tonningen plundering the treasury to pay for our occupation. This cost 250.000 dutch civilians of Jewish descent their lives, most noteable Anne Frank ofcourse, who had actually fled from Germany with her family. These were all completely bonkers people in the NSB, together with the Nazi's they were the conspiracy theorist of the day.

[@suzyqualcast6269]

Olde Bag.

[@clavichord]

I think there is valid reason to argue that Mussert and the NSB betrayed the Netherlands, although both Mussert and even Seyss-Inquart didn't ALWAYS act against Dutch interests during the German occupation. Nevertheless, you are right, Rost van Tonningen and others like him were much more hardcore Nazi, while Mussert originally was more Mussolini inspired, at least at the start... Mussert also disliked Heinrich Himmler.... and this explains why at first Jews were allowed in the NSB in the 1930s. It started more as a Fascist party in the Italian style.

[@robinpage2730]

Please make this a series! All the Quislings need to be covered!

[@johnfeer9609]

Oh yeah Monsignor Tiso, Leon DeGrelle, you could do a three parter on that troll Pierre Laval...

[@MrTubularBalls]

That could be interesting.

[@klapsigaarenbasgitaar1931]

Paul Verhoeven, the director of Robocop Total Recall and other Hollywood movies, made a documentary about Mussert for Dutch television and it's here on KZbin!

[@willywonka7812]

Starship Troopers is his most relevant movie, showing, as it does, the slapstick structural inadequacies of a hyper militaristic fascist society, based on where he judged the USA to be headed. They were well on their way there

[@power4things]

Not to mention his "Soldier of Orange" with Jeroen Krabbe, Edward Fox and Rutger Hauer.

[@kaykutcher2103]

I think his Dutch films are better. Who needs Basic Instinct when The 4th Man exits?

[@klapsigaarenbasgitaar1931]

@@kaykutcher2103 I thought Basic Instinct was ok, I really liked Flesh & Blood as well though.

[@matthewnewton8812]

@@willywonka7812That wasn’t written by him. Those ideas came from the book of the same name, written by Robert Heinlein, I think.

[@Fukenbumen]

Thank you so much for your high quality content. My parents lived through the occupation and the "hunger winter". Anton Mussert was indeed the most hated man of the Netherlands. "NSB-er" is still a very common insult when you really dislike someone.

[@DutchDaddy]

​@@Dogsontheloosejeez that made you really angry huh? 😂 Chill out

[@peterv6036]

Not really an insult for disliking someone, more towards treacherous behavior.

[@vulpesinculta3238]

"NSB'er" is a specific insult, though. It's what you call people who like to rat on others. If you're a kid smoking behind the school and another kid tells the teachers, that kid is an "NSB'er". If you're underreporting your earnings and someone tells the tax man, that person is an "NSB'er". During that controversial disease a few years ago, people who reported lockdown violations were called "NSB'ers".

[@Dogsontheloose]

@@DutchDaddy he does this all the time. It gets really infuriating when you actually have an interest in third Reich era awards. Edit: it might be excusable if it weren't on the thumbnail

[@Edward-it9cr]

​@@Dogsontheloosewhich was a fantasy award?The mussertkruis?

[@F40PH-2CAT]

Stunning couple with stunned locals 😂😂😂

[@jonossell121]

That's some good comedy right there

[@MrTubularBalls]

They actually look stunned in the photo

[@MrMeatTurtle]

Mussert was born in a village in Noord-Brabant called Werkendam. I'm a history teacher in a village close by. His elderly home was for sale a couple of years ago. Its a interesting region it was not liberated during operation Market Garden but close to the border which was. Therefor it was full of resistance activity and a couple of German divisions got stationed here. During the last days of ww2 alot of crimes got committed. Every village in the region has memorials for people that died for acts of resistance. There are also alot of old forts and fortified cities close by from earlier periodes in history. You can find the NSB headquarters building in Utrecht on the Maliebaan 35 aswell.

[@EP65]

I have read the book Dordt Open Stad at my grandparents years ago. Maybe I am wrong, but his brother was the commanding officer of the Dutch army in Dordrecht. Quite a family.

[@Thorr-kl6jl]

The Dutch Waffen-SS Regiment "Landstorm Nederland" took part in the defeat of the British airborne forces at Arnhem, in Sept of 1944. In early 1945, this Dutch unit was incorporated into the newly formed 34th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division "Landstorm Nederland". This Waffen-SS unit only fought on the Western Front. The Dutch 23rd Waffen-SS Panzer-Grenadier Division "Nederland" fought on the Eastern Front, against the Communists. Some interesting books: "Waffen-SS Encyclopedia", by Marc Rikmenspoel "Dutch Waffen-SS Legion and Brigade 1941-44", by Massimiliano Afiero "In The Fire of the Eastern Front", by Hendrick Verton "The Patriotic Traitors", by David Littlejohn "Joining Hitler's Crusade-Europe and the Invasion of the USSR", edited by David Stahel

[@bj9zq]

If you ain't Dutch.......you ain't much.

[@remcocraane3862]

It's known as the N.S.B.village.

[@TravelFootagePorLaFamilia]

@@EP65in Lunteren you still can visit “Musserts Wall”. It is part of a campsite now I believe.

[@emmcee662]

“Stunning couple with stunned locals” - brilliant!! Thank you

[@TheDutchViewer]

*A Dr. Felton video about the Netherlands during WWII!* *_"bedankt!"_* 👍

[@oj_ow]

The reason most of us come here for these videos is the shear depth of detail. I realise in documentaries they have to allow for time but often the 'experts' just give a vague comment that doesn't really add anything. The fact you manage to get so much detail into a ten or so minute video is fantastic. A guess that's too much History, for the 'History' Channel. Have a great week all!

[@LazyDaisyDay88]

Fully agree! The format of modern TV documentaries is awful. The depth and quality of the content is woeful and a never-ending parade of talking heads who, in 5 second sound bites, add absolutely nothing to the subject, leaves me exasperated. Thank goodness for Dr Felton's magnificent efforts.

[@kbanghart]

​@@LazyDaisyDay88It's the money. The general public gets bored with all the details, and advertisers don't want to lose money.

[@oj_ow]

@@LazyDaisyDay88 I've found with some more recent documentaries, in the UK here, they go over things that are well documented. Topics that are fully covered and try to give them new perspective and it's like: You've taken something factual and adding opinions as if they're fact, which is actually wholly unprofessional. Also, the 'experts' and commentators, some of them very qualified, say stupid things like, and this is pretty much a quote, "Thing is, with Hitler, he wanted to have his cake and eat it too". With no elaboration at all. It's like, WTH is that?! Hardly 'The World at War', is it?!

[@Jermster_91]

6:02 One Dutchman who served with the Germans was Gerardus Mooyman, who at the age of 19, was awarded the Knight Cross, the first non-German to be awarded Germany’s highest decoration, for destroying 13 Russian tanks in a single day with a Pak-40 antitank gun-part of his wartime total of 23 tanks put out of action. In May 1945 American troops captured him in Germany; he escaped twice before a Dutch court in 1946 sentenced him to six years in prison. He served three of those years and moved to northern Holland where, unlike many of his comrades, his countrymen forgave his SS service as a youthful indiscretion. He died in a car crash in 1987.

[@selfdo]

IDK about this fellow, but some of them either enlisted in the French Foreign Legion after the war, where no questions were asked, or, accepted parole on the condition they enlisted in their respective countries military, often sent to undesirable and dangerous postings.

[@Jermster_91]

@@selfdo I have read one memoir, "On the Devil's Tail" where the author, a French-German, after serving with the SS from 44-45, later was sent to French Indochina (Vietnam) as part of the French Army as way out of serving his sentence.

[@yourneighbourhooddoomer]

Based.

[@vangestelwijnen]

I believe that Mooyman regretted his SS-service after the war, being ashamed he joined. He gave away his Knight Cross to a collector.

[@tomvanstraalen4572]

He used a pak 97/38, not a pak 40.

[@cohort075]

Two things you should never give a Corporal, a map, and a compass. They start to get delusions of Grandeur.

[@user-em2pe3rf4h]

I have never heard of Mussert. I found him detestable to begin with, but the bit about marrying his aunt... I don't believe there's a single word that's adequate for what I think about that. Incredible how each of the conquered countries had a "man" such as this. Even here in the U.S. there was the American Bund. Again you've educated me. Many thanks Dr. Felton. Well done. Cheers from the States!

[@Occident.]

From the States that are being destroyed by the victors of WW2.

[@Banjo56]

I’m not saying incest was ever mainstream, but it is very interesting if you look back over the past couple centuries how relative relationships become more taboo. To start, JS Bach married his first cousin, as well as Queen Victoria and relatively recently, Einstein, H.G Wells, etc. The list goes on, as there are numerous revered men throughout history who took to marrying close relatives. What is most unusual is that Poe, one of the most profilic minds of the modern era, married his 13 year old cousin. Obviously that age even back then is teetering on the age of pedophelia, but what made society back then to think this wasn’t worth shaming someone for? Or what changed to make us believe marrying a cousin or an aunt is wrong? This looks deeper into the changing customs over a relatively short period of time, as 100 years ago, it was socially acceptable.

[@user-em2pe3rf4h]

@@Banjo56 While I concede your point that this sort of thing was fairly commonplace a century ago,it tended to be a cousin to cousin marriage, not nephew to aunt. I would also say that just because something was acceptable once, it doesn't necessarily mean that it was right.

[@Biochemistry-Debunks-Corona]

Wincest

[@Banjo56]

@@user-em2pe3rf4h Obviously it’s not “right” now because we view it as taboo, but it was right back then to an extent. What is morally right changes, like our view on homosexuality. They viewed homosexuality similiarly as we view cousin marriage now.

[@AudieHolland]

Before the war, Mussert worked as main engineer for the Utrecht Provincial Water Management, a few of his bridges are still standing. Probably because he was Dutch, he was dealt with more severely than German war criminals who had actively murdered or ordered the murder of thousands of people. Up till the 1980s the notorious 'Breda Three' (Drie van Breda) remained in prison serving a life long sentence. They were originally scheduled to be executed shortly after war's end but their sentences were later commuted to life sentences.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

You can blame Juliana for that. She commuted a lot of death sentences when she became Queen. She was far more idealistic then her mother. Why the Breda Three had to be pardoned, that you should ask then prime minister Van Agt. But hurry, I don't think he's long for the living.

[@bananabourbonaenima]

Another strange fact: The Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal is built mostly on the location he advised.

[@AudieHolland]

@@bananabourbonaenima Why is that strange? He was a competent engineer and preferred Utrecht over other places.

[@tomhenry897]

Was dealt by the Dutch not the Allies

[@AudieHolland]

@@tomhenry897 Yes. Which is why they dealt more harshly with him than the German war criminals.

[@gauloiseguy]

Nobody respects a traitor. Not even those who benefit from the betrayal.

[@vangestelwijnen]

100% true!

[@frankgesuele6298]

Benedict Arnold found that out in Britain😡

[@MrTubularBalls]

Very true! I've seen interviews with children of NSB members who went to Germany during the war. Those kids were shunned at school and in the playground by the german kids because of their traitor parents. I think they suffered psychological damage, it's sad really.

[@DanAndHoe]

​@@MrTubularBallsYeah it really sucks how many kids were the victims of their parents' sins. My grandfather was one of the only people in his village to interact with his NSB neighbour well into the 1960s. Many families wouldn't allow their kids to play with the kids of that family, but my grandparents did allow my mother and her sisters to play with them. And my grandparents lived through the hunger winter on tulip bulbs and my grandfather was in hiding for well over a year because of the Arbeitseinsatz. My grandparents didn't like the neighbours for their role during the war, but didn't blame the kids for it. It's really sad how many children were traumatised because of their parents. Not being able to have any friends, just because your dad was on the wrong side of history before you were even born?

[@gauloiseguy]

@@DanAndHoe Same with my grandparents. Like your grandfather mine hid (escaped from Kamp Amersfoort after he was taken for the Arbeitseinsatz.) during the final leg of the war. He hated his NSB neighbour but allowed my mother to play with his kids. Outside only, but still. Kids can't be held responsible for their parent's actions.

[@unmec55]

"At this time, as well as being married to his own aunt, Mussert was also having an affair with his niece" 😂 😂😂

[@joeyjamison5772]

And you thought "All In The Family" was an American TV show!

[@mattgee5609]

I'm from Holland and was born after the war. Not a day went by without my Dad mentioning Mussert, he was the Dutch Hitler. Thank you again Dr Felton!

[@josjos1847]

He was a mussert follower?

[@rvansteensel420]

no ur not hes cool @@sixpackpilot

[@vulpesinculta3238]

@@josjos1847 Probably not, because the people who supported the NSB or collaborated with the Germans liked to keep it very quiet after the war. The NSB had 75,000 members at its peak, and there were several other competing National Socialist groups with several thousand members each. In addition, there was the Nederlandsche Unie, which was a non-National Socialist organization that nevertheless advocated for collaboration with the Germans, opposition to democracy and a "readjustment to the new reality in Europe". The latter organization had around 600,000 members, and one of its founders, Jan de Quay, later became Prime Minister in 1959.

[@010Jordi]

Calling him the Dutch Hitler gives him to much credit. mussert was a loser who wasn't even taken seriously by the nazi's

[@prorrie]

Sounds tiring

[@RainOfAshes]

I like how Wilhelmina had the chance to spare him, but basically just said: "Kill him."

[@waskozoids]

I don't like Wilhelmina because she fled the country.

[@veen9667]

Oh yes, she was so brave .. 😂🤡

[@theShermanator]

Brave Wilhelmina who fled day 1 - this doesn't mean I like Mussert, but she left her people behind

[@Blue-Eyed-Bastard]

@@theShermanatorshe did but started radio orange near Buckingham palace to give speeches to everyone listening with a radio in holland, But never maked up for that

[@freppie_]

i like how almost all leaders didn't abandon their people except she.

[@tomsteginga2506]

My father passed at 98 in 2023 and he was part of the dutch resistance. After the war he met my mother both being typist/clerks in the courts which was set up to prosecute dutch Nazi's. A great number of his childhood friends and families were all murdered by the Nazi's with the help of the NSB. My parents spoke of the winter famine with the biscuit bombers saving them in 1945. I had difficulty watching this excellent presentation Dr Felton but was grateful at the same time.

[@cdd4248]

It was difficult to watch and stomach.

[@richsiwes]

You should be proud of your father’s work during the War.Turns out not many were in the resistance-dutch people got five guilders ‘head-money’-for every jewish person they brought in they got five guilders and that’s why the nazis didn’t have to search that hard- jews were turned in by their neighbors.. (who took their houses as well and did not want to return them to the rightful owners after the War-it says a lot about the dutch mentality and it still shows..

[@OMGitsJelle]

The grandfather of my wife was one of the men killed during the razzia on putten, thank you for highlighting some dutch WW2 history.

[@rustyfmj2388]

In our own Dutch history books (in school) Mussert and the NSB are only briefly touched upon. It's a shame really that a 13 minute video on YT teaches me more about this subject than they ever cared to teach me back in school Stellar work as always Mr Felton

[@1964Hanne]

Maarten van Rossem heeft een zeer interessante uitzending bij RTV Utrecht over Mussert gemaakt. Op KZbin te zien.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

Dutch history education was and still is useless. It never taught me anything I already knew in the 80's and I shudder to think after decades of leftwing rule over the education department how bad it has become. Probably slavery bad, colonialism bad, feel very ashamed for what your ancestors did!

[@klapsigaarenbasgitaar1931]

Kom op, je doet net of niemand hier weet wie Mussert is. Lees anders eens een boek ofzo.

[@sanserof7]

@@1964Hanne Daar concludeert hij ook dat Mussert eigenlijk best wel mild was en niet zo veel voor stelde. Hem een 'tweede Hitler' noemen slaat daarom werkelijk helemaal nergens op.

[@rickglorie]

Utrecht was the 'capitol' during World War 2, on the Maliebaan a lot of NSB, Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and SS offices were based @@1964Hanne There's actual footage of Himmler visiting the NSB headquaters unable to laugh at the 'klein burger' nature of it all.

[@tony199120]

As a dutch person, the one i had been waiting on patiently for years!! thank you!

[@egelmuis]

Mussert was one of the top civil engineers in the Netherlands, perhaps the most influential in the early years of the 20th century. He was always extremely nationalistic, for instance, he used his influence to choose the route of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal in such a way that his city of Utrecht would benefit as much as possible from it. And he went into politics to stop a canal that would make the Belgian port city of Antwerp more accessible. Despite the NS in the name, the NSB began as a fascist (as in Italy) party rather than a nazi party, hence Jews could also be members.

[@willywonka7812]

Ordering public works be made for personal gain. Natural fascist

[@bulldogjoe1804]

@@willywonka7812 For personal gain?

[@willywonka7812]

@@bulldogjoe1804 improving your hometown's aesthetics over any broader practical purpose, is your personal gain

[@bulldogjoe1804]

@@willywonka7812 As much as possible you mean. It wasnt aesthetics but providing jobs and also profiting from that route. Otherwise it would have only went to the capitol Amsterdam. His route made a larger part benefit from it. Him stopping Antwerp getting more accessible made Rotterdam the main port to go to in Europe and the whole of The Netherlands benefited from that. He was a discusting human being but saying those things were for personal gain is idiotic. Maybe next time you should first know what youre talking about instead of reacting but that is the problem with you woke muppets.

[@willywonka7812]

@@bulldogjoe1804 what does woke mean?

[@Pos1t1ve-Neg1t1ve]

The "stunning couple" caption had me floored 😂 Thanks for another great video Dr. Felton

[@johngaller278]

Are you dropping more funny lines these days than you have in the past? I enjoy them.

[@bananabourbonaenima]

His right-hand man, Meinoud Rost van Tonningen, did competative rowing with my great-grandfather during their student days. Not that this helped him; my great-grandfather was executed for supplying paper to illegal newspapers.

[@EmJayEll]

Rost van Tonningen had an unfortunate accident involving gravity shortly after his capture, but did not survive to properly stand trial for his crimes.

[@Metallica4Life92]

@@EmJayEll a short drop and a sudden stop, you say?

[@himthatis6698]

"There were, however, no half measures with Mussert." I always enjoy a new video from Dr Felton, especially on a subject that is completely new to me. These witty inserts are the cherry on top.

[@SpotCam]

marrying your auntie whos nearly 20 years older along with sleeping with your own niece is absolute insanity

[@phaywood5883]

And my day is complete as I see the Dr Felton upload 😃

[@strizhi6717]

When I see you pop up in my feed you take priority and never disappoint..thank you Felton :)

[@mass55th75]

Thanks for this video Mark. My father was born in the Zeeland region of Holland in 1904, and came to the U.S. with his two brothers and their parents in March 1913. I've read about the liberation of the Breskens area of Holland by Canadian Forces, and what a hard-fought struggle it was. I had never heard about Mussert, or the NSB until I watched this. You continually provide us with facts that have been left out of the history of WWII, and I look forward to you educating us even more in the future.

[@russwoodward8251]

Mussert was a 1 inch square picture in the column of my history book, a single paragraph side story. Thank you Dr. Felton for fleshing this story out. Very good.

[@gjhazard]

I really learn a lot from you Dr Felton. I appreciate the free education! This was a great piece!!

[@Dogsontheloose]

He didn't tell you the medal in the thumbnail is fantasy, did he? They never were awarded during the war and there's zero evidence of them existing until after the war.

[@rickglorie]

It's not, it's a NSB-medal design for members who went to the Easternfront @@Dogsontheloose It was never awarded because the German's wouldn't allow it. Just another example who idiotic it all was.

[@nonebusiness2023]

He's wrong about the number of Jews that were in the party there were about 120 people of Jewish origin not several hundred and almost all of them were Christians and not considered Jews by anybody other than the Nazis.

[@diedertspijkerboer]

Seyss Inquart moved residence to Apeldoorn in 1944, around the time of operation Market Garden. He lived in a confiscated villa, which had a bunker built in the garden. I grew up in Apeldoorn in the 1970s and 80s and visited the bunker during a school outing in 1980, when it was open to the public for a brief time. My one memory of the place was a shower room with a basic showerhead sticking out of the wall. I was a 10 year old at the time and thought that it was a gas chamber, until my teacher corrected me.

[@romuco9872]

Such thorough mini documentaries. Intriguing and well paced. Another way to not forget this horrendous time. Thank you.

[@karfiolovinys.r.o.7114]

Incredible video! Love how you not only talk about the one historical person, but about the whole background of the occupation in the Netherlands. Would have never known all this, thank you for expanding my knowledge! Please do more of these!

[@fordfairlane662dr]

What a informative video..thanks Mark Felton for uploading this! 🏆

[@AllisterCaine]

German here: just wanted to say that the one holiday i spent in the netherlands was beautiful! Such nice people... The food is good (well we had the munchies 😂), the land perfect for cycling... Need to return there. "karbidschiieten" is on my bucket list, but i havent got around to do it, guess you need to know locals...

[@garypoulton7311]

You took the words out of my mouth with your comment about corporals! Brilliant Mr Felton

[@HistoryHustle]

Great to see you cover Dutch WW2 history Mark! Actually the word NSB'er is still used for people acting traitorous.

[@TFD31415]

My two favourite YT WW2 history channels - HistoryHustle and Mark Felton. Yes, that’s what I was thinking as well, being called an NSBer is synonymous to being called the ultimate traitor - or at least if you belong to a certain age group

[@Theaudacity787]

2 great history channels!

[@Nicov94]

Interesting!

[@itsnotagsr]

Thank you for sharing this history. My great uncle was killed by the NSB/Gestapo at that same prison in The Hague. He was involved with the underground free press. His body was buried in the sand dunes in a mass grave and only identified 2 years ago. Sharing history about what happened is the best way he and others like him can be remembered. With respect to why there wasn’t more resistance from the population, I find these comments mostly made by people posting from countries that were never occupied - US, UK and Australia, etc. Respectfully, they never faced the same terror as those people who were occupied.

[@jackie0604oxon]

Well said; I learned what they endured from my former Dutch sister-in-law's relatives who had lived through the war, they were terrible times.

[@Squirrelmind66]

I love the nickname the Dutch people gave to Seyss-Inquart - 6 1/4, or zes en kwart .

[@vangestelwijnen]

Yes, he was like Herr Flick in a way..

[@jeroenvangastel9079]

😂

[@pietervanderzwaan4295]

seyss inquart was really intelligent, something the NSDAP never wants even though all that seyss was allowed to run the dutch administration.

[@hansoak3664]

This is one of the few channels I subscribe to that can get a like before I even watched the video and often does. It just saves time to click like before I even click play. Every single bit of content has been of high-quality. Impressive work. Thank you.

[@bryanparkhurst17]

Mark, I've been watching your videos for a couple years now. You really do some good rabbit hole work. I really enjoy your shows so please keep them coming.

[@stevewilson5292]

I've found a lot of good material here on KZbin about the Netherlands during the Second World War done by young Dutch historians who are surprisingly objective about the behaviour of their countrymen during that time. One of the estimates that sticks with me: 20% of the Dutch worked with the Germans, 10% worked against them, and 70% just tried to survive.

[@Canofasahi]

Yup and those 10% where divided amongst themselves, much to the relief of (Höherer) SS- und Polizeiführer Hanns Rauter who stated that a united resistance could have caused a lot of troubles during Operation Marketgarden. Rauter was also executed after the war and shares his final resting place with Mussert.

[@rogerwilco2]

I am not surprised by those numbers. Up until 1940 the Germans were seen as friends and the French and British were much more seen as enemies due to the various wars with England and Napoleon. My aunt from 1901 clearly thought of the French as "The occupiers" despite living through WW2. It is WW2 that changed this a lot, but the Netherlands still has a strong Calvinist reactionary part in its culture to this day.

[@tsarbomba01]

10%??? Dream on. 2% would be a high estimate in my opinion.

[@henkmeerdink936]

​@@Canofasahiyes, the divisions in Dutch society were chiefly amongst religious lines, not in a violent way, but in a simple, complete lack of cooperation between the various religious factions, with even the Catholics and Protestants heavily divided amongst themselves. And to that the added division on political lines, and you could literally not trust your neighbours.

[@OPTSXFilosoofis]

I've always heard this as well. But 10% 10% 80%. I think it is true

[@noahdanielg]

Thank you for covering this Mark, not many non-Dutch people know about him or the NSB. He was indeed not taken seriously at all Hitler ridiculed him, even to his face as you say.

[@Robert-ch8hf]

Thank you Dr. Felton for another great learning experience.

[@petercarter9034]

An interesting and not widely known chapter in history, thank you for clearly explaining it, I learn something new everyday

[@jazzyonno]

Great video that gives a well balanced view of both the collaborators and the resistance in the Netherlands and the unique position that our small country found itself in. One correction though: the surrender of Germany in the Netherlands was signed on the 5th of May 1945, not the 7th. The surrender was signed in Hotel De Wereld in Wageningen by Canadian general Foulkes and German general Blaskowitz. The surrender of the German forces in Germany was 2 days later, on the 7th of May. Thanks for all the great work you do!

[@Dylan-sp7oc]

De echte overgave is op 4 mei getekend. Hotel de wereld was de grote prins bernhard (nazi) show.

[@WickedMuis]

Yeah, hence 5th of May is a national day celebrated annually, and 4th of May consequently became Rememberance Day.

[@rickglorie]

An old timey joke "A German comes to the Netherlands on May 4 and sees everyone on Dam Square sad. He asks a Dutchman: "What's going on?" The Dutchman says: "Well, we commemorate all Dutch people who died in the Second World War." The German asks: "But didn't many Germans die in the Second World War?" The Dutchman says: "Yes, but we celebrate that on May 5." That's no longer the sentiment, the remembrance is transitioning into a more general moment to pay hommeage to the victims of all wars.

[@monkeycheesenow]

A Dutch historian here: excellent video, as always. In university I wrote several papers on the Netherlands during the interwar years and WW2. One of them was on Mussert, and I had the opportunity to hold and read several letters written and signed personally by Mussert. I vividly remember his total sycophantic way of addressing his German superiors, and utter disdain of other Dutch non-NSB politicians (during the interwar years). He was just an ass really, as to be expected of an opportunistic collaborator.

[@johnflanagan2316]

Thank you Dr Felton I watch all your videos. Im a history nut and love the things I learn from you are great.

[@danielbeck9191]

THANK YOU for this very informative video! This is all new material for me. I had excellent history teachers in school, but you, Professor, have added so much to my knowledge and understanding if military history!

[@jasonp410]

I remember an episode of "Nazi collaborators" that mentioned Mussert and the fact that Leider as it is spelled in Dutch is leader but in German the same spelling translates to "the unfortunate." Great episode Dr. Felton.

[@vaqueroman9406]

In Dutch “lijder” means the one who is suffering

[@easterlinear]

@@vaqueroman9406and what does that have to do with anything

[@adema1978]

Leider means unfortunate. After the war, the regular Wehrmachtsoldiers were left alone by the Dutch. NSB members, however, were in deep trouble..

[@plunketgreene3646]

You're right to point out how difficult and dangerous resistance was in a densely populated country like the Netherlands. All the more honour to those who did resist, in many different ways. General Sir John Hackett wrote a wonderful book - "I Was A Stranger" - about how he was hidden by many ordinary Dutch families in the aftermath of Market Garden. I gave it to a Dutch friend of mine who was a child during the occupation, and he was in tears recalling the bravery and the suffering of his countrymen and women.

[@DanAndHoe]

Oh I should check that book out. My grandfather was in the resistance in that part of the country and provided shelter for allied pilots and allied troops left behind after Market Garden. Maybe he's mentioned in the book. Eventually the Nazis were on to my grandfather and he had to go into hiding.

[@Nick-fi1mc]

Absolutely incredible! Thank you Mr Felton! Always wondered where Quisling came from

[@JESUSisLORD24151]

Mr. Felton, your videos are always very interesting and most educational. Thank you for sharing.

[@Edwards-Videos]

7:50 Some members of the Dutch Royal Family settled in Canada during the Second World War. Princess Juliana (later Queen Juliana) gave birth to Princess Margriet while in Canada'a capital, Ottawa, in 1943. Canada declared the maternity ward to be Dutch territory during her delivery in order that Princess Margriet would remain in the Line of Succession to the Dutch Crown.

[@Quelloli1]

Thank you!

[@alzeNL]

Very interesting - being of dutch heritage and have been there for several years, i find the history presented by you very easy and interesting to follow. I enjoyed the Ten Boom musuem in Haarlem which was an eye opener. The Dutch of that era was something else, and I'm lucky to be here because of them!

[@starshipchi-rhostudio7097]

Thank you for another great video about little known WWII history.

[@olavl8827]

It's nice to see Dutch stories of the war being told on this channel. There are quite a few more as I'm sure you're aware. For example the story of the invasion itself. Of course the Dutch army wasn't a match for the Wehrmacht, but to the Nazis' surprise it did put up a fight in various places. It took the Germans a few days more to conquer the country than they had expected. They even took some serious losses. They had to resort to completely destroying Rotterdam and threatening to do the same to other cities to force the Dutch to surrender. Basically the Nazis thought, in their arrogance, that they would be welcomed here which was not the case. Then of course there are all the resistance stories. If you haven't already you should probably look into the Februaristaking (February Strike) of 1941. It was a massive general strike, centred in Amsterdam, in protest of the persecution of the Jews. It was organised by the Communist party of the Netherlands which was of course not everyone's favourite political group, but for this occasion it still had broad support. As I understand it it was quite a unique event in all of Nazi-occupied Europe. My grandfather was severely tortured and sentenced to prison in Germany for his role in the strike, where with luck he survived the war. I would not be typing this right now if he hadn't, but of course he was quite broken when he finally came home.

[@rogerwilco2]

Indeed.

[@bilgyno1]

I am a Dutchman and knew much of Mussert, the pre-war NSB and his execution. But I had not yet heard about the marrying his aunt part... So I still learned something new...

[@kladblok2729]

Thank you Dr Felton for this document about my home country.

[@stevesloan7132]

Thanks for sharing this important information!

[@valentijnbeetz]

My grandmothers house still has a secret room in the attic where men hid to avoid forced labour, the interesting thing is that later in the war the house was occupied by the Germans, being a town close to the sea most of it was evacuated due to the atlantik wall, my grandmothers family was allowed to stay during the war since my great grandfather had a farm and was a carpenter. Even though it was a small town/village people were hidden in multiple places. My grandmother told me a story of a man ratting on a jewish family that was hiding, the men of the town gathered and beat the guy to death with a strange object (my grandmother did her best to remember what object was but she couldn’t recall) decades later they found the body of the man with a bashed in skull, the police asked for clues but no one said a word, even though many people knew who and what had happened.

[@robertlevine2827]

G-d bless the Dutch.

[@DanAndHoe]

My grandmother lived on a farm near Haarlem, with her German stepmother. During the war German soldiers were stationed at the farm. In the barn attached to the house was my grandfather and his brothers, hiding for the Arbeitseinsatz. It's impossible the German soldiers never heard three young men living in the attic above them, but never really tried to catch them. Sometimes they would go upstairs to check on the noise, but they would proclaim loudly they were going upstairs after first eating lunch, giving my grandfather time to hide. There was a hidden door in a closet, with which my grandfather could move from one part of the barn to the other. "You must have really big rats" one of the soldiers once said to my grandmother. Those young soldiers were probably glad they were in a peaceful area, with a family that could speak German. They probably didn't want to risk changing their situation by arresting someone.

[@DougsterCanada1]

Love your work. ❤

[@JAFFAWIRE]

Thanks you so much @Mark Felton for doing this video. Several months ago I struggled to explain to a friend that most European nations occupied by Germany had collaboration governments and movements that enabled abuses of their populations and by contrast a resistance as well. This video does a better job than I ever could.

[@williamkirk1156]

Thank you! You are correct, I had never heard of this guy. Great story!

[@daantjeeify]

An interesting thing to act, the reason why the the presecution of the Jews was so efficiënt in the Netherlands was because the Dutch held a meticilous track of its volksregistratie (population registry) that included religion and adresses. When the germans captured these registers they had a relative easy time finding all the jews and their relatives. That is why privacy regulations in Europe to this day value "sensitive data" and enforce extra security measures because we have experienced what damage can be done when it falls into the wrong hands.

[@SevereWeatherCenter]

Awesome channel Mark.

[@thermometredupochard]

Thank you for talking about this. Another bit of history I was unaware off.

[@NunyaBizznaz]

I can watch the "History Channel" all year long and not see a fraction of the unique content that Dr Felton produceses

[@bold810]

More people should know and use the deprecary potential of the epithet "Quisling".

[@LazyDaisyDay88]

Agreed. I've used it over the years - mostly in a jokey way. I usually get a blank stare and "huh?"

[@mRahman92]

That picture of him sitting with his "wife" and the look on those people's face, around them has to be one of the funniest yet horrifying picture I've ever seen.

[@jivekiwi]

Good stuff. I've known about Quisling since I was quite young and have read many of top rated WW2 books but I didn't know about this guy. Bravo sir.

[@sameyers2670]

Thank you Mark this was really interesting and an aspect of history I hadnt heard of before

[@voodootrucker1896]

🚛💨 Thank you for another interesting and informative video Dr Felton. We are big fans of you

[@scottcharney1091]

Poland was the one place where the Nazis never found any Quislings. Also, as everyone ought to know, Anne Frank (and her family, and a couple of their friends) were among the Dutch Jews hidden by Dutch civilians. Also also, Audrey Hepburn (then in her mid-teens) played a role in the resistance, delivering messages and such. The famine permanently damaged her metabolism.

[@louislochner5713]

How interesting.. Great content as always, thanks Mark 👍🏼

[@Fractal_blip]

Christmas came way early. Dr. Felton dropped another one 🙏

[@JG-dh3ht]

As a Dutchman, I must thank you for this stunning accurate production Dr. Felton! Never thought you would touch a topic like this. One addition. During the German occupation Musserts position has always been fragile. He wanted that the Netherlands stayed indepent during and after te war, what resulted in some side-eyeing from the Germans. Especially because the 2nd in command within the NSB, Rost van Tonningen, wanted the Netherlands to integrate into a new German Reich. Therefore Mussert was always easy to replace for a more obedient puppet. Mussert could never even bring up his own ideas for fear of replacement.

[@kingtiger-fv4gb]

Good video as always

[@garylawson5381]

I have always admired the Dutch people for the resistance. I have always been a history buff of the world wars, but leave it to Mark Felton Productions to teach me something new. Thank you Dr Felton!

[@chantalslut]

There is a dutch saying: After the war suddenly everybody had been in the resistance.

[@steefvanburen7985]

The ones who did the resistance yes. The role of many Dutch people was not so good, to put it mildy

[@steefvanburen7985]

Even after the war, the government didnt let the people remember Dutch communist resistance fighters. ( Hannie Schaft for example) Which was most of the resistance. Even in Dutch movies about the war, they play a small role. Very sad!

[@Hairnicks]

Fabulous history as always, thank you Mark.

[@reptilespantoso]

Well done. I'm dutch trained as a historian and this is accurate.

[@nonebusiness2023]

Would have been nice then for you to call him out on the BS claim that several hundred Jewish members were in the party. There were about 120 people of Jewish heritage that were kicked out the vast majority were Christians and not considered Jews by anybody other than the nazis

[@dennisvanoord3278]

Finally a video on my country the Netherlands and on top of that Andon Mussert! Can you go deeper on the Dutch SS legion and also how many of them fought in later wars like the Indonesian war of independence (against) the korean war,and maybe even others (probably)

[@aaronamaro1023]

Wow those old clips look HD! Well done Mark!

[@jrdoxie3]

Excellent video as usual. Hoping you'll do one on Leon Degrelle as well, his story is something out of a movie.

[@tommyvictorbuch6960]

Quisling was quite known, despised and ridiculed here in Denmark. I remember my grandparents occasionally mention him.

[@svetlanamandic9785]

It's perfectly explained! Well done, sir. You really are amazing! 👏

[@Maxarcc]

It's so strange to see that shot at 10:13. Those types of fences are still quite common here, and the windows of some older houses still look like that. Seeing allied forces run past it feels surreal to me. Like it really isn't as long ago as it feels, sometimes.

[@DanAndHoe]

Yeah, I recently saw a picture of kids walking in a park in the 1920s and there was the low tube-like fence I know from my childhood in the 90s. It suddenly seemed too modern for a picture that could be a 100 years old now, but apparently such fences were more common than I expected.

[@perhapsyes2493]

Yup, if this were in color and HD, it would barely be recognizable as an old clip. The only thing that kinda gives it away is the road surface.

[@dmprdctns]

Well done... as usual... Enjoyed the couple witticisms...