Nederlandse Landwacht

The Nederlandse Landwacht was a Dutch paramilitary organization founded by the German occupation forces in Holland on November 12, 1943. It should not be confused with the military volunteer corps 'Landwacht Nederland', which was established in March 1943 and renamed Landstorm Nederland in October, and which became part of the Waffen-SS.

Characteristics and conduct
Landwacht recruit intake, Amsterdam, 28 February 1944).
Landwachters seizing canned vegetables (9 June 1944).

The Landwacht was first seen on the street in March 1944. The Landwacht mostly was made up of Dutch National Socialist movement (NSB) members equipped with shotguns. The populace nicknamed them the "Jan-Hagel", Dutch slang for a rabble but also related to the Dutch word for a shotgun (hagelgeweer).[1] The Landwacht was mainly used to guard buildings, check identity cards, and carry out arrests, house searches, and raids. They did not wear a uniform initially, but were identified by a red bracelet.[2]

The Landwacht was feared and hated by the population, among other things because during the Hongerwinter, the Dutch famine in the winter of 1944–45, the Landwacht confiscated food parcels from Dutch civilians. Many thousands of Dutch people had traveled hundreds of kilometers to obtain bread or some potatoes.[3] On 27 March 1945 the illegal Het Parool newspaper devoted an article to the Landwacht's many arrests and executions. Het Parool opined that the Landwachters deserved execution once liberation came.[4]

Uniforms

Members of the Landwacht generally wore the black NSB party uniforms: black shirts, black trousers or riding breeches, black leather motorcycle or riding boots, and a black leather belt with matching carrying strap. Depending on the weather, a black tunic or black overcoat could be worn.[3] Though the Landwacht were poorly armed, black pistol holsters were sometimes carried.

Organization

Kees van Geelkerken, the second-ranked official in the NSB, was appointed Inspector General of the Landwacht by Arthur Seyss-Inquart in November 1943.[1]: 272  After 5 September 1944 the Landwacht fell directly under Hanns Albin Rauter, the highest SS and police leader in the occupied Netherlands.[5] After Rauter was severely wounded by the Dutch resistance in March 1945, German SD leader Karl Eberhard Schöngarth became his deputy.

The Voluntary Auxiliary Police was merged with the Landwacht after Dolle Dinsdag, 5 September 1944, when celebrations were prompted after broadcasts claimed that Breda, in occupied Netherlands, had been liberated by Allied forces.[6]

The Landwacht's headquarters was located in Villa Bloemenheuvel, at 23-25 Hoofdstraat in Driebergen.[7]

Regional organization of the Landwacht
NameRegionCommander
Stormban I South Holland and Zeeland H.A.M. van der Heijden (NSB)[8]
Stormban II North Holland and Utrecht W. Slob (NSB)
Stormban III Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe T.J.S. van Efferen (Germanic SS)
Stormban IV Gelderland and Overijssel N.J. Alblas (NSB)
Stormban V North Brabant and Limburg V G. Rollema (Germanic SS)

After the war, three former Landwachters, Gerard Rollema (1915), Gerrit Sanner (1909) and Dirk Eijkelboom (1895) were sentenced to death.

References
  1. Douwes, Arnold (August 29, 2019). The Secret Diary of Arnold Douwes: Rescue in the Occupied Netherlands. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253044211 – via Google Books.
  2. Jansen, Steven; Velp en de oorlog 1940-1945 [Velp and the 1940-1945 war], p. 31; Publisher Thieles Boekhandel, Velp (G.), 2nd edition, 1946.
  3. Grace, Sherrill; Imbert, Patrick; Johnstone, Tiffany (February 28, 2012). Bearing Witness: Perspectives on War and Peace from the Arts and Humanities. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 9780773540583 – via Google Books.
  4. Liempt, Ad van (ed.) (2013). De jacht op het verzet [The hunt for the resistance]. Publisher Balans. ISBN 978 94 600 3597 5.
  5. Hakkert, Adriaan (February 28, 2004). Wel vergeven, niet vergeten: geschiedenis van Nederland gedurende de Tweede Wereldoorlog [Forgiven, not forgotten: History of the Netherlands during the Second World War]. Aspekt. ISBN 9789059111462 – via Google Books.
  6. Romijn, Peter (February 28, 2006). Burgemeesters in oorlogstijd: besturen tijdens de Duitse bezetting [Mayors in wartime: administration during the German occupation]. Balans. ISBN 9789050187718 – via Google Books.
  7. "WO2 in Driebergen: Villa hoofdkantoor van Landwacht" [WW2 in Driebergen: Villa Landwacht headquarters]. De Kaap-Stichtse Courant. April 28, 2020.
  8. Jong, Louis (February 28, 1976). Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de Tweede Wereldoorlog [The Kingdom of the Netherlands during the Second World War]. Staatsdrukkerij- en Uitgeverijbedrijf – via Google Books.
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