Cornelis "Kees" van Geelkerken (''Van'' in isolation: . 19 March 1901 – 29 March 1976) was a Dutch fascist political leader and Nazi collaborator. Van Geelkerken was born in 1901 to a Dutch family in

Molenbeek-Saint-Jean ( French, ) or (Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, from which it is separated ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and grew up in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. He gravitated toward

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

in the 1920s while working as a municipal employee in

Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of "Seist" was first mentioned in a charter in the year 83 ...

and Utrecht. Van Geelkerken co-founded the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands The National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands ( nl, Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging in Nederland, ; NSB) was a Dutch fascist and later Nazi political party that called itself a " movement". As a parliamentary party participating in legisl ...

(NSB) with

Anton Mussert Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname) Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, a town and capital of th ...

in 1931. He was made the leader of the ''

Nationale Jeugdstorm The ''Nationale Jeugdstorm'' (English: National Youth Storm; NJS) was a Dutch youth movement associated with the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB) that existed from 1934 to 1945, organized as the Dutch equivalent of the German ...

'', the party's youth corps. In 1943, during the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

of the Netherlands, Van Geelkerken was appointed Inspector-General of the '' Nederlandse Landwacht'', a

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to t ...

paramilitary created by the Germans to combat the Dutch resistance. He was expelled from the NSB in early 1945 after a falling out with Mussert. After the war, he was tried in the ''

Bijzonder Gerechtshof The Bijzonder Gerechtshof (Dutch for "Special Court of Justice") was a special court that was established in the Netherlands to try defendants accused of committing high treason, treason and war crimes immediately after the country's liberation dur ...

'' ("Special Court of Justice") and sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

, but was later released in 1959. He died in 1976 in Ede.

Works

* ''Voor Volk en Vaderland'', Utrecht, 1943

References

* ''Nazi Rule and Dutch Collaboration: The Netherlands under German Occupation, 1940-45'' by

Gerhard Hirschfeld Gerhard Hirschfeld (born 19 September 1946 in Plettenberg, Germany) is a German historian and author. He was director (between 1989-2011) of the Stuttgart-based Bibliothek für Zeitgeschichte / Library of Contemporary History, and has been a pr ...

() * ''Dutch Under German Occupation: 1940-1945'' by Werner Warmbrunn () * ''

The Patriotic Traitors ''The Patriotic Traitors: A History of Collaboration in German-Occupied Europe, 1940–45'' is a 1972 book by David Littlejohn. It is a history of the Europeans who took part in collaborationism with Nazi Germany. Individual chapters are devo ...

: A History of Collaboration in German-Occupied Europe, 1940-45'' by David Littlejohn () * ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the ...

'' edited by Philip Rees, 1991, ()

External links

1901 births 1976 deaths People from Molenbeek-Saint-Jean National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands politicians Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany Dutch political party founders {{Netherlands-bio-stub

See also

Works

References

External links