Hendrik Evert Koot (5 April 1898 – 14 February 1941) was a Dutch collaborator with the German occupying forces during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. A member of the
WA, the paramilitary wing of the
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), he was beaten up by members of a local ''knokploeg'' ("action group") in Amsterdam on 11 February 1941. His injuries were so severe that he died a few days later. His death was seized by the German authorities to start raids in the
Jodenbuurt
The Jodenbuurt ( Dutch: ''Jewish neighbourhood'') is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. For centuries before World War II, it was the center of the Dutch Jews of Amsterdam — hence, its name (literally '' Jewish quarter''). It is best ...
, the Amsterdam Jewish quarters, which in turn led to the
February strike
The February strike ( nl, Februaristaking) was a general strike in the German-occupied Netherlands in 1941, during World War II, organised by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands in defence of persecuted Dutch Jews and against t ...
. Another element of Nazi retaliation was the installation of a ''
Judenrat
A ''Judenrat'' (, "Jewish council") was a World War II administrative agency imposed by Nazi Germany on Jewish communities across occupied Europe, principally within the Nazi ghettos. The Germans required Jews to form a ''Judenrat'' in every com ...
'' in Amsterdam:
the .
Early life
Hendrik Koot was born and raised in Amsterdam. He joined the
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) in 1935, with his wife, Elisabeth van Groningen, the latter being apparently influenced by a speech by the NSB founder,
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 ...
, at the
Concertgebouw
The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls i ...
. At some point, he worked for
Asscher, a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
diamond cutter. They had eight children; the eldest two had gone to sea to join the merchant navy, but all of the others joined various
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
and
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
organizations. Two joined the
SS, one the
Dutch Landstorm and another the
Nationale Jeugdstorm (the Dutch version of the
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
). One of Koot's sisters had married a German soldier, and another married a Dutch SS volunteer. After Koot's death, his wife married another WA man.
The Koot family had a winning lottery ticket in 1932 and, combined with savings, that allowed them to buy a store that sold equipment and supplies for textile manufactures to which moved on the
Vijzelstraat (no. 88) in 1938 and renamed ''Hako'', for "H. Koot".
He moved up in the NSB ranks as well and quickly rose to the rank of sergeant. During the 1941 events, he had attained the rank of ''opperwachtmeester'', the highest rank for a
non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
.
[
]
Events of February 1941
By January 1941, far-reaching measures to restrict Jews had been enacted, and Hanns Albin Rauter
Johann Baptist Albin Rauter (4 February 1895 – 24 March 1949) was a high-ranking Austrian-born SS functionary and war criminal during the Nazi era. He was the highest SS and Police Leader in the occupied Netherlands and therefore the leading ...
, the Austrian-born SS and Police Leader in the Netherlands, had ordered thugs to collaborate with the Nazis in beating up Jews and creating civil unrest in the hope to provoke Jewish resistance.[
At the same time, though, , the representative in Amsterdam for ]Arthur Seyss-Inquart
Arthur Seyss-Inquart (German: Seyß-Inquart, ; 22 July 1892 16 October 1946) was an Austrian Austrian National Socialism, Nazi politician who served as Chancellor of Austria in 1938 for two days before the ''Anschluss''. His positions in Nazi Ge ...
, ''Reichskommissar
(, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany.
Germa ...
'' for the Netherlands, had forbidden WA members from entering Jewish neighbourhoods.
Koot in fact entered such a neighborhood, with some 40 other WA members[ (one of his sons was also there and was also wounded][). He got beaten up by a Jewish ''knokploeg'' on 11 February 1941,][ on the ]Waterlooplein
Waterlooplein (Waterloo Square) is a square in the centre of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The square near the Amstel river is named after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The daily flea market on the square is popular with tourists. The Stopera ...
.[ After Koot's death, Rauter himself wrote an op-ed in the NSB paper '']Volk en Vaderland
''Volk en Vaderland'' (''People and Fatherland'') was a Dutch weekly paper published by Nenasu (''Nederlandsch Nationaal Socialistische Uitgeverij''), a Nazi publishing firm owned by Anton Mussert. Mussert was leader of the NSB or National Social ...
'' that salaciously described the act: "a Jew had ripped open the victim's artery with his teeth and sucked his blood out", in "an obvious allusion to ritual murder
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...
".[ According to the Dutch historian ]Jacques Presser
Jacob (Jacques) Presser (24 February 1899 in Amsterdam – 30 April 1970 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch historian, writer and poet who is known for his book ''Ashes in the Wind (The Destruction of the Dutch Jews)'' on the history of the persecutio ...
, in the lurid descriptions of the murder, the Nazis betrayed "their own bestiality rather than describe the actual facts".[ Those lurid details are not confirmed in the police reports, which had gotten lost but were found again, and are available through the ]Amsterdam City Archives
The Amsterdam City Archives ( nl, Stadsarchief Amsterdam) preserves documents pertaining to the history of Amsterdam and provides information about the city. With archives covering a shelf-length of about 50 kilometres, the Amsterdam City Archives ...
.
''Het Parool
''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...
'', the resistance paper, reported on 25 February that Koot had died after enduring one single wound, a blow to the head by a heavy object such as an axe or a club, which is mentioned in the police report of 18 February 1941. Koot's funeral took place on 17 February, at Zorgvlied cemetery. A funeral procession, complete with marching band, preceded his horse-drawn carriage, two thousand Nazis with flags marched through town and Wolfsangel
(, translation "wolf's hook") or () is a heraldic charge from Germany and eastern France, which was inspired by medieval European wolf traps that consisted of a Z-shaped metal hook (called the ''Wolfsangel'', or the ''Crampon'' in French) th ...
s were affixed to the grave.[
Response was immediate. The Jewish neighborhood was sealed off by German authorities, which effectively began the Amsterdam ghetto,]) and a ''Judenrat
A ''Judenrat'' (, "Jewish council") was a World War II administrative agency imposed by Nazi Germany on Jewish communities across occupied Europe, principally within the Nazi ghettos. The Germans required Jews to form a ''Judenrat'' in every com ...
'' was put into place.[
Protests broke out, and the raid on an ice cream parlor, a known hangout for a Jewish ''knokploeg'', saw German police forces being attacked in retaliation and possibly sprayed with acid. The Germans decided to round up a large number of Jewish men, which gave the local communist resistance groups an opportunity to agitate the population enough to start a strike.
Widespread strikes started the following Tuesday, 25 February. The Dutch police response was moderate, and the Nazi authorities were displeased. Troops were sent in to break the strike, and posters explaining the death of Koot were put up in an attempt to justify military action.][
]
References
External links
*Police reports from February 1941
Part 1
an
Part 2
in the Concertgebouw
The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls i ...
, from Polygoon
The Dutch Polygoon-Profilti was a cinema newsreel company in the Netherlands from 1919 to 1987. It started with weekly news items in the Dutch language, Dutch movie theaters and lasted until 1987 when it finally surrendered to television news sho ...
Koot's funeral procession
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koot, Hendrik
1898 births
1941 deaths
Dutch fascists
Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany
Military personnel from Amsterdam
Deaths by beating in Europe