Ageaus Yme "Gejus" van der Meulen (23 January 1903, in Amsterdam – 10 July 1972, in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

) was a Dutch

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper. One of the most popular Dutch sportsmen of the 1920s–1930s, he fell into disgrace in the late 1940s due to his

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with Nazi Germany.

Biography

Van der Meulen played 54 matches for the Netherlands national football team, which was the Dutch record for goalkeepers from 3 March 1928 (when he equalled the total of

Just Göbel Dr. Marius Jan "Just" Göbel (November 21, 1891 in Surabaya – March 5, 1984 in Ede) was a Dutch amateur football (soccer) player. Career Göbel who played for Vitesse Arnhem, succeeded Reinier Beeuwkes as the Dutch national goalkeeper in 19 ...

) until 21 June 1990 (when his total was surpassed by

Hans van Breukelen Johannes Franciscus "Hans" van Breukelen (; born 4 October 1956) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was the technical director of the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) from 2017 until 2018. Van Breuke ...

). He made his debut on 27 April 1924, against Belgium. He played in the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

, where the Netherlands were eliminated in the first round against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He also took part in two Olympic Games, in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

and

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

. He was a club player of

HFC HFC may stand for: Chemicals * Hafnium carbide * Hydrofluorocarbons Financial institutions *HFC Bank, part of HSBC Finance *Home Finance Company, known in Ghana as "HFC Bank" Places *Hall for Cornwall, a theatre in Cornwall, UK *Heng Fa Chuen, a ...

, the oldest club in the Netherlands. Van der Meulen's popularity in the Netherlands was such that his wedding made the Polygoon newsreel. Footage also exists of a celebration ceremony for Van der Meulen on 5 March 1933, the day he gained his 50th cap. In 1935, Van der Meulen retired from competitions and opened a pediatric clinic in

. He joined the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands and openly supported Hitler's compulsory sterilization laws. His views were strongly opposed by the parents of the children he treated, forcing him to close his clinic. After the German invasion, Van der Meulen joined the SS and served on the Eastern Front from 1942 onwards. He was arrested four days after the liberation of the Netherlands and tried in June 1947. He showed no remorse and stated that he did not know that the Netherlands was at war with Germany when he joined the SS. Van der Meulen was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was pardoned in August 1949 and opened a new medical clinic, but met a chilly treatment both in the medical and football worlds. His only clients were the former Nazi associates, and nobody wanted to talk to him when he went to see his son play at his former football club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meulen, Gejus van der 1903 births 1972 deaths Men's association football goalkeepers Dutch footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Olympic footballers for the Netherlands Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics 1934 FIFA World Cup players Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch Waffen-SS personnel Dutch prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of the Netherlands