Dutchmen – The Waffen-SS Needs You!
One of the most iconic pieces of modern propaganda, a potent Waffen-SS recruitment poster from the occupied Netherlands.
A legion of stormtroopers march in unison surmounted by an array of artillery guns and lead by a platoon of tanks, all of which comprise an earthy foreground, giving the poster its sturdy visual foundation. The profile of a stoic, faceless stormtrooper hovers assertively above his comrades in a darkened sky lined with bombers. Few pieces of art have captured the essence of militaristic jingoism as accurately or left an aesthetic legacy as notorious.
The Schutzstaffel (SS) recruited widely amongst foreign territories as increasing swathes of land came under German occupation. It sought to expand its ranks, particularly the militarized Waffen-SS which faced manpower shortages due to constraints being put on recruiting ethnic Germans due to its paramilitary status, as the manpower needs of theWehrmacht, the general armed forces, were prioritized. In line with the racial doctrine of the SS, local Germanic volunteers from various western European states under German occupation were recruited in their stead.
Local SS organizations in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway were known collectively as the Germanische SS (Germanic SS), distinguishing them as pureblooded Aryans. The esoteric racial doctrine of the SS considered inhabitants of northwesterly Europe a human reservoir of Germanic blood, believing that racial characteristics are tied to the natural environment from where they were derived. Following this logic, the Germanic peoples were said to be imbued with a certain hardness and combat readiness due to the harsh climate of northern Europe that they evolved to inhabit, making them ideal warriors.
Hitler thought highly of the Dutch who were considered fellow members of the wider Aryan brotherhood and racial equals to the Germans. As such, the occupational regime of Reichskommissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart took a conciliatory approach towards the (gentile) Dutch. For Seyss-Inquart, the first objective was not to extract as much as possible for Germany, but to resolve the social plague of unemployment, as German aims in the Netherlands ultimately revolved around encouraging a social revolution directed at the eventual assimilation of the racially superior Dutch into the Third Reich. The Dutch authorities were on the same page as him regarding unemployment. Contrary to popular belief, the Dutch territories did indeed experience an economic boom throughout 1940-1941 under German management. New calculations of macroeconomic statistics for the period 1938-48 show that that the first year and a half of the occupation coincided with the best economic performance of the decade, according to Professor Ham Klemann of Erasmus University. His studies further conclude that not only was industrial capacity in 1945 larger than in 1940, the Dutch population actually grew during this period. Seyss-Inquart later stated during the Nuremberg trials that his “conscience was untroubled” as he improved the conditions of the Dutch people while serving as their Reichskommissar and concluded by saying, “My last word is the principle by which I have always acted and to which I will adhere to my last breath: I believe in Germany.”
All across Europe, private and public institutions had good reason to draw attention to losses and to conceal any profitable business that had occurred during the war. Western European governments selectively portrayed to the outside world a destroyed country, a ruined economy and starving masses in the hopes of garnering compassion alongside American aid and German compensation. The Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs at the time prohibited the publication of the aforementioned macroeconomic data, as they would potentially undermine his position in the ongoing negotiations for American aid to be received through the Marshall Plan. Similarly, when the Allied press released images of healthy Dutch women celebrating VE day with American and British troops, the Hague made sure to disseminate photographs of starving children and the elderly in the most miserable circumstances to garner further sympathy and additional economic aid.
Text reads: Dutchmen. For your honor and conscience! – [Fight] against Bolshevism. The Waffen-SS calls you!
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One of the most iconic pieces of modern propaganda, a potent Waffen-SS recruitment poster from the occupied Netherlands.
A legion of stormtroopers march in unison surmounted by an array of artillery guns and lead by a platoon of tanks, all of which comprise an earthy foreground, giving the poster its sturdy visual foundation. The profile of a stoic, faceless stormtrooper hovers assertively above his comrades in a darkened sky lined with bombers. Few pieces of art have captured the essence of militaristic jingoism as accurately or left an aesthetic legacy as notorious.
The Schutzstaffel (SS) recruited widely amongst foreign territories as increasing swathes of land came under German occupation. It sought to expand its ranks, particularly the militarized Waffen-SS which faced manpower shortages due to constraints being put on recruiting ethnic Germans due to its paramilitary status, as the manpower needs of theWehrmacht, the general armed forces, were prioritized. In line with the racial doctrine of the SS, local Germanic volunteers from various western European states under German occupation were recruited in their stead.
Local SS organizations in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway were known collectively as the Germanische SS (Germanic SS), distinguishing them as pureblooded Aryans. The esoteric racial doctrine of the SS considered inhabitants of northwesterly Europe a human reservoir of Germanic blood, believing that racial characteristics are tied to the natural environment from where they were derived. Following this logic, the Germanic peoples were said to be imbued with a certain hardness and combat readiness due to the harsh climate of northern Europe that they evolved to inhabit, making them ideal warriors.
Hitler thought highly of the Dutch who were considered fellow members of the wider Aryan brotherhood and racial equals to the Germans. As such, the occupational regime of Reichskommissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart took a conciliatory approach towards the (gentile) Dutch. For Seyss-Inquart, the first objective was not to extract as much as possible for Germany, but to resolve the social plague of unemployment, as German aims in the Netherlands ultimately revolved around encouraging a social revolution directed at the eventual assimilation of the racially superior Dutch into the Third Reich. The Dutch authorities were on the same page as him regarding unemployment. Contrary to popular belief, the Dutch territories did indeed experience an economic boom throughout 1940-1941 under German management. New calculations of macroeconomic statistics for the period 1938-48 show that that the first year and a half of the occupation coincided with the best economic performance of the decade, according to Professor Ham Klemann of Erasmus University. His studies further conclude that not only was industrial capacity in 1945 larger than in 1940, the Dutch population actually grew during this period. Seyss-Inquart later stated during the Nuremberg trials that his “conscience was untroubled” as he improved the conditions of the Dutch people while serving as their Reichskommissar and concluded by saying, “My last word is the principle by which I have always acted and to which I will adhere to my last breath: I believe in Germany.”
All across Europe, private and public institutions had good reason to draw attention to losses and to conceal any profitable business that had occurred during the war. Western European governments selectively portrayed to the outside world a destroyed country, a ruined economy and starving masses in the hopes of garnering compassion alongside American aid and German compensation. The Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs at the time prohibited the publication of the aforementioned macroeconomic data, as they would potentially undermine his position in the ongoing negotiations for American aid to be received through the Marshall Plan. Similarly, when the Allied press released images of healthy Dutch women celebrating VE day with American and British troops, the Hague made sure to disseminate photographs of starving children and the elderly in the most miserable circumstances to garner further sympathy and additional economic aid.
Text reads: Dutchmen. For your honor and conscience! – [Fight] against Bolshevism. The Waffen-SS calls you!
