The Weerbaarheidsafdeling (WA; "Resilience Department") was the paramilitary arm 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), the fascist political party that

collaborated 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 the German occupiers of the Netherlands 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 opposing ...

. The organization, roughly equivalent to the German SA, was founded in 1932 by

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 ...

, co-founder of the NSB in 1931 and its leader until the end of the war. Members wore and marched in black uniforms and were thus called "blackshirts". In 1933 the Dutch government banned the wearing of uniforms (by civilians), and the WA was disbanded in 1935 in order to forestall the Dutch government's banning it. In 1940, after the German invasion, the WA became openly active again, and more ruthless than before. They specialized in violent attacks, particularly on the Dutch Jewish population.

Occupation

After the occupation the WA was put to use in much the same way as the SA was, forcing owners of restaurants and cafes to put up signs saying ''Jooden niet gewenscht'' ("Jews not welcome") and harassing and provoking inhabitants of neighbourhoods with many Jewish inhabitants. This led to the formation of ''"knokploegen"'', informal militias, and fights erupting between the WA and Jewish and non-Jewish inhabitants. On February 9, 1941 there were riots on the Rembrandtplein between the WA and Jewish youngsters. On February 11 a group of 40 to 50 WA members marched through Amsterdam to 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 ...

in the heart of the Jewish neighbourhood. This led to a pitched battle with Jewish and inhabitants of the Jordaan in which WA member Koot was severely injured. He died a few days later; he was buried with great pomp, and stylized a martyr, in much the same way as

Horst Wessel Horst Ludwig Georg Erich Wessel (9 October 1907 – 23 February 1930) was a Berlin ''Sturmführer'' ("Assault Leader", the lowest commissioned officer rank) of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA), the Nazi Party's stormtroopers. After his killing in 1 ...

in Nazi Germany. The events led to the first razzias, deportations of Jews and formation of a ghetto in Amsterdam, and from there 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 ...

Ranks and insignia

References

Paramilitary organisations based in the Netherlands Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany 1932 establishments in the Netherlands Military wings of fascist parties {{DEFAULTSORT:Weerbaarheidsafdeling