Arnoldus Jozephus Meijer (5 May 1905 – 17 June 1965) was a Dutch

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

politician. Meijer was born in

Haarlemmermeer Haarlemmermeer () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The ...

. Brought up a devout

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and educated in a number of seminaries he soon became influenced by

Wouter Lutkie Wouterus Leonardus Lutkie (23 February 1887 in 's-Hertogenbosch – 23 January 1968 in Nuland) was a Dutch Catholic priest and fascist. Biography Lutkie came from a wealthy business family and initially was influenced by the idealism of Ernest He ...

, a Catholic priest and fascist.

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *'' Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester P ...

, ''

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 ...

'' After a brief stopover in the

Roman Catholic State Party The Roman Catholic State Party (, RKSP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1926 as a continuation of the General League of Roman Catholic Electoral Associations. During its entire exis ...

, which he found far too moderate, Meijer began to write for the authoritarian ''De Rijkseenheid'' and the

General Dutch Fascist League The General Dutch Fascist League (, ANFB) was a Dutch fascist party. It was founded on 29 June 1932 and dissolved in 1934. The leader of ANFB was Jan Baars, a merchant from Amsterdam. History ANFB won 17,157 votes in the general elections of 193 ...

's ''De Fascist''. He soon joined the League and, having inherited money from his father, launched his own journal ''Zwart Front''. Rising to a position of influence in the League, he quarreled with leader

Jan Baars Joannes Antonius Baars (30 June 1903 – 22 April 1989) was a leading Dutch fascist during the 1930s. During the 1920s Baars emerged as part of the group associated with ''De Bezem'', a fascist journal aimed at the poor. Philip Rees, '' Biograph ...

and in 1934 split from the group, taking a number of followers with him. Before long he had revived the

Zwart Front The Black Front (), later known as the National Front (''Nationaal Front'') was a Dutch irredentist and fascist movement active before and during the first years of the Second World War. Party history The Black Front grew out of the southern s ...

name for his new movement and even visited

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

with Lutkie to gain the fascist leader's approval. The Front failed to make much impact in elections, notably managing only 0.2% of the vote in the 1939 general election (although Meijer managed a 21.4% vote share in Oisterwijk). As a result, Meijer's faction was absorbed into the new National Front in 1940. This movement was banned on 13 December 1941 by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, largely due to their Catholicism. Despite the ban Meijer was allowed to simply retire from politics. He was arrested on 27 October 1944 and was imprisoned in the former SS concentration camp in

Vught Vught () is a municipality and a town in the Province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands, and lies just south of the industrial and administrative centre of 's-Hertogenbosch. Many commuters live there, and in 2004 the town was named "Best ...

until on 7 May 1945 he escaped to Belgium. That same year he published a book about the treatment of former collaborators, ''Pruisische practijken in herrijzend Nederland!''. He returned to the Netherlands in 1946 to face a five-year sentence for aiding the enemy, which was reduced to four years on appeal. Meijer was released from prison in 1948 and returned to politics, writing for the ''Aristo'' journal which was sympathetic to Lutkie. He did not however resume his earlier involvement in party politics. He died, aged 60, in

Oisterwijk Oisterwijk () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the south of the Netherlands. Population centres *Haaren, North Brabant, Haaren *Heukelom, North Brabant, Heukelom *Moergestel *Oisterwijk Topography ''Dutch top ...

. Meijer was more attracted to Italian fascism than to German Nazism, albeit he shared his harsh antisemitism with the Nazis. Later on, however, he softened his views somewhat and wrote letters condemning the persecution of the Jews to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meijer, Arnold 1905 births 1965 deaths Christian fascists Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany Dutch fascists Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch prisoners and detainees People from Haarlemmermeer People from Oisterwijk Catholicism and far-right politics Prisoners and detainees of the Netherlands