Gerardus Leonardus Mooyman, a Dutch volunteer in the Waffen-SS.

29-01-2018

gestapo

Gerardus Mooyman was born 23 September 1923 in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. He grew up in a very pro-German household. His father was a small time retailer whose business suffered greatly during the great depression, resulting in his joining of the NSB    in hope of a better future. Mooyman

  spent his youth hearing stories about the triumphs of Hitler and national socialist Germany and admiring the German victories across Europe.

His father wanted Mooyman, SS number 2351  to work in the family business but he preferred a military career, so in 1941 he volunteered to serve in the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Netherlands   under command of the Dutch General Hendrik Alexander Seyffardt , The unit was to be used primarily as a riot police and national defense and was the commander of the Waffen-SS in the Netherlands, SS-Gruppenführer Karl Demelhuber  subordinate.but was sent to the eastern front where Mooyman served as an anti tank gun commander. In the battle at Lake Ladoga he destroyed 13 tanks, for this action he was the first non-German to be awarded the Knight’s Cross  . The Dutch NSB leader Anton Mussert welcomed East front fighter Gerard Mooyman,  who reportedly destroyed 13 armored cars in Russia. Utrecht, 28 March 1943. Mooyman received his award from Friedrich Von Scholz SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen. By the end of his service on the front he was credited with destroying 23 Soviet tanks. General von Scholz  was killed in action 28. Juli 1944, age 47 near Sinimäe, Estnische SSR

Hans Albin Rauter, the highest SS and Police Leader in the Netherlands, Gerardus Mooyman and  Reichscommissar in the Netherlands. Arthur Seyß-Inquart 

As the first non-German to be awarded the Knight’s Cross , national socialist propaganda widely published his story in newspapers and magazines. He was congratulated personally by SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler  and had to attend dozens of receptions, parties and parades. He was illustrated as an example to the Dutch youth.

By the end of the war Mooyman  rose to the rank of SS-Untersturmführer . He was arrested at Bodegraven in March 1946, put on trial in 1947 and charged with active military collaboration for his service in the Waffen-SS . He was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Mooyman became disillusioned with national socialism when he learned about the holocaust and other war crimes perpetrated by national socialist Germany.

Mooyman was released after 3 years in prison, after which he moved to Hoogkerk where he became the owner of a paper-hanging business and the secretary of local football club. He was married and had one daughter. In 1967 Mooyman expressed regret in the Revu and declared ‘I made a mistake in thinking’.

 Gerardus Mooyman died in a car accident near Anlo on 21 June 1987, age 63..