F.W.A. De Kock van Leeuwen. Het koloniale avontuur van een gewone man ten tijde van de Tweede Wereldoorlog.

Abstract

This bachelor thesis by Marieke van der Velde explores the historical context of WWII. It focuses on the question of how to place the Second World War in a broader scope of Dutch history. By means of analyzing the personal history of F.W.A. de Kock van Leeuwen, this thesis gives an insight in the motives of average people to join the Dutch National Socialist party (NSB) en actively support the German occupier. Special attention goes to the Dutch East Company (NOC), this organization –closely linked to the NSB- had as his most important goal the reconstruction of the ‘liberated’ regions in Eastern Europe. The author concludes that the WWII as a period does not stand on itself, there is a continuity with previous and subsequent periods. This is also shown by the life of De Kock van Leeewen, whose actions during the war are a continuation of feelings and thoughts he had in earlier times.