Hendrikus Colijn
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 26 May 1933 – 10 August 1939
Preceded by	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Succeeded by	Dirk Jan de Geer
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 4 August 1925 – 8 March 1926
Preceded by	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Succeeded by	Dirk Jan de Geer
Born	22 June 1869 Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands
Died	18 September 1944 Ilmenau, Germany
Constituency	Sneek
Political party	Anti Revolutionaire Partij
Spouse	Helena Groenenberg
Religion	Reformed
Signature

Hendrikus (Hendrik) Colijn (22 June 1869 – 18 September 1944) was a successful Dutch soldier, businessman and politician. He was born in 1869 in the Haarlemmermeer to Antonie Colijn and Anna Verkuil, who had emigrated to the Haarlemmermeer polder from Heusden en Altena for religious reasons. At the age of 16, he went to a Military Academy in Kampen for officer training, where he graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1892. In 1893, he married Helena Groenenberg and was sent to the Dutch East Indies. During his 16 years in the Dutch East Indies, he spent ten years in the Colonial Army, serving in the Aceh War as the lieuteant of J. B. van Heutsz, and six further years in the Colonial administration, having the same role towards van Heutsz when the latter became Governor General in 1904. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The prime minister of the Netherlands is the head of the cabinet, and, as such, coordinates the policy of the government. ... May 26 is the 146th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (147th in leap years). ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... Jhr. ... Jhr. ... The prime minister of the Netherlands is the head of the cabinet, and, as such, coordinates the policy of the government. ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in leap years). ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... Jhr. ... Jhr. ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Haarlemmermeer (population: 127,750 in 2004) is a municipality in the north-western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Ilmenau is a town located in the district of Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany. ... Sneek (Frisian Snits) is a municipality and a city in Fryslân in the northern Netherlands. ... The Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (Dutch for Anti Revolutionary Party) was the first Dutch political party. ... The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, in short Gereformeerde kerk) was the second largest protestant church in the Netherlands until it merged into the Protestant Church in the Netherlands in 2004. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Haarlemmermeer (population: 127,750 in 2004) is a municipality in the north-western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ... Kampen may refer: Kampen, Germany on the island Sylt Kampen, Netherlands a town a city district in Oslo, Norway a city district (in Finnish: Kamppi) in Helsingfors (Helsinki), Finland This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... The Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, (Dutch: Nederlands-Indië) was the name of the colonies set up by the Dutch East India Company, which came under administration of the Netherlands during the 19th century (see Indonesia). ... KNIL is an acronym for Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger or the Royal Dutch Indies Army. ... The Aceh War (also Achinese War) took place from 1873-1904 between the Netherlands and the people of Aceh in Sumatra as the Dutch attempted to colonize this independent state on the northern-most tip of Sumatra. ... J.B. (Joannes Benedictus) van Heutsz (1851-1924), was appointed governor general of the Dutch East Indies in 1904. ... Year 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Colijn's letters to his wife from that period reveal his participation in appaling acts of brutality which by modern standards would be considered severe war crimes: In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ...

" I have seen a mother carrying a child of about 6 months old on her left arm, with a long lance in her right hand, who was running in our direction. One of our bullets killed the mother as well as the child. From now on we couldn't give any mercy, it was over. I did give orders to gather a group of 9 women and 3 children who asked for mercy and they were shot all together. It was not a pleasant job, but something else was impossible. Our soldiers tacked them with pleasure with their bayonets. It was horrible. I will stop reporting now."^[1]

His wife wrote in the margin : " How terrible !!"

After his return to the Netherlands in 1909, he became elected as a Anti Revolutionary Party Member of Parliament for the district Sneek. (Before 1918, the Dutch voting system was the same as the British) The Anti Revolutionary Party (in Dutch: Anti Revolutionaire Partij, ARP) was a Dutch Protestant Christian democratic political party. ...

In 1911 he was appointed Minister of War and revised the Dutch Selective Service System. From 1914 to 1922 he served as CEO for the Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij (BPM). In 1925, he also became CEO of Royal Dutch Shell. In May 1918 he acted as an intermediary between the English and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to arrange an armistice, resulting in the Kaiser getting refuge in The Netherlands. SSS redirects to here, you may also want the Social Security System The Selective Service System, in the United States, is a system to register all males over the age of 18 for the purpose of having information available about potential soldiers in case of war. ... BPM can mean: beats per minute Business Process Management Business Process Modeling Business Performance Management This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Royal Dutch Shell PLC is a multinational oil company (oil major) of Anglo Dutch origin. ... Wilhelm II of Prussia and Germany, Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Hohenzollern (January 27, 1859 - June 4, 1941) was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and the last King (König) of Prussia from 1888 - 1918. ...

In 1922 he accepted the political leadership of the Anti Revolutionary Party (Calvinist) from Dr. Abraham Kuyper. Between 1925-1926 and 1933-1939 he served five times as Prime Minister. In 1939, his latest cabinet, with protestant and liberal ministers but without catholic ministers, served only three days before a crises. From 1927-1929 he also was head of the Dutch delegation to the League of Nations in Geneva. Prof. ...

After the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, he published an essay entitled “On the Border of Two Worlds” (Op de grens van twee werelden) in which he called for accepting German leadership in Europe. This was immediately after the Royal House had fled to England leaving him behind. His view was influenced by the tremendous show of the German blitzkrieg and the relative weakness of the British. Soon thereafter, he tried to organize political resistance but was arrested in June 1941 and taken to Berlin for interrogation. The Germans tried to have him confess that he had conspired with the British to invade the Netherlands to serve as an excuse for the Germans invasion ^[2]. Late in the war after the tide had turned against the Germans, Himmler wanted to keep Colijn available as a possible intermediary with the British as he had done earlier for the Kaiser ^[1]. In March 1943 he was put under house arrest in a remote mountain hotel in Ilmenau (Thuringen), Germany, where he died on September 18, 1944. Ilmenau is a town located in the district of Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ Aad Engelfriet (Arcengel) "Introduction to the History of the Dutch East Indies" [1]

1. ↑ ^a  Personal communication from Hendrik Colijn (grandson of Hendrikus). Hendrikus Colijn reported this information during a visit by Hendrik in June 1943. The very fact that the Gestapo allowed the visit in Ilmenau suggests that Himmler was already making contingency plans in case of a Nazi loss.

Dutch Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Ministry)

Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp | Anne Willem Carel van Nagell van Ampsen | Johann Gotthard Reinhold | Willem Frederik van Reede | Patrice Claude Ghislain de Coninck | Johan Gijsbert Verstolk van Soelen | Hugo van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Jan Willem Huyssen van Kattendijke | Willem Anne Schimmelpenninck van der Oye | James Albert Henry de la Sarraz | Lodewijk Napoleon van Randwijck | Gerrit Schimmelpenninck | Arnold Adolf Bentinck van Nijenhuis | Leonardus Antonius Lightenvelt | Herman van Sonsbeeck | Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Floris Adriaan van Hall | Daniël Théodore Gevers van Endegeest | Jan Karel van Goltstein | Floris Adriaan van Hall | Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Louis Napoleon van der Goes van Dirxland | Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Martin Pascal Hubert Strens | Anthony Jan Lucas Stratenus | Paul Therèse van der Maesen de Sombreff | Willem Johan Cornelis Huyssen van Kattendijke | Eppo Cremers | Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Joannes Josephus van Mulken | Theodorus Marinus Roest van Limburg | Joannes Josephus van Mulken | Louis Gericke van Herwijnen | Joseph van der Does de Willebois | Willem van Heeckeren van Kell | Constantijn Theodoor van Lynden van Sandenburg | Willem Frederik Rochussen | Joseph van der Does de Willebois | Marc Willem du Tour van Bellinchave | Abraham Pieter Cornelis van Karnebeek | Cornelis Hartsen | Gijsbert van Tienhoven | Joannes Coenraad Jansen | Joan Röell | Willem Hendrik de Beaufort | Robert Melvil van Lynden | Abraham George Ellis | Willem Marcus van Weede van Berencamp | Abraham George Ellis | Dirk Arnold Willem van Tets van Goudriaan | René de Marees van Swinderen | Pieter Cort van der Linden | John Loudon | Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek | Frans Beelaerts van Blokland | Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck | Andries Cornelies Dirk de Graeff | Hendrikus Colijn | Jacob Adriaan Nicolaas Patijn | Eelco van Kleffens | Herman van Roijen | Pim van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout | Dirk Stikker | Jan Willem Beyen | Joseph Luns | Norbert Schmelzer | Max van der Stoel | Chris van der Klaauw | Max van der Stoel | Dries van Agt | Hans van den Broek | Pieter Kooijmans | Hans van Mierlo | Jozias van Aartsen | Jaap de Hoop Scheffer | Ben Bot | Maxime Verhagen Image File history File links Coat_of_arms_of_the_Netherlands. ... The Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs have been: See also Minister of Foreign Affairs Category: ... The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken; BuZa) is the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs: it is occupied with the external relations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including European cooperation and International development. ... Gijsbert Karel graaf van Hogendorp (October 27, 1762- August 5, 1834) was a conservative Dutch statesman. ... Mr. ... Mr. ... Constantijn Theodoor baron van Lynden van Sandenburg (24 February 1826 - 18 November 1885 was a Dutch politician. ... Gijsbert van Tienhoven (12 February 1841-10 October 1914) was prime minister of the Netherlands from 21 August 1891 until 8 May 1894. ... Jonkheer Joan Röell (1844-1914) was born on July 21 in the Dutch town of Haarlem and was a Dutch Liberal legal expert from a prominent family of governers. ... Pieter Willem Adriaan Cort van der Linden (1846 - 1935) was a Dutch political figure. ... Jhr. ... Jonkheer Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff (Den Haag, August 7, 1872 - April 24, 1957), was a Governor General of Dutch East Indies. ... Eelco Nicolaas van Kleffens (November 17, 1894–June 17, 1983) was a politician and diplomat of The Netherlands. ... Dirk Uipko Stikker (February 5, 1897 - December 23, 1979) is a Dutch banker, industrialist, politician, and diplomat. ... Joseph Antoine Marie Hubert Luns ( August 28, 1911 - July 18, 2002) was a Dutch politician and former NATO secretary-general. ... Max van der Stoel (born August 3, 1924, Voorschoten) is a Dutch politician. ... Max van der Stoel (born August 3, 1924, Voorschoten) is a Dutch politician. ... Andreas Antonius Maria Dries van Agt (born February 2, 1931) is a Dutch politician and served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1977 to 1982. ... Hans van den Broek  listen (born 11 December 1936 in Paris) is a Dutch politician. ... Pieter Hendrik Kooijmans (born July 6, 1933) is a Dutch diplomat. ... Henricus Antonius Franciscus Maria Oliva (Hans) van Mierlo (born August 18, 1931) is a Dutch journalist and politician. ... Jozias Johannes van Aartsen (born December 25, 1947 in The Hague) is a Dutch politician and member of the liberal Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). ... Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (right) and Jan Peter Balkenende Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (left) and Colin Powell Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (legally Jakob Gijsbert de Hoop Scheffer) (born April 3, 1948) is a Dutch politician who is the 11th NATO Secretary General. ... Dr. Bernard Bot November 21, 1937 is the current Minister of Foreign affairs of The Netherlands. ... Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen (Maastricht, 14 September 1956) is a Dutch politician. ...

 

Dutch Colonial Ministers, 1848–1945

Julius Constantijn Rijk | Guillaume Louis Baud | Engelbertus Batavus van den Bosch | Charles Ferdinand Pahud | Pieter Mijer | Jan Jacob Rochussen | Johannes Servaas Lotsy* | Jean Pierre Cornets de Groot van Kraaijenburg | James Loudon | Gerhard Hendrik Uhlenbeck | Gerardus Henri Betz* | Isaäc Dignus Fransen van de Putte | Pieter Mijer | Nicolaas Trakranen | Johannes Jerphaas Hasselman | Engelbertus de Waal | Lodewijk Gerard Brocx | Pieter Philip van Bosse | Isaäc Dignus Fransen van de Putte | Willem van Goltstein van Oldenaller | Fokko Alting Mees | Pieter Philip van Bosse | Hendrikus Octavius Wichers | Otto van Rees | Willem van Goltstein van Oldenaller | Willem Maurits de Brauw | Willem Frederik van Erp Taalman Kip* | Franciscus Gerard van Bloemen Waanders | August Willem Philip Weitzel* | Jacobus Petrus Sprenger van Eyk | Levinus Wilhelmus Christiaan Keuchenius | Æneas Mackay d. J. | Willem Karel van Dedem | Jacob Hendrik Bergsma | Jacob Theodoor Cremer | Titus van Asch van Wijck | Johannes Willem Bergansius* | Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg | Dirk Fock | Theodorus Heemskerk* | Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg | Jan Hendrik de Waal Malefijt | Thomas Bastiaan Pleyte | Jean Jacques Rambonnet | Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg | Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck* | Simon de Graaff | Hendrikus Colijn* | Charles Welter | Jacob Christiaan Koningsberger | Simon de Graaff | Hendrikus Colijn | Charles Welter | Cornelis van den Bussche | Charles Welter | Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy | Hubertus van Mook
*denotes interim Image File history File links Coat_of_arms_of_the_Netherlands. ... Titus Anthony Jacob van Asch van Wijck (born 29 August 1849 in Utrecht – died 9 September 1902 in The Hague) was a Dutch politician and colonial governor of Suriname. ... Jhr. ... Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (13 April 1885 – 7 September 1961) Dutch politician, born near Sneek, in The Netherlands. ... Hubertus Johannes van Mook (1895–1965) was a Dutch administrator in the East Indies. ...