Five Brothers and a War

Bruynzeel

Despite attempts from the Nationaal Front to ingratiate themselves with the Germans, on December 14, 1941, the Nazis made the NSB their party of choice. This made all other parties, including the Nationaal Front , illegal. Titia lost both her leadership position, and in fact her party, with a quick pen stroke. During the war, the Bruynzeel division run by Kees Bruynzeel was dealing with the German authorities on a regular basis. Among the projects the company was involved with was the “processing center” in Westerbork—the gateway to Auschwitz and other prisons and concentration camps for Dutch Jews and other prisoners. German Wehrmacht barracks, officers quarters, military airports (including Schiphol, which was commandeered by the Luftwaffe) were also supplied with Bruynzeel wood products. It is interesting that days before the war started, Bruynzeel had 249 employees. In July 1943, despite the fact that the workweek had risen to 52 hours per week, Bruynzeel had more than doubled its workforce—to 527 employees. As the war was ending, the shortage of raw materials had forced the number back to 404 people, which was still 62% higher than at the war’s beginning. At least part of this can be explained by the simple fact that business owners attempted to stay afloat both for their own survival and the survival of their employees. A significant number of businesses drifted toward German complicity, if not actual support, as a means to an end. At first, the Germans assumed that the Dutch, if treated reasonably well, would accept annexation in much the same way that the Austrians did. The first two years were, relatively speaking, fairly normal. As the tide of the war changed, and as the Germans clamped down on Dutch resistance and the Jewish population, things shifted dramatically. By way of example, the Germans immediately set up a Dutch commissioner of reconstruction to restore buildings and systems destroyed when they invaded. The man they chose was Dr. Johan A. Ringers, who, not wanting to set up what he called a “Reconstruction Dictatorship”, instead set up an ad hoc commission. Among those he chose was Wim Bruynzeel. The commission worked for two years, and largely succeeded in its tasks, with the notable exception of the reconstruction of Rotterdam, which sustained too much damage on May 14, 1940. Then in 1943 Dr. Ringers was arrested for planning how to reconstruct Holland after the Germans were ousted. He was first jailed in the “Orange Hotel” in Scheveningen, like so many other political prisoners. He then was imprisoned in Vught, then in a series of facilities outside Holland, ending with a concentration camp, where he was held until German capitulation. After the war, he headed the reconstruction efforts on behalf of the Dutch government. This example shows the general desire of some influential Dutch citizens to attempt cooperation with the Germans in order to preserve their money and to improve the lives of their fellow citizens. It also shows the involvement of Wim Bruynzeel in leadership roles. It also partially explains how the Bruynzeel firm sought its own survival and that of its employees. Aside from serious questions regarding the activities of Titia Bruynzeel, and perhaps her husband, the company appears to have worked hard to stay in business.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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