Dutch Prince Bernhard was a member of the Nazi party, documents prove
He maintained he was not a Nazi, declaring in 2004 that "I can declare with my hand on the bible: I was never a Nazi." However, recently discovered documents prove otherwise.
Dutch Prince Bernhard was a member of the Nazi party during World War II, the Dutch government confirmed according to a Thursday report by the BBC.
The confirmation came as the Prince's NSDAP membership card was identified in some US archives by a Dutch researcher.
Bernhard had denied allegations of his involvement and membership with the Nazi party throughout his life.
King Willem-Alexander released a statement saying that he commended the research and that he " is aware of the role and position of the House of Orange-Nassau in the history of the kingdom."
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Gerald Aalders had originally found the Nazi Party membership card in the archives of a US university website in 1996 but faced criticism for his earlier attempts to bring it to light.
Aalders shared, on X, his interview with a Dutch News site with an image of the membership card. He captioned the post with: "Prince Bernhard lied about his Nazi past until the bitter end.
Prins Bernhard loog tot het bittere einde over zijn naziverleden. https://t.co/DG6ufwbN93
— Gerard Aalders (@gerardaalders) October 4, 2023
In 2010, Historian Annejet van der Zijl also found a copy of the membership card in German archives, showing Prince Bernhard had been a member since 1933.
The original document was located by Flip Maarschalkerweerd, who was going through the prince's belongings after he died.
Maarschalkerweerd told NRC Hanelsblad that he had found a note from 1949 from a US military administrator in Germany. The note had said that the administrator was going to destroy the card but that "you have earned the right to destroy it yourself".
Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld
Prince Bernhard married a Dutch princess in 1937, and eventually escorted the royal family into exile when World War II broke out. However, despite having escorted the royals away from the Nazi-invaded country, British security services distrusted the prince.
Despite concerns over the prince, he was made responsible for the Dutch resistance forces in 1944 and honored as a wartime RAF pilot.
The BBC reported that he admitted that he had participated in the Sturmabteilung security service and the Schutzstaffel (SS) but claimed in 1971 that "at the start, you had to take part a little in one way or another" because opposing the Nazis was dangerous.
He maintained throughout his life that he was not a Nazi, declaring in 2004 that "I can declare with my hand on the bible: I was never a Nazi."
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