The Netherlands’ royal lineage confronts a historic revelation as the authenticity of a Nazi party membership card, once belonging to the grandfather of the Dutch king, is officially confirmed. This disclosure brings a conclusion to the lingering suspicions surrounding Prince Bernhard.
Allegations of ties between Prince Bernhard, a German nobleman who entered the Dutch royal family through marriage in the 1930s, and the Nazi party emerged in the late 1990s. A Dutch historian’s claim of discovering a copy of the card in a US archive ignited these accusations.
Prince Bernhard, who served as prince consort until 1980, vehemently refuted any association with the Nazi ideology. “I can solemnly swear, with my hand on the Bible, that I have never been a Nazi,” asserted Bernhard at the age of 93 in an interview with the national daily newspaper De Volkskrant shortly before his demise in 2004. He firmly denied having paid for party membership or possessing a membership card.
Nevertheless, he did acknowledge his membership in various Nazi military units, characterizing it as a pragmatic necessity for men of his generation during that period.
Recently, Flip Maarschalkerweerd, the former head of the palace archives, disclosed that he had come upon the card while cataloging the prince’s possessions. The royal household, corroborating this revelation, confirmed the genuineness of the 1933 membership card.
Born as a minor German prince in 1911, Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld’s union with Crown Princess Juliana followed their meeting at the Olympic Games in Bavaria prior to World War II. His notable trademark of wearing a white carnation in his lapel reportedly evolved into a symbol of resistance against Nazi Germany, owing to Bernhard’s role in orchestrating the Dutch resistance from London, where both the government and his mother-in-law, Queen Wilhelmina, lived in exile.
As the longstanding allegations surrounding Prince Bernhard find validation, prominent Jewish organizations and opposition figures in the Netherlands are calling for a thorough investigation into the prince’s past.
The Center for Information and Documentation Israel issued a statement, remarking, “That Bernhard was a member is not so much what caused the shock: most Dutch people had expected that by now. But that he continued to deny it until his death weighs much more heavily for people.”
In response to these revelations, King Willem-Alexander expressed his perspective, acknowledging the significant impact of this news, especially within the Jewish community. He emphasized the importance of confronting the past, even its less favorable aspects.
Contributions to this report were made by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
