Florentine Rost van Tonningen
| Florentine Rost van Tonningen | |
|---|---|
Florentine Rost van Tonningen-Heubel in 2003
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| Born |
Florentine Sophie Heubel 14 November 1914 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | 24 March 2007 (aged 92) Waasmunster, Belgium |
| Resting place | Rheden, Netherlands |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Alma mater | Utrecht University |
| Known for | Nazi collaborator |
| Spouse(s) | Meinoud Rost van Tonningen |
| Children | 3 sons |
| Parent(s) | Gustav Adolph Heubel and Cornelie van Haren Noman |
Florentine Sophie Rost van Tonningen (née Heubel; 14 November 1914 – 24 March 2007) was the wife of Meinoud Rost van Tonningen, the second leader of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB) and President of the National Bank during the German occupation (1941–1945). Because she continued to support and propagate the ideals of National Socialism after World War II and the death of her husband, she became known in the Netherlands as the "Black Widow".
Florentine Heubel was the youngest daughter of Gustav Adolph Heubel, banker at the firm Jan Kol & Co. and the aristocrat Cornelie van Haren Noman. There were three more children in the family, daughter Annie (born in 1906) and sons Dolf (1904) and Wim (1910). Florrie Heubel grew up in Hilversum, where the family stood in high regard. When the young Princess Juliana paid a visit to Hilversum, Wim and Florrie were asked to play a game of tennis with the princess. In the 1930s, Florrie and Wim Heubel became active in the Nationale Jeugdstorm, the youth organisation of the NSB modelled on the Hitlerjugend. She studied biology at the University of Utrecht, showing a special interest in ethology.
In connection with her studies, Heubel stayed for some time in Berlin during the summer of 1936. She was impressed by Adolf Hitler and the "camaraderie, discipline and commitment" of the National Socialist movement. A year later she made a trip with Wim to the Dutch East Indies, where her eldest brother Dolf worked as agricultural engineer. When she came back to the Netherlands, she left the NSB because she thought that the party was not adhering closely enough to eugenics ideals and that party leader Anton Mussert did not share her concerns. In 1939, her brother introduced her to Meinoud Rost van Tonningen, who already was an important and influential man in the NSB. During the German invasion of the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, Heubel was in Berlin.
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