Hendrik Seyffardt
| Hendrik Alexander Seyffardt | |
|---|---|
Hendrik Seyffardt
|
|
| Born |
1 November 1872 Breda, Netherlands |
| Died | 6 February 1943 (aged 70) Scheveningen, The Hague, Netherlands |
| Allegiance |
Royal Netherlands Army Vrijwilligers Legioen Nederland |
| Years of service | 1887–1934 1941–1943 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | Dutch SS Volunteer Legion |
| Relations |
Louis William Seyffardt August (Father) Catharina Louisa de Hollander (Mother) |
Hendrik Alexander Seyffardt (1 November 1872 – 6 February 1943) was a Dutch general, who during World War II collaborated with Nazi Germany during the occupation of Netherlands, most notably as a figurehead of the Dutch Legion, a unit of the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front.
Seijffardt was the son of August Lodewijk Willem Seyffardt, Minister of War in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Gijsbert van Tienhoven, and his wife Catharina Louisa de Hollander. Like his father, he chose a career as a professional soldier, and so at the age of fifteen he became a cadet at the Koninklijke Militaire Academie (KMA) in Breda. On graduation he was appointed second lieutenant at the Vestingartillerie (garrison artillery) in the Royal Netherlands Army, but returned to the KMA as a lecturer in 1900 at the age of 28. Alongside his teaching he studied at the Hogere Krijgsschool in Haarlem, in order to become qualified for a position within the General Staff. In 1928, as an interim step, he was appointed commander of the first division in the rank of Major General. A year later he was appointed Chief of the General Staff, promoted to lieutenant general a year later, remaining as chief of the General Staff latterly attached to the Central Intelligence (CI), part of GS III. He retired in May 1934, after a very meritorious career.
In the build-up to WW2, he began to give lectures for the conservative Verbond voor Nationaal Herstel (Alliance for National Recovery - VNH) led by Van Gybland Oosterhoff. In 1937, Seyffardt became a member of the Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging (NSB), and started writing articles for their publication Volk en Vaderland. But after a year and a half, disillusioned with the infighting between Anton Mussert and Meinoud Rost, he resigned his membership. In October 1940 he attended a meeting of a Fascist group organised around the magazine De Waag.
...
Wikipedia