Hallo,
I've found this interesting intervieuw of the former Knight Cross Holder Gerardus Mooyman, a Dutch SS-Unterstumfuhrer in the Waffen-SS.
This man destroyed 13 tanks in one day at the Eastern Front.
Here is a short piece from a german wochenschau about him and his award!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zigTXjRWMok
Gerardus Mooyman intervieuw REVU (1967)
Gerardus Mooyman does not want to ignore his SS past. Highly praised by the Nazis as a hero of the Eastern Front, he now looks back on his rotten ideology with horror.
“I look at everything I have been through as a big personal tragedy. As a youthful national-socialist and fanatical warrior for this ideal I later came to the conclusion that I fought and suffered for a criminal cause. I still shiver when I think about the unimaginable grief the Nazis did to hundred thousands of Jews and fellow countrymen, crimes for which I, as a military collaborator, am in a way jointly responsible. Quite a few veterans who read this will not expect this enunciation from me, but I consider myself a deceived idealist, a victim of national-socialism.
Those are the (genuine) words of a man who, as a nineteen-year-old volunteer in the SS, destroyed thirteen Russian tank in 1943, and, as a reward for his heroic actions, was awarded the Knights Cross to the Iron Cross by Hitler: the now forty-four-year-old Gerardus Mooyman from Hoogkerk. Gerardus Mooyman was the first “Germanic volunteer” who received this high Nazi-award. His epic story was published in all newspapers and magazines in the occupied countries, he was congratulated by Himmler and, like a show-piece, he had to show up at dozens of receptions, parties and parades.
As a lieutenant he was arrested in Bodegraven in March 1946. In 1947 Gerardus Mooyman appeared for the special court of justice in The Hague, were, after a (???) of eight years, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment. However, three years later he was a free man. He moved to Hoogkerk in the province of Groningen. Today he owns a prosperous paper-hanging business, he is father of a daughter who studies at the hbs in the city of Groningen and he is secretary of the local football club in Hoogkerk. Hoogkerk forgave him his youthful mistake and threads him as a respected citizen.
Gerardus Mooyman makes no secret of his past. In his exquisite home in the Prof. Dr. Polmanstraat, a little shaken by the sudden arrival of a journalist, he speaks openly about his error, about which he meditated many years to put it straight for himself, his family and society. He says: “If you are convinced that you fought for a good cause (that’s how I looked at it back then) and later it turns out they you threw away your capacities for a bunch of criminals. When the facts about the concentration camps, gas chambers and organized murder of the Jews, I was devastated for a time. I bought books like “Opmars naar de galg” and about the Neuremberg trials. Sometimes I read them, but then I wake up at night screaming.
Gerardus Mooyman never tried to hide his error. “Numerous people have put their political past in a safe”, he says. “I never could. Your children take you as you are. I do not believe that a father loses the respect of his children if he stole a bicycle twenty years ago. I was not the kind of traitor who turned in his fellow citizen. Fortunately that was also made perfectly clear in court. At the time I was very enthusiastic because in Nazi-Germany a young man without highschool education could become an officer. As a volunteer I had the opportunity to build a great military career. In court, one of the judges said that unfortunately I ad been “a soldier on the wrong side”.
Gerardus Mooyman was only seventeen years old when he volunteered for the Waffen-SS in Germany. He says: “I was raised in a pro-German family. Father was a small retailer from the great depression who always had a very hard time. National-Socialism promised a better live and this is why he joined the NSB. I grew up in that atmosphere, in a family which only used superlatives to describe the good deeds of Hitler-Germany. It appealed to me. I was proud of the German armies which won victory after victory. Father wanted me to work in his milk business but I preferred the military spirit of the occupiers. I was fierce and early 1941 I volunteered.”
After training Gerardus Mooyman was assigned to the anti-tank company of the “Nederland” legion and send to the Eastern Front. Fanatically he fought for the for the German cause. In the Wehrmachtsbericht of February 13, 1943, the heroism which would bring SS-man Mooyman “knighthood” was disclosed: “The Dutch volunteers played a major part in the failure of the bolshevist attack south of Lake Ladoga, who protected the flank with their anti-tank guns, the most successful tirailleur of this section, with 13 destroyed armoured vehicles, was SS-man Gerardus Mooyman”.
Today, mister Mooyman says about this: “Most commanders and comrades believed that I was a fearless guy, but in reality I was scared of death. I was afraid to die and scared to dead to become a Russian prisoner of war. With every (huzarenstuk) I knew that I had a reasonable chance to succeed. That was the soldier in me. I destroyed 23 tanks during the Russian campaign, mostly with a common Panzerfaust. The German made some sort of myth out of me. Once, when 60 Russian tanks approached and headquarters informed which measures our commander had taken, he replied: “I´ve put Mooyman on it.”
Yet it irritated me when the Nazis used me as some sort of publicity object and when the then major of Wassenaar, de Block van Scheltinga, wished to name a square after me, I refused because other warriors, who had died in battle, were just as brave as me. Battle fascinated me many times more than all the fringe that came with it.”
Gerardus Leonardus Mooyman
SS-Untersturmführer d. R. der Waffen-SS
* 23.09.1923 in Apeldoorn, Province Gelderland, Netherlands.
+ 02.01.1987 in Anloo, Netherlands (of injuries sustained in an auto accident; date per John P. Moore and E. G. Krätschmer; Jost Schneider gives 21.06.1987).
NSDAP-Nr.: [Not a member]
SS-Nr.: [None - Dutch Waffen-SS volunteer; joined 26.04.1941]
Promotions:
[20.02.1943] SS-Sturmmann der Waffen-SS
ca. 1943 SS-Rottenführer der Waffen-SS
ca. 1943 SS-Unterscharführer der Waffen-SS
[Spring 1944] SS-Standartenoberjunker der Waffen-SS
21.06.1944 SS-Untersturmführer d. R. der Waffen-SS
Decorations & Awards:
20.02.1943 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as SS-Sturmmann and Geschützfhr. in 14.(Panzerjäger-)Kompanie / SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”, subordinated to 170.Infanterie-Division / XXVI.Armee-Korps / 18.Armee / Heeresgruppe Nord, Northeastern Front (based on a recommendation submitted by 170.Infanterie-Division; presented by Fritz von Scholz)
10.02.1943 1939 Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse
04.02.1943 1939 Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse
00.00.194_ Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Bronze
00.00.194_ Verwundetenabzeichen, 1939 in Schwarz
ca. 1942 Medaille “Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42”
I've found this interesting intervieuw of the former Knight Cross Holder Gerardus Mooyman, a Dutch SS-Unterstumfuhrer in the Waffen-SS.
This man destroyed 13 tanks in one day at the Eastern Front.
Here is a short piece from a german wochenschau about him and his award!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zigTXjRWMok
Gerardus Mooyman intervieuw REVU (1967)
Gerardus Mooyman does not want to ignore his SS past. Highly praised by the Nazis as a hero of the Eastern Front, he now looks back on his rotten ideology with horror.
“I look at everything I have been through as a big personal tragedy. As a youthful national-socialist and fanatical warrior for this ideal I later came to the conclusion that I fought and suffered for a criminal cause. I still shiver when I think about the unimaginable grief the Nazis did to hundred thousands of Jews and fellow countrymen, crimes for which I, as a military collaborator, am in a way jointly responsible. Quite a few veterans who read this will not expect this enunciation from me, but I consider myself a deceived idealist, a victim of national-socialism.
Those are the (genuine) words of a man who, as a nineteen-year-old volunteer in the SS, destroyed thirteen Russian tank in 1943, and, as a reward for his heroic actions, was awarded the Knights Cross to the Iron Cross by Hitler: the now forty-four-year-old Gerardus Mooyman from Hoogkerk. Gerardus Mooyman was the first “Germanic volunteer” who received this high Nazi-award. His epic story was published in all newspapers and magazines in the occupied countries, he was congratulated by Himmler and, like a show-piece, he had to show up at dozens of receptions, parties and parades.
As a lieutenant he was arrested in Bodegraven in March 1946. In 1947 Gerardus Mooyman appeared for the special court of justice in The Hague, were, after a (???) of eight years, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment. However, three years later he was a free man. He moved to Hoogkerk in the province of Groningen. Today he owns a prosperous paper-hanging business, he is father of a daughter who studies at the hbs in the city of Groningen and he is secretary of the local football club in Hoogkerk. Hoogkerk forgave him his youthful mistake and threads him as a respected citizen.
Gerardus Mooyman makes no secret of his past. In his exquisite home in the Prof. Dr. Polmanstraat, a little shaken by the sudden arrival of a journalist, he speaks openly about his error, about which he meditated many years to put it straight for himself, his family and society. He says: “If you are convinced that you fought for a good cause (that’s how I looked at it back then) and later it turns out they you threw away your capacities for a bunch of criminals. When the facts about the concentration camps, gas chambers and organized murder of the Jews, I was devastated for a time. I bought books like “Opmars naar de galg” and about the Neuremberg trials. Sometimes I read them, but then I wake up at night screaming.
Gerardus Mooyman never tried to hide his error. “Numerous people have put their political past in a safe”, he says. “I never could. Your children take you as you are. I do not believe that a father loses the respect of his children if he stole a bicycle twenty years ago. I was not the kind of traitor who turned in his fellow citizen. Fortunately that was also made perfectly clear in court. At the time I was very enthusiastic because in Nazi-Germany a young man without highschool education could become an officer. As a volunteer I had the opportunity to build a great military career. In court, one of the judges said that unfortunately I ad been “a soldier on the wrong side”.
Gerardus Mooyman was only seventeen years old when he volunteered for the Waffen-SS in Germany. He says: “I was raised in a pro-German family. Father was a small retailer from the great depression who always had a very hard time. National-Socialism promised a better live and this is why he joined the NSB. I grew up in that atmosphere, in a family which only used superlatives to describe the good deeds of Hitler-Germany. It appealed to me. I was proud of the German armies which won victory after victory. Father wanted me to work in his milk business but I preferred the military spirit of the occupiers. I was fierce and early 1941 I volunteered.”
After training Gerardus Mooyman was assigned to the anti-tank company of the “Nederland” legion and send to the Eastern Front. Fanatically he fought for the for the German cause. In the Wehrmachtsbericht of February 13, 1943, the heroism which would bring SS-man Mooyman “knighthood” was disclosed: “The Dutch volunteers played a major part in the failure of the bolshevist attack south of Lake Ladoga, who protected the flank with their anti-tank guns, the most successful tirailleur of this section, with 13 destroyed armoured vehicles, was SS-man Gerardus Mooyman”.
Today, mister Mooyman says about this: “Most commanders and comrades believed that I was a fearless guy, but in reality I was scared of death. I was afraid to die and scared to dead to become a Russian prisoner of war. With every (huzarenstuk) I knew that I had a reasonable chance to succeed. That was the soldier in me. I destroyed 23 tanks during the Russian campaign, mostly with a common Panzerfaust. The German made some sort of myth out of me. Once, when 60 Russian tanks approached and headquarters informed which measures our commander had taken, he replied: “I´ve put Mooyman on it.”
Yet it irritated me when the Nazis used me as some sort of publicity object and when the then major of Wassenaar, de Block van Scheltinga, wished to name a square after me, I refused because other warriors, who had died in battle, were just as brave as me. Battle fascinated me many times more than all the fringe that came with it.”
Gerardus Leonardus Mooyman
SS-Untersturmführer d. R. der Waffen-SS
* 23.09.1923 in Apeldoorn, Province Gelderland, Netherlands.
+ 02.01.1987 in Anloo, Netherlands (of injuries sustained in an auto accident; date per John P. Moore and E. G. Krätschmer; Jost Schneider gives 21.06.1987).
NSDAP-Nr.: [Not a member]
SS-Nr.: [None - Dutch Waffen-SS volunteer; joined 26.04.1941]
Promotions:
[20.02.1943] SS-Sturmmann der Waffen-SS
ca. 1943 SS-Rottenführer der Waffen-SS
ca. 1943 SS-Unterscharführer der Waffen-SS
[Spring 1944] SS-Standartenoberjunker der Waffen-SS
21.06.1944 SS-Untersturmführer d. R. der Waffen-SS
Decorations & Awards:
20.02.1943 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as SS-Sturmmann and Geschützfhr. in 14.(Panzerjäger-)Kompanie / SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”, subordinated to 170.Infanterie-Division / XXVI.Armee-Korps / 18.Armee / Heeresgruppe Nord, Northeastern Front (based on a recommendation submitted by 170.Infanterie-Division; presented by Fritz von Scholz)
10.02.1943 1939 Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse
04.02.1943 1939 Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse
00.00.194_ Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Bronze
00.00.194_ Verwundetenabzeichen, 1939 in Schwarz
ca. 1942 Medaille “Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42”
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