Operation Black Tulip

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For the novel, see The Black Tulip.

Operation Black Tulip was a plan in 1945 by Dutch minister of Justice Kolfschoten to evict all Germans from the Netherlands. The operation lasted from 1946 to 1948 and in the end 3691 Germans (15% of Germans resident in the Netherlands) were deported.

After World War II the Netherlands was a country in ruins and the major pre-war trade lines, with Germany and Indonesia, were severed. Because of the importance of trade with Germany the proposed demand for compensation (25 billion Guilders - a tenfold of the actual damage) was dropped. But there was still a lot of resentment. Many people were arrested, most notably collaborators (NSB). The 25 000 people living in the Netherlands with German nationality (who often had Dutch wives and children) were branded as 'hostile subjects' (vijandelijke onderdanen). They were to be evicted in three groups, in reverse order of entry. The first ones who had to leave were those who came after the start of the war (mostly factory workers), then those who came after 1932 (including political refugees, amongst whom Jews) and then the rest, many of whom were economic refugees from the 1920's.

During the war many of these Germans were drafted for the German army or otherwise enlisted by the invaders against their will and their children were sent to separate German schools. Quite often neighbours didn't even know until then that they were Germans. When they were to be evicted those neighbours often filed protests, which could lead to their release. Another way the Germans could avoid eviction was to prove that they were essential to the Dutch economy. If they were, any pro-Nazi sentiments they might have had were easily overlooked. Also, it was decided not to evict those who emigrated to the Netherlands before the war and who had proven themselves good Dutch citizens. Of course, if they had helped the Dutch resistance that also changed matters.

The operation started on 10 September 1946 in Amsterdam, where Germans and their families were taken from their homes in the middle of the night and given one hour to collect 50 kg of luggage. They were allowed to take 100 Guilders. The rest of their possessions went to the state. They were taken to concentration camps near the German border, the biggest of which was Mariënbosch near Nijmegen.

The allied forces that occupied western Germany didn't like this operation because other countries might follow suit and western Germany was in too bad a state to receive all these newcomers. The British troops in Germany reacted by evicting 100 000 Dutch citizens in Germany to the Netherlands.

The operation ended in 1948 and on 26 July 1951 the state of war with Germany officially ended and the Germans were no longer regarded as state enemies.

1 A modern equivalent
2 See also
3 External links
4 Literature

[edit] A modern equivalent

In the Dutch TV show Andere Tijden a comparison was made with the eviction of refugees that started in the Netherlands in 2004 under minister Verdonk. The number of refugees that were to be evicted is almost the same - 26 000. In response to this a series of TV shorts was made about specific people, called '26 000 gezichten' (26 000 faces). The reasoning was that people may think that refugees should be evicted until they see an actual face and the story of a person affected. Just as in the case of Black Tulip, public support evaporated when the new initiative turned out to be about 'those friendly neighbours'.