The father of Carla Kassing-Stoutjesdijk (87) played during the Second World War as mayor of Langedijk and a convinced NSB member in cahoots with the German occupiers. For years she walked around with that big family secret, but after more than half a century of silence, Carla is now breaking with her inheritance debt. In search of answers, she delves into her ‘wrong’ father’s past. “I see my parents in a very different light now.”
Carla from Velserbroek visits the old mayor’s house in Langedijk, the place she called home during the Second World War. The corridor has remained in its original state and the pear tree in the backyard is also still there, she remarks with surprise. “It means a lot to me to be here again. Despite all the renovations, that same atmosphere is still there.”
We are in the house where Carla lived with her parents and older sister from 1943 until the liberation in 1945. Her father, Dirk Stoutjesdijk, joined the NSB in March 1933 and held various positions there over the years. His wife Louise was also, reluctantly, a member of the party.
On stand in Langedijk
In 1943 the NSB appointed him as acting mayor of Langedijk. His wife sees no other choice in her situation but to go along. The family exchanges the house in Heemstede for the spacious mayor’s house in Langedijk.
Carla’s father was out of work at the time. “There was only food on the receipt. Then he was offered the mayoralty. He received a salary and a house in an environment where there was enough to eat. My parents liked that.”
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Despite the war, the Stoutjesdijk family was able to lead a mostly normal life. “It was very pleasant here in the village. I knew there was a war and that it had to do with Germany, but I didn’t really ask about it. Sometimes the curtains had to be closed because of an attack. Then it was exciting, but never really dangerous,” she recalls.
Sisters without parents
After the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945, Dirk and Louise are arrested. Carla remembers that day well: “My sister and I came home from school and stood at the door, but couldn’t get into the house. The front door was barricaded with wood. We were told by some men that our parents were arrested and that we were no longer allowed in. We ended up at a boarding school with the Ursuline sisters in Bergen.”
Carla and Henny stayed for several years with the Ursuline sisters in Bergen and finished their school there.
Louise was released after a few months, but could do little for her daughters without an income for a long time. “She was ‘rehabilitated’ as they called it. Then she went to live in a room with a friend in Haarlem for a while. Later she found work and got a new husband.”
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Daughter of NSB mayor Langedijk – NH Nieuws / Anne Klijnstra
Dirk was sentenced to nine years in prison, but was released after five years due to heart problems. During his imprisonment, Louise filed for divorce. He married a propagandist from the German women’s movement. “She was an unmarried woman who lived with her mother in Heemstede and promised him that he could move in there after his release.”
Five years after his release, Dirk Stoutjesdijk died at the age of 60. Having a ‘wrong father’ has done a lot to her after the war, says Carla. “I returned to Heemstede, but everyone there knew the name Stoutjesdijk. They knew what my father had done.”
Shame and anger
She used her last name as little as possible. “I was ashamed of my father’s actions and the name we bore. I wanted to put it away and didn’t ask questions about it. Actually, I kind of kept my last name a secret.”
“Sometimes it makes me angry. My father’s choices,” she continues. “I actually did not want this to come out, because I am still ashamed, but of course you have no choice as a child. And there are still thousands of Dutch people walking around with wrong relatives.”
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Daughter of NSB mayor Langedijk – NH Nieuws / Anne Klijnstra
It is known to her that Dirk Stoutjesdijk was a convinced Nazi sympathizer. But Carla doesn’t know what exactly he has on his plate. “It was often said: Carla is breaking up with it, it has been. But after my sister died last year, I now want to look for answers.”
To clarify what her father had done, she contacted Stichting Werkgroep Herkenning. She was brought into contact with researcher Harry Vogels from Hilversum. He helps her by diving into the historical archives and he writes a book about it.
gut feelings
“There is good and evil in every person”, says Carla. “My father was a simple man. A man with illusions who made the wrong choices. Harry has now discovered that. He thought that extreme nationalism was the answer. I also recognize those sounds at this time. I am concerned about that, it makes me emotional.”
With a refugee crisis, a war in Ukraine and a hardened society, Carla sometimes fears that history is repeating itself. “It all comes back again, you also see that happening in politics. I hope that we continue to think carefully about the political choices we make. And that we are not guided by gut feelings.”
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