Arnold Meijer

Who was Arnold Meijer?

Arnoldus Jozephus Meijer was a Dutch fascist politician.

Meijer was born in Haarlemmermeer. Brought up a devout Roman Catholic and educated in a number of seminaries he soon became influenced by Wouter Lutkie, a Catholic priest and fascist. After a brief stopover in the Roman-Catholic State Party, which he found far too moderate, Meijer began to write for the authoritarian De Rijkseenheid and the General Dutch Fascist League's De Fascist. He soon joined the League and, having inherited money from his father, launched his own journal Zwart Front. Rising to a position of influence in the League, he quarreled with leader Jan Baars and in 1934 split from the group, taking a number of followers with him. Before long he had revived the Zwart Front name for his new movement and even visited Benito Mussolini with Lutkie to gain the fascist leader's approval.

The Front failed to make much impact in elections, notably managing only 0.2% of the vote in the 1939 general election. As a result, Meijer's faction was absorbed into the new National Front in 1940. This movement was banned on 13 December 1941 by the Nazis, largely due to their Catholicism.