Nazi rally wall will be declared ‘national monument’

Mussert’s wall. Photo: Roger Veringmeier via Wikimedia Commons

A wall used for Dutch nazi party rallies is to be given national monument status after years of wrangling, Dutch media report.

The wall, which sits on private land near the town of Ede, was used as the focal point for rallies by the Nazi-affiliated Dutch party NSB, led by Anton Mussert. Owner Roderick Zoons wants to use the site to expand his campsite and asked Ede council in November last year to grant him a license to demolish the wall.

In a reaction, some 30 prominent historians, professors and authors wrote a letter to culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven asking her to save the so-called ‘Muur van Mussert’ from demolition. Historians had been campaigning for monument status for the hundred metre long wall since 2015.

Opinion about keeping the wall are divided. While many feel the wall is part of Dutch history and a reminder of dark times, others think the wall may attract neo-Nazis.

According to Van Engelshoven the wall ‘serves to tell the story of the war years to the next generations.’ Plans to build a museum underneath the wall are in the pipeline.

The owner of the campsite will be losing part of his campsite but is ‘happy the discussion about the wall has finally come to an end,’ the Volkskrant writes.

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