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Mussertkreuz/Ostlandkreuz
I never was into orders and decorations, but the so-called Mussert-cross (Mussertkruis), which also was known
as the Ostland-cross (Oostlandkruis) intrigues me. Of course while it is a decoration from my country. I never was
into orders and decorations and so this subject is new too me!
Is this cross indeed a hoax. A short while ago I was told that possibly all existing crosses in collections were fakes.
Is this true and correct or is there more to know about this decoration? Maybe WRF-members do have information
available, which could shed some light into this!
Myself I do have specific thoughts about this matter and am convinced about the fact some at least were original.
In my earliest days of collecting, and new in the collecting of WWII items (about 1972), a colleague at my office
handed over one such Mussert-cross (and other items), which he said he personally had taken from a desk at the
NSB headquarters at Utrecht, when the building there was occupied. This is not a "made-up" story. My colleague
had no reason whatsoever to kid me, me knowing he was the most upright! There existed a so-called office of
registration (Registratieburo für Kreuze und Plaquetten). Employees for this office were recruited in about October
1942.
Do WRF-members have written documentation available about the introduction of this cross, as this surely must
have been a plan (see letter to Rauter, the Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer, in the Netherlands from October 30, 1942).
Even the smallest piece of information is welcomed. Thanks in advance!
It is obvious the Germans were not pleased at all with the Mussert-plan about the institution of the cross!
Last edited by Wilhelm Saris; 08-16-2017 at 04:18 PM.
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08-16-2017 09:44 AM
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Nobody? Not a single answer. This wonders me!
Where are our Dutch WRF-members. Don't they
know or is there no interest in this subject from
the TR-period?
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Same here, I've heard about them but have no knowledge on the subject, which is out of my area of collecting.
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I am convinced - due to what I read in old documentation from about 1942 - they were made anyway.
It was even planned they were granted late 1942, but not just to members from the Waffen-SS, but
to all Dutch serving for Germany. So, eventually the army, navy, NSKK or whatever!
I am aware of the fact someone in the Netherlands is working on a book about the Mussertkruis-subject.
Last edited by Wilhelm Saris; 08-18-2017 at 02:16 PM.
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I would love to help, but my knowledge on NSB or Dutch volunteers and their regalia is very slim. But I do really like this award.
As a Dutch I really need to start to learn more about the subject.
Regards, Rik
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Wim, had an interesting day reading up on the Mussertkreuz/Ostlandkreuz 
Saw this on:
https://www.hinkepink.nl/1269763.htm
With the story, which you've probably heard before Wim, of some being found just after the war (I know - Don't buy the story!!)
Mussertkruis
De glorie van een waan. Het Mussert-kruis, dat de leider van de NSB als eigen onderscheidingsteken had uitgedacht voor zijn trouwe volgelingen die het Oostfront overleefd hadden.
De Mussertkruizen werden na de oorlog opgegraven in de tuin van het 'Kabinet van de Leider' in Den Haag. Op één meter diepte stuitte men op dozen, half vergaan van het vocht. Elke doos bevatte weer andere, kleinere doosjes, zeker 1000 in getal. Het waren Mussertkruizen, allen in dezelfde fluwelen verpakking.
De kruizen werden blijkbaar in allerijl begraven, gezien de povere verpakking, evenals trouwens de naar boven gebrachte boeken (o.a. 'Mussert als ingenieur') die los in de grond lagen.
Fotograaf Thuring uit Den Haag maakte van de opgraving foto's en nam bij die gelegenheid zelf ook een Mussertkruis mee.
Google translation:
Mussertkruis
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The glory of a madness. The Mussert Cross, which the NSB leader had devised as his own distinguishing sign for his faithful followers who survived the East Front.
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The Musser cruises were excavated after the war in the garden of the "Cabinet of the Leader" in The Hague. At a depth of one meter they fell on boxes, half lost from the moisture. Each box contained other smaller boxes, about 1000 in number. They were Mussertkruizen, all in the same velvet packaging.
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The crucifixes were apparently buried in all respects, in view of the poor packaging, as well as the books placed above them (including 'Mussert as an engineer') laid loose in the ground.
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Photographer Thuring from The Hague made the excavation pictures and took a Mussert cross on that occasion.
Photos from the above website:
Caption: From a large dug hole below the rhododendrons, the Mussertkruizen are taken upwards. In the background, a full wheelbarrow is already ready for removal.
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I can't add any information, either, but for the benefit of the non-German speaking members, here's what the staff of the RFSS wrote to Rauter:
"Dear Gruppenführer!
I have informed the Reichsführer-SS about your letter in which you reported on the projected institution of an Ostland Cross by Mr. Mussert.
The Reichsführer-SS asks you to impress upon Mussert that such a decoration is completely out of the question. Furthermore, it is to be hinted to him that the Führer has no love at all for such personal vanities."
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