Despite the neutrality of the Netherlands during the First World War (1914-1918), there was soon a shortage of many products. The border with occupied Belgium was locked and both warring parties torpedoed merchant ships at sea or captured the cargo. If we are to believe the English, the Netherlands then started smuggling en masse.
The News of the day for the Dutch East Indies posted a report on smuggling in the Netherlands on January 13, 1916, copied and translated from the English newspaper Daily Mail :
“The Daily Mail brings an interesting article by James Dunn, who has been living in the Netherlands for a year.” “Smuggling has surpassed skating as a popular entertainment,” he writes. “Every month people become millionaires with smuggling. The government is taking action against it. Thousands have already been arrested, but thousands are taking their places again. The government speaks strong language, which is fully justified by the facts. Nowadays people easily earn money in Holland.”
Weird Farmers
“I am writing this article in a cafe filled with people whose fortunes have more than tripled in the last nine months. Strange peasants, rough in dress and manners, come here to convert heavy packs of banknotes into cash. Traders, who had difficulty finding something a year ago, now see their chance. A year ago the average Dutchman wore a purse and thought in nickels, now he carries a checkbook and thinks in banknotes of one hundred guilders. Hundreds of smuggling stories are told. Some humorous, most however low and dirty. Petroleum, hidden in tombstones or in cement blocks, or poured into a well and pumped across the border through an underground pipe are examples of the 'major' operations. While in the small operations all possible stratagems are devised to deceive the border officers. Although the smuggling would not be beneficial for the Dutch without the help of the German border guard.”
“Although strict measures have been taken by the Dutch authorities to prevent smuggling, the smuggler manages to get through the cracks. Hundreds of people of both sexes and of all ages bring bags of up to two kilos of rice, flour, malt and other nutrients across the border. There is no prohibition against transferring such small quantities. But at night, the smugglers bring much larger quantities across the border. The Dutch courts are overloaded with smuggling cases. Behind the smuggler stands the German agent, sometimes tempting, sometimes advising. I have been in Holland for over a year now and I have never seen so many German merchants as I do today. The German traveling salesman is everywhere, trying to buy everything.”
“Workers don't feel like working anymore, because they earn plenty of money with smuggling. There are whole families who are concerned with nothing but the new business. A part of the population is threatened with moral degeneration, and the consequences will be felt after the war.”
The news items come from the WWI newspaper of May 2015, a bimonthly special of Historisch Nieuwsblad, with news about the First World War from the newspapers of that time.
There will be a total of seven editions. More information about reordering previously published copies can be found on the website of the WWI newspaper.