Dr. Elise van der Ven-Ten Bensel en D. J. van der Ven - De volksdans in Nederland + De Heemliefde van het Nederlandsche Volk - 1941-1942

Two interesting bundles from the early WWII period about Volksdans (folk dance) and Heemkunde (local history). The authors are controversial due to their ties with the German Kultuurgemeenschap.
The book De Volksdans is dedicated to the leader of the Nederlandsche Arbeidsfront (N.A.F.)

1. The folk dance in the Netherlands – authors: Dr. Elise van der Ven – Ten Bensel & D.J. Van der Ven.
Edition: Uitgeversmaatschappij A. Rutgers/Naarden
Year: 1942
Edition: hardcover with linen spine, beige cover with vignette, 19x14 cm, 359 pp, illustrated with photographs, drawings and music
Condition: very good.

Contents: in 17 chapters, the authors treat all aspects of the folk dance in the Netherlands and abroad.

Special features:
• Handwritten note on the first flyleaf (see the photo):
For Mr. H.J. Woudenberg - Leader of the N.A.F. - from the authors -
De Meihof, Oosterbeek - 31 Zaaimaand (Zaaimaand = May) 1942.

Hendrik Jan Woudenberg was in 1942 a very prominent collaborator and leader of the Nederlandsch Arbeidsfront (abbreviated NAF), a national socialist trade union center established on 30 April 1942 by a decree of the Reich Commissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart.

To clarify:
• Author Van der Ven is also the author of the book: The Heemliefde of the Nederlandsche volk.
• Both authors are indeed controversial. Historical research into the folk dance movement notes that they were active during the occupation for the Nederlandsch-Duitsche Kultuurgemeenschap, an organization that promoted cultural collaboration with the German occupier and was regarded as collaborationist after the war. Moreover, it is described that their publications on folk dances were partly intended to support the idea of a Germanic folk community. See also language usage such as ‘Zaaimaand’.
• Notably the ‘luxury’ edition produced during the war for both books: both bindings (also color), used paper compared to ‘war paper’, illustrations and photographs, etc..
• In 1942 the authors offered a presentation copy of their work to the leader of the NAF and explicitly honored him in that role. That goes considerably beyond a casual association.
• The illustrations point to the contemporary interest in folklore and ethnology within National Socialist cultural policy and to the authors’ involvement with organizations that cooperated with the occupier. See for example the last illustration (photo).

2. The Heemliefde of the Nederlandsche Volk – author: D.J. van der Ven
Edition: Uitgeversmij. A. Rutgers/Naarden
Year: 1941 (listed in ‘A word to the reader’)
Edition: linen binding with image of a farm and provincial crests, 19x14 cm, 295 pp, illustrated with photographs, drawings + annex with program of the First Dutch Heemkunde week + index
Condition: very good

Contents: in 12 chapters, the author treats all aspects of Heemkunde (local history).