Johannes Heesters, a 104-year-old Dutch cabaret singer who once performed in Nazi Germany has given a concert in the Netherlands for the first time in four decades. It was Heesters’ first performance in his homeland since the 1960s. There were protests and tight security around the theatre in Amersfoort where Johannes Heesters preformed.
Although Heesters insists he never espoused Nazi politics, he performed for Adolf Hitler and visited the Dachau concentration camp. Many Dutch people have never forgiven him. “He kept singing for the Nazi regime, for the Wehrmacht, and he earned millions,” said Piet Schouten, representative of a committee that was formed to protest against the Heesters performance. “We have a problem with that on behalf of all the victims,” he told the news program form the Dutch national broadcaster NOS.
Johannes Heesters, born Johan, began his career in Amsterdam in the 1920s and moved to Germany in 1935, where he enjoyed a successful career. Heesters was never accused of being a Nazi propagandist, and the Allies allowed him to continue performing after the war. He was booed off the stage in Amsterdam when he tried to stage a comeback in the early 1960s. Since then he has performed in other countries, notably Germany and Austria.
The news program Tagesschau from the German public TV broadcaster ARD wants to cover the event.
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