Josef Veltjens

[Nick Veltjens]

In WW II my father was Colonel in the reserve, was still a member of the Richthoven Geschwader JG II, but did not fly. He was Beauftragter des Vierjahresplanes in Holland und Sonderbeauftragter z.b.V. (zur besonderen Verfügung) des "Sonderbeauftragten des Vierjahresplanes" (Hermann Göring). This meant that he was responsible for commerce etc in Holland, while Admiral Christiansen was in charge of the military.
Regarding the black market, I quote an extract from the Nuremberg Trial records, Shofar FTP Archive File: imt/nca/nca-01/nca-01-13-spoliation-04.
"No limitations, legal or moral, were observed in the execution of this program. Supplies which could not be obtained through normal channels were purchased on the black market. The disastrous effects of competition among various German agents led the central occupational authorities in Belgium, France, and Holland to take over black market operation directly (1765-PS). On 13 June 1942, by order of Goering, Col. Veltjens was appointed to direct black market purchases in all occupied territories and a new agency, the so-called UEWA, was placed at his disposal. (ECH-7)"
He was trying to protect the local industry and their employees. When it became difficult to buy diamonds for the manufacture of prisms etc, he actually in 1942 bought a diamond cutting factory with his own funds, Grupping & Schaap, Albert Cuypstraat, Amsterdam, which he changed into a public company by the name "N.V. Maatschappij vor Diamanbewerking". He actually spoke Dutch. Although it was not Jewish owned, it hat a large number of Jewish workers. They were under constant threat of encarceration in a concentration camp by the SS, and Josef, a bit like Frits Philips, insisted that they must stay to secure production. He succeeded, although I do not know what happened after his death. The company was confiscated by the Dutch government after the war without compensation. That should help to explain Rob's comment.