Coenraad Alfred Augustus Haighton (26 October 1896 – 13 April 1943) was a millionaire businessman and the leader of the
Netherlands' first
fascist movement.
Fascism
From a privileged background, Haighton was born in
Rotterdam and was well educated, studying in
Los Angeles and producing a thesis on Arthur Schopenhauer, although he was also physically disabled for his entire life.
[Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, p. 170] Haighton's father had been a highly successful businessman, making a fortune in particular from his
lottery insurance business LOTISICO.
He died early and as such Alfred Haighton inherited the highly profitable business, allowing him to devote much of his time to politics. He soon became close to H.A. Sinclair de Rochemont and in 1924 the two set up the
Verbond van Actualisten, a group which looked for inspiration to
Italian fascism.
The group broke down in 1927 and Haighton then put his money into a journal,
De Bezem and eventually his own movement, the
Fascistische Jongeren Bond. This movement was depleted in 1932 when his close ally
Jan Baars broke from him to set up the General Dutch Fascist League (ANFB).
Nazism
Haighton had become a strong
anti-Semite and as such led the followers he had left into the National Socialist Dutch Workers Party (NSNAP), although once again his abrasive personality meant that the relationship was not to last.
[Rees, p. 171] He dropped out of politics for a spell before joining
Arnold Meijer's
Zwart Front, although he declined to join the National Front when this group absorbed the Zwart Front in 1940.
Officially a member of the NSNAP again he took little role in active politics and instead concentrated on his anti-Semitic writing and literary pursuits.
Literature
In 1938 Haighton purchased the literary journal
De Nieuwe Gids, a work that held a high reputation amongst the Dutch artistic set. Under Haighton however the once respected journal became intensely partisan, presenting a highly pro-
Nazi Germany line.
Writers such as
Jan Eekhout, a staunchly pro-Nazi novelist noted for his use of archaic and dialect
Dutch language words as part of an attempt to construct rustic literature, were featured and widely praised under Haighton.
[Egil Törnqvist, Europe, The Nordic Countries, Rodopi, 1998, pp. 193-194]
The Dutch literary establishment reacted negatively to Haighton's stewardship of the magazine, to the point that by 1943 De Nieuwe Gids had only 98 registered subscribers.[Jeroen Dewulf, Spirit of Resistance: Dutch Clandestine Literature During the Nazi Occupation, Camden House, 2010, p. 50] Haighton died suddenly in Beekbergen that same year, from a heart attack.
