page_title: Dick Willebrandts
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Dick Willebrandts / World War II
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Advertentie in het Algemeen Handelsblad van 5 juni 1943 voor een optreden van Dick Willebrandts en zijn dansorkest op 6 juni 1943.
context_page_description: Dick Abraham Willebrandts was a Dutch pianist, composer and bandleader in the swing era.
context_section_description: When Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, the AVRO Dance Orchestra was forced to disband. Willebrandts continued to perform for the Dutch radio from 1940 to 1942. In 1942 he found a sponsor who helped him to form a big band: Dick Willebrandts and His Dance Orchestra. Recordings were made by Decca Records, the label that also sponsored his concert tours in the Netherlands.
  As the war continued the big bands had to commit to a special repertoire in order to be allowed to perform before an audience. Each big band had to be a member of the “Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer”, the Dutch equivalent of the German Reich Chamber of Culture, a government agency in Nazi Germany that was extended to the occupied territories. A rejected inscription resulted in an occupational ban. The “Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer” played an important role in the Nazi oppression of modern art and music that was considered "degenerate art", such as American jazz and swing music. This supposedly "degenerate music" was much more popular with the public than the Nazis thought.
  Among the members of Willebrandts' big band were Wim Kroon (bass), Aldert Dekker (drums), Bep Rowold, Cees Verschoor, Tinus and Kees Bruyn (saxophone), Tony van Hulst (guitar), Kees van Dorsser, Francis Bay en Frans van der Meer (brass instruments). Willebrandts himself played the piano. Trombonist, composer and arranger Pi Scheffer played the trombone in Willebrandts’ big band.  Dick Willebrandts and his band blended jazz and entertainment.
  The vocalists were Jan de Vries and Nelly Verschuur. During World War II Nelly Verschuur was very successful, especially with two songs both written by Jaap Valkhoff: “Diep in mijn hart” (“Deep in My Heart”) (1943) and “Denk je nog aan die tijd' (“Do You Remember Those Days”) (1943). Both songs were recorded between August and December 1943 in Hilversum for the Deutsche Europasender (D.E.S.) in Studio B of the Dutch Broadcasting Corporation. Nelly Verschuur also sang the English version “Deep in my Heart”.
  Dick Willebrandts’ big band often performed for the by the Nazis controlled Dutch radio. From August 1943 until September 1944 several recordings were made for propaganda purposes which were broadcast via the broadcaster Calais II, the new name of the Dutch radio station Hilversum II. Dick Willebrandts was "dienstverpflichtet" by the German occupiers to work for the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft. It was agreed upon with the sixteen members of his orchestra that Dick Willebrandts and his orchestra would continue to play because they all had families to support. Calais II was part of the German Europasender during the Nazi regime, and the counterpart of the British black propaganda broadcaster Soldatensender Calais. After Mad Tuesday, September 5, 1944, the situation changed dramatically. Broadcasts had alleged that Breda had been liberated which caused rumours that the liberation of the occupied Netherlands by the Allied forces was at hand. Dick Willebrandts' big band was disbanded. Some musicians were arrested, others had to go in hiding, like Willebrandts himself. Dick Willebrandts gave financial help and shelter to two Jewish families in his family home in Rotterdam and in Hilversum so as to avoid their deportation during the Holocaust years.
caption: Advertisement in the Algemeen Handelsblad, 5 June 1943, announcing a concert on 6 June 1943.
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