Jan Baars

{{Short description|Dutch politician (born 1903)}} {{Infobox person | name = Jan Baars | image = Jan Baars.jpg | alt = | caption = Jan Baars in 1931 | birth_name = Joannes Antonius Baars | birth_date = {{birth date|1903|6|30|df=y}} | birth_place = Amsterdam | death_date = {{death date and age|1989|4|22|1903|6|30|df=y}} | death_place = Andijk | body_discovered = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | nationality = | citizenship = Dutch | other_names = | known_for = Politician | education = | alma_mater = | employer = | notable_works = | occupation = Market trader | years_active = | height = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | political_party = General Dutch Fascist League | opponents = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | callsign = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Joannes Antonius Baars''' (30 June 1903 – 22 April 1989) was a leading Dutch fascist during the 1930s.

During the 1920s Baars emerged as part of the group associated with ''De Bezem'', a fascist journal aimed at the poor.<ref name="Rees">Philip Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890''</ref> The magazine split in 1930 and Baars supported Alfred Haighton over H.A. Sinclair de Rochemont, joining Haighton's ''Fascistische Jongeren Bond''.<ref name="Rees"/> The two quarrelled in 1932 however and the rabble-rousing Baars soon set up his own movement, the General Dutch Fascist League (ANFB).<ref name="Rees"/> The stated purpose of this new group was to unite the various strands of fascism within the Netherlands under a single umbrella.<ref>R.J.B. Bosworth, ''The Oxford Handbook of Fascism'', Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 454</ref>

Baars gained some support amongst the poor as his coarse, down-to-earth style of rhetoric could easily be identified with by people who spoke in the same manner.<ref name="Rees"/> This group joined Haighton's movement and the National Union in 1933 to form a 'corporative concentration', although Baars, who was a market trader by profession, had little time for Carel Gerretson, the university professor who led the new group.<ref name="Rees"/> He stood down from the ANFB as a consequence in 1934 and that group soon fell apart. After a brief involvement in opposing Anton Mussert and the NSB, Baars quit politics in 1936 and returned to market trading.<ref name="Rees"/> Having previously criticized Adolf Hitler's treatment of the Jews, Baars played no role in collaboration and was even active in the Dutch resistance.<ref name="Rees"/>

== Electoral history == {{Incomplete list|date=September 2024}} {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align:center;" |+ {{sronly|Electoral history of Jan Baars}} ! scope="col" rowspan=2 |Year ! scope="col" rowspan=2 |Body ! scope="col" colspan=2 rowspan=2 |Party ! scope="col" rowspan=2 |{{abbr|2=Position on the party list|Pos.}} ! scope="col" rowspan=2 |Votes ! scope="colgroup" colspan=2 |Result ! scope="col" rowspan=2 class="unsortable" |{{abbr|2=References|Ref}}. |- ! scope="col" |Party seats ! scope="col" |Individual |- ! scope="row" |1931 | Amsterdam Municipal Council | | |style=text-align:right | |style=text-align:right | |style=text-align:right | 0 | {{no2|Lost}} | <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/repertoriumkleinepolitiekepartijen/VerkiezingDetail?Id=12|title=Verkiezingen Algemeene Nederlandsche Fascisten Bond|language=nl|work=Repertorium kleine politieke partijen}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1933 | House of Representatives | | General Dutch Fascist League | style=text-align:right | 1 | style=text-align:right | 16,617 | style=text-align:right | 0 | {{no2|Lost}} | <ref>{{cite web|date=6 May 1933|title=Besluit van het Centraal Stembureau bedoeld in artikel 97 der Kieswet. |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB08:000181270:mpeg21:pdf|via=Delpher |work=Nederlandsche staatscourant}}</ref> |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baars, Jan}} Category:1903 births Category:1989 deaths Category:Politicians from Amsterdam Category:Dutch fascists Category:Fascist politicians in Europe Category:Dutch resistance members