Cleveringa Lecture

‘Our people’ as a theatre of conflict: Seyss-Inquart’s mission and Cleveringa’s sense of justice

Martijn Eickhoff

Date: Thursday 26 November 2026
Time: 16:00
Location: Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden
Room: Great Auditorium

This lecture will be in Dutch. An English version of the text will become available afterwards.

This year, Leiden University appointed ultural historian and Director of the Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (NIOD) to the Cleveringa Chair. In his lecture, he will reflect on a current theme in the field of war, law, freedom and democracy, as did the Cleveringa professors who preceded him.

In his Cleveringa Lecture, Eickhoff wants to continue exploring the theme he found so compelling in Cleveringa’s lecture. What defines the Dutch national identity? And how did the German occupiers view this? What role did the concept of national character play in their Nazification policy, and how did it relate to Dutch self-image? How did antisemitism become embedded in this? He will focus on Arthur Seyss-Inquart, an Austrian Nazi installed by the Germans as Reichskommissar of the Netherlands on 18 May 1940.

Attending the lecture

Please complete the registration form if you wish to attend the Cleveringa Lecture.

Registration form

Livestream

You can also follow the lecture on 26 November via a livestream that will appear on this page around 15:50 hrs. Registration is not required for that.

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