Vader Era

The Vader Era (1934–1945) was a historical period that preceded the Middenvader Era. It was defined by the military activity of the older generation of the five principal families, the growth of wartime family networks, the early construction of Vriendendam, and the founding of the movement that later developed into the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen.

The era ended in 1945 with the collapse of wartime authority in Europe. Its aftermath led directly into the Middenvader Era, during which former military, industrial, and family structures were reorganized.

Background

The Vader Era began during the period in which members of the older family generation entered military and state service in Europe. These men later became known collectively as the Vaders because they formed the parental generation of the later figures associated with De Vrienden.

The era is mainly connected to the Noord family, Paap family, Van Hetten family, Hoos family, and Schroeter family. During this period, members of these families served in military formations, operated industrial assets, maintained family authority, and created the early contacts that later shaped the Middenvader and Vriend periods.

The Vader Era was not centered on a single organization comparable to De Vrienden. It was a wartime and pre-war period in which separate family lines developed through military service, industrial ownership, and local settlement.

Chronology

Year	Event
1934	Angelo van Noord began his military career by joining the Wehrmacht on 1 November 1934. His entry into service became one of the earliest documented events of the Vader Era.
1935	Angelo van Noord continued training and service in motorized reconnaissance formations. He served with units connected to Kraftfahr-Abteilung Cannstadt and later Aufklärungs-Abteilung 5.
1936	Jan Paap joined the Wehrmacht. His military service later formed the basis of his break with the older Paap family structure and his creation of the movement that became the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen.
1937	Members of the principal families remained active in military, industrial, and administrative environments in Germany and the Netherlands. These networks later formed part of the background of the Middenvader Era.
1938	Angelo van Noord continued in training and leadership duties and was promoted to Leutnant. The Schroeter family remained connected to agriculture, military service, and industrial production through Schroeter Traktoren.
1939	The Second World War began. Angelo van Noord participated in the invasion of Poland while serving with the 2. Panzer-Division. Schroeter industrial production became increasingly connected to wartime demand.
1940	Angelo van Noord transferred to the Abwehr and was assigned to Baulehr-Bataillon zur besonderen Verwendungen 800. On 10 May 1940, he led the assault on the railway bridge at Gennep during the German invasion of the Netherlands.
24 June 1940	Angelo van Noord received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for his role in the Gennep bridge operation. He also received the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class during the same period.
1941	On 30 November 1941, Angelo van Noord became Bataillonskommandeur of the 1st battalion of Lehr-Regiment "Brandenburg" z.b.V. 800.
1942	Angelo van Noord served on the Eastern Front with Brandenburg units. Recorded areas connected to his service include Kursk, Voronezh, the Don region, the Caucasus, Crimea, and the Mius sector.
1943	Jan Paap encountered his cousin Antonie Paap during the recapture of an airfield on the Eastern Front. Their argument escalated into a physical fight in which Jan assaulted Antonie and knocked out his teeth. The incident contributed to Jan’s break with the Paap family line.
1943	Angelo van Noord continued service with Brandenburg formations during their expansion into a larger divisional structure. His assignments connected him to operations in the Balkans, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Romania.
1944	Jan Paap deserted after a later incident on the Eastern Front. He bribed the Waffen-SS officer Georg Schäfer to assist his escape, fled to Spain, and later settled in Argentina.
1944	Jan Paap founded the Argentine Einsatz, the movement that later developed into the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen. The NSTAP was also founded in 1944 as the political organization of the emerging Tanoan structure.
September 1944	During the Battle of Arnhem, several fathers of an SS armoured division built houses north of Arnhem for defensive and logistical use. These houses became the origin of Vriendendam.
1944	Vriendendam began as a wartime settlement connected to defensive preparations north of Arnhem. Its early houses were constructed for accommodation, logistics, and recreation of stationed fathers.
March 1945	Angelo van Noord entered his final wartime posting as a staff chief with the SS-Jagdverbände under Otto Skorzeny.
8 May 1945	The war in Europe ended. Angelo van Noord destroyed his Soldbuch and obtained a forged Soldbuch under the name "Uwe Tering" to conceal his connection to the SS unit.
July 1945	Angelo van Noord was released by American authorities under the false name "Uwe Tering" after hospitalization in Traunstein. This marked the beginning of his post-war period under false identities.
1945	The Vader Era ended. Former wartime family structures entered a post-war transition period, leading to the Middenvader Era in 1946.

Main developments

The Vader Era was shaped by military service, wartime family authority, and the early formation of later institutions. It was the period in which the older generation of the principal families gained experience in command, logistics, industry, administration, and territorial organization.

The Noord family is mainly represented in this period through Angelo van Noord, whose service connected him to German motorized reconnaissance units, the Abwehr, Brandenburg formations, the Balkans, Romania, and the SS-Jagdverbände. His military career placed the Noord family within the wartime structures that later influenced family memory and post-war networks.

The Paap family is represented by Jan Paap. His service in the Wehrmacht, conflict with Antonie Paap, rejection of the expected family succession role, and desertion in 1944 led to the formation of the Argentine Einsatz. This movement became the origin of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen and formed one of the most important long-term consequences of the Vader Era.

The Schroeter family remained connected to agriculture, military service, and industrial manufacturing. Schroeter Traktoren existed as a major family asset during this period and later became the main cause of the internal Schroeter dispute during the Middenvader Era.

Vriendendam

Vriendendam originated in 1944 during the final phase of the war in the Netherlands. After the German victory at the Battle of Arnhem, a defensive position was established north of Arnhem in anticipation of further Allied attacks. Fortifications were built, followed by houses used by stationed fathers.

The houses survived the end of the war because they were located away from the main fortifications. After 1945, they were occupied by other fathers and became the base of a post-war settlement. This settlement later developed into the industrial town of Vriendendam during the Middenvader Era.

The founding of Vriendendam is one of the main reasons the Vader Era remained relevant after 1945. It provided a physical location where the older wartime generation, later family industries, and post-war reconstruction overlapped.

Paap movement

The most important political development of the Vader Era was the creation of the Argentine Einsatz by Jan Paap in 1944. The movement began after Jan Paap broke with his family, fled Europe, and settled in Argentina.

The Argentine Einsatz later developed into the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen. Its creation placed the Paap family on a separate path from the other principal families. While other family structures entered post-war reconstruction and internal arbitration, the Paap-aligned movement developed into an external territorial and political organization.

The founding of the NSTAP in 1944 gave the emerging Tanoan structure a political framework. This made the late Vader Era the starting point of the political system that later expanded during the Middenvader and Vriend periods.

Military and family networks

The Vader Era created the military and interpersonal background of the later family system. The five principal families were not yet organized through De Vrienden, but members of the older generation operated in overlapping European military, industrial, and administrative environments.

These contacts did not form a single formal alliance during the Vader Era. Their importance became clearer after 1945, when the families entered the Middenvader Era and began reorganizing their wartime structures into post-war family, industrial, and settlement networks.

The period also established the division between families that remained focused on Europe and the Paap-aligned structure that moved toward Argentina and later Tanoa.

Transition to the Middenvader Era

The Vader Era ended in 1945 with the collapse of wartime authority in Europe. The end of the war did not remove the influence of the Vaders. Their military experience, industrial assets, family disputes, and surviving settlements shaped the period that followed.

From 1946 onward, the focus shifted from wartime command to post-war reconstruction, internal arbitration, industrial ownership, and family separation. This marked the beginning of the Middenvader Era.

The most important inheritances of the Vader Era were the early settlement of Vriendendam, the existence of Schroeter Traktoren as a disputed family asset, the post-war survival of several family networks, and the creation of the movement that later became the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen.

Characteristics

The Vader Era was characterized by military service, wartime logistics, industrial production, family authority, and early territorial organization. It was more externally oriented than the Middenvader Era because its main events occurred through wartime service, occupation, settlement, and flight from Europe.

The era did not have a central social group equivalent to De Vrienden. Its defining figures were the older family members whose actions created the conditions for later periods. For this reason, the era functions as the foundation of the Middenvader and Vriend periods.

The era ended in 1945. The Middenvader Era began in 1946.