History of Sorts

It’s funny how your opinions can change as you grow older. The title of this blog, “Turnip and Chicory, Salsify and Leek,” is the English translation of a Dutch song: “Knolraap en Lof, Schorseneren en Prei.” I absolutely hated that song when I was younger. I still don’t like it all that much—but I have changed my opinion about the man who wrote and performed it. Recently, I discovered something about him that I hadn’t known before.

Heinz Polzer, better known by his stage name Drs. P, is not widely recognized for any prominent involvement in World War II, but his life during that period is nonetheless of interest, especially in light of his later fame as a poet, songwriter, and performer in the Dutch-speaking world.

Early Life and Background

Heinz Hermann Polzer was born on August 24, 1919, in Thun, Switzerland, to Dutch parents. His dual identity—Swiss by birth but deeply connected to Dutch language and culture—would play an important role throughout his life. Because he was born in Switzerland and retained Swiss nationality, Polzer was officially neutral during the war, a status that shaped his wartime experience and limited his direct involvement in combat or resistance activities.

Life During World War II

During the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Polzer was just twenty years old. He was studying economics at the University of Rotterdam. When Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, life in occupied Dutch territory changed dramatically. While many young Dutch men were either conscripted, joined the resistance, or were deported for forced labor in Germany, Polzer’s Swiss citizenship offered him a layer of protection from many of the direct consequences of the occupation.

However, even though he was not involved in military actions or resistance movements, Polzer did not remain entirely detached. As a student and intellectual in an occupied country, he experienced the restrictions on freedom of speech, the censorship of the press, and the day-to-day oppression that typified life under Nazi control. He reportedly used his wit and irony to navigate the challenging political and social climate of the time, though little is known about any overt political actions or affiliations he may have had.

What I didn’t know until recently is that during World War II, he wrote a satirical story under the pseudonym “Tante Pollie.” In it, he mocked the dictators Hitler and Mussolini—portrayed as mischievous schoolboys named Dolf and Ben—who get a scolding from Officer Sam (a stand-in for America). It was a cheeky act of student-style resistance, but it didn’t go unnoticed. For his trouble, Polzer was sentenced to four months in the infamous “Oranjehotel” prison in Scheveningen, a term later extended by two more months after he drew a deck of playing cards featuring Hitler and Mussolini as the jokers.

After his release, in 1942, Polzer returned to his country of birth, where he served in the medical corps of the neutral Swiss army. In 1945, he went to Paris to serve in the Red Cross. After the German capitulation, he went back to the Netherlands.

Knowing this gives me a whole new perspective on him. He wasn’t just a quirky lyricist with a taste for absurd vegetables—he was also someone who dared to poke fun at power when it was dangerous to do so.

sources

https://www.discogs.com/release/2877155-Drs-P-Knolraap-En-Lof-Schorseneren-En-Prei

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drs._P

Drs. P. Heinz Hermann Polzer 1974 Haarlem

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