A hoax letter has been sent to families and companies located on the Maliebaan in Utrecht to tell them that a museum focusing on the Dutch nazi movement NSB is about to be opened in their street.

The letter, on headed paper, says the museum will be located at the former NSB headquarters at number 35, which is currently home to a daycare centre.

Police are investigating the origins of the letter and say it is unclear what the letter writer hoped to achieve. ‘The chills ran up my spine,’ one recipient told local broadcaster RTV Utrecht.

Daycare centre director Judith Geenen told the broadcaster the incident is extremely odd. Creche staff have hung up notices saying that no museum is being located in the building.

Children

The letter states the museum will cover the history of the NSB from its founding in 1931. It will also focus on what happened to children and grandchildren of NSB members. It ends with a plea for people to search their attics for old diaries and NSB regalia.

The Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging (national socialist movement) was founded in 1931 by Anton Mussert and became distinctly anti-Semitic in 1936 under the influence of Meinoud Rost van Tonningen.

The party sided with Germany in World War II and at its height, in 1943, had over 100,000 members. The party was outlawed when Germany surrendered in May 1945. Mussert was executed in 1946.