I've grown up in Katwijk, a town at the Dutch coast. Traditionally, it is a fishing village where religion always has played an important role and still does.
Being a fisherman at sea was a dangerous job in the past. Every year many fishermen didn't return from the sea.
Faith offered support, comfort, and hope. By praying, fishermen and their families asked for protection at sea and a safe return home.
We not only see this in Katwijk, but in more villages that have a rich fishing tradition.

Although religion can offer support, comfort, and hope, it also can become dangerous someone takes it too far. The true story about the 'mad logger' is an example of that.
The novell Waanzee is a story based on the facts that are known from the horrible journey 13 men
made in 1915 on the fishing vessel KW 171.
Not all the details in the book might be real, but the overall storyline did happen.

The prophet of the sea

The book is about a group of fisherman that went out on the sea. They usually go out for a couple of weeks and return home when the boat is full.
Most of the men on the ship were religious. That was quite normal back in 1915 where it was very dangerous to make long trips on the sea. Storms and sea mines from WW1 made it unsure if you would safely return home.
One man, Arend, had experienced a some visions, which he said came from above. He began to believe himself as the chosen one. Being alone and isolated on the sea for weeks he shared his visions and thoughts with the rest of the fishermen. Slowly some of the fishermen went along with it. With more and more people believing in it, things started changing on the ship. Especially when the captain of the ship was convinced about Arend’s chosen status.
Slowly they started focussing more on religion than on the fishing. They prayed a lot and sang psalms.
This had a snowball effect and the visions got worse. Arend told the crew that the end of the world was near and that they would be safe because of him. At one point he stated that the rest of the world was desroyed and that they were going to be attacked by demons.
When some of the fishermen started to have doubts, they were accused of being posessed by the devil and the scared fishermen killed those who didn't believe Arend anymore.

After a few weeks out on the sea, the crew was picked a Norwegian vessel. The ship was mostly a ruin; the masts were gone and the deck torn apart. The fishermen kept singing psalms while they were rescued.

Both Arend and the rest of the crew were sent to a psychiatric institution when they came back. Doctors tried to figure out how they could have gone so far.
All fishermen except Arend returned to the village after few years, but none of them ever spoke about what happened on the ship back then...

Causes

The cause of this tragedy may lie in the fact that Arend had a bad childhood. He had some unresolved traumas. Religion gave him support but it got out of hand. But how could he drag all the other fishermen into this.
The main reason lays in the fact that religion was very important back then. The fear of dying at sea was big and religion helped. They also were isolated in a small boat for a couple of weeks.
With out any other view on the matter they slowly all were sucked into the madness of one man.

Conclusion

I'm really happy that I finally read the book. Although it's a novell, most of the story based on true events. Not all details might be right, but the murder of three fishermen and the discovery by the Norwegian ship is how it really happened.
It's bizarre how one men, fear and isolation can turn normal people into madmen.
It is an eye opener that we must be wary of groups in our society that might get isolated and turn into madmen as well.

Friendlymoose

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