During WWII, the Nazi-leadership inevitably used the services of ‘foreigners’ for its expansionist ambitions. Insofar as they supplied their services voluntarily, there are huge questions about the extent to which these grassroots level participants shared the same imperialist outlook as the leadership, and how the larger ideological aims of the Nazi-regime applied and were reconfigured at a local level. This article explores the Dutch contribution to the Nazi policy of Germanization in occupied Eastern Europe. It analyses the motives, experiences and expectations among the Dutch volunteers and supervisors.Although most were favoring the establishment of a Greater Germanic Reich, they also had clear national goals: their work would help to restore Dutch grandeur by acquiring extra markets and territories. This article shows that these two aims were essentially incompatible and seriously complicated German-Dutch collaboration.