Jef van de Wiele

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Fredegardus Jacobus Josephus (Jef) van de Wiele (Deurne, Belgium, 20 July 1903 – Bruges, 4 September 1979) was a Belgian Flemish Nazi politician. During the Nazi occupation of Belgium he became notorious as the leader of the most virulently pro-Nazi wing of Flemish politics.

Early years

Van de Wiele was the son of an important local cattle dealer who between 1919 and 1933 acted as mayor of Deurne.

Francophilia.[1]

In the 1930s he returned to education, studying for a doctorate in

Devlag) as an initially apolitical cultural group for philology scholars with an interest in German literary culture.[1]

Nazism

Van de Wiele became a staunch admirer of

Third Reich.[1] The group used the Nazi eagle and swastika combined with the black lion of Flanders as its symbol.[2] As editor of the group's magazine, Nieuw Vlaanderen, he ensured that Nazism featured centrally in its content.[1] Van de Wiele had some contact with the Nazis before the invasion of Belgium and even claimed that Hitler had promised him that Flanders would be incorporated according to his wishes and that he had further been promised the position of Gauleiter.[3]

Influence under the occupation

Under the occupation he did enjoy some influence, although the complicated nature of

Rexist leader Léon Degrelle, with whom he toured Wallonia in 1943.[1] He worked enthusiastically with the Nazis, advocating the full mobilisation of the region and, in 1943, turning the entirety of his youth movement over to the Hitler Youth.[5][6]

After the liberation of Belgium by the Allied forces he fled to Germany in September 1944, settling in

Reichsgau Flandern".[7] Joachim von Ribbentrop also recognised van de Wiele as leader of the Vlaamsch Bevrijdingscomité (Flemish Liberation Committee) around the same time.[1] For the most part these posts proved meaningless with the liberation effectively completed in early 1945 following the Battle of the Bulge
.

Post-war life

Following the end of World War II van de Wiele was branded a traitor for his enthusiastic collaboration. Initially he evaded capture, but in 1946 he was arrested whilst dressed in the uniform of a German officer.[1] During November of that year, a court in Antwerp condemned him to death.[1] Nevertheless, the sentence was soon commuted to life imprisonment. Van de Wiele was released from prison in 1963, after which he settled in West Germany.[8] Returning to Belgium some time in the 1970s, he died at Bruges in 1979. [1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890, Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 412
  2. ^ David Littlejohn, The Patriotic Traitors, Heinemann, 1972, p. 137
  3. ^ a b Littlejohn, p. 174
  4. ^ Littlejohn, p. 176
  5. ^ Littlejohn, p.178
  6. ^ Michael Vanhoof , Collaboration and pro-Nazi parties Archived 2011-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Lipgens, Walter. Documents on the History of European integration: Volume 1 - Continental Plans for European Integration 1939-1945, p. 45. Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1974
  8. ^ Littlejohn, p. 183
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