José Streel
José Streel | |
---|---|
Born | Lucien Alphonse Joseph Streel 14 December 1911 Executed |
Conviction(s) | Treason |
Criminal penalty | Death |
Lucien Alphonse Joseph "José" Streel (14 December 1911 – 21 February 1946) was a
Background and early political activities
From a
Throughout his writing Streel argued in favour of fascism, which he described as "something spiritual and mystical".[3]
In keeping with other fascist theorists he was highly critical of rationalism[4] and instead argued that "you must act. The rest will take care of itself". He was fiercely critical of individualism as opposed to group identity, arguing "the individual does not exist in the pure state".[5]
Rexism
Streel was appointed editor-in-chief of all the Rexist publications in 1936.
He had reservations about
Under the Nazis
Despite his reservations, Streel was ultimately reconciled to
Having left Rexism, he continued his personal policy of limited collaboration, contributing to journals and radio broadcasts.[1] Condemned by Degrelle as "a little man with too many scruples", he privately felt that co-operating with the Germans was no longer worth while, although he would never publicly state these ideas.[1]
Exile and death
He eventually fled to Germany in 1944, although he took no political role here and instead worked in a factory.[1] Belgian authorities condemned him to death in absentia but nonetheless he voluntarily re-entered the country after the war and gave himself up.[1] Brought before the Brussels War Tribunal, he was defended by Paul-Henri Spaak and other leading figures and initially his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment with hard labour.[1] A review by the Auditeur Militaire however uncovered an article he had written condemning the Belgian government-in-exile and reimposed the original sentence.[1]
Streel declared "I regret nothing" and insisted that fascism had been essential for Europe in order to avert disaster.[1] Held at the Ixelles army barracks, he was executed by firing squad on 21 February 1946.[1]
Books of José Streel
- Streel José, La révolution du XXème siècle (new edition of the book which was published in 1942 by the la NSE in Bruxelles), preface of Lionel Baland, Déterna, Paris, 2010.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890, Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 379
- ^ Eugen Weber, Action Française: Royalism and Reaction in Twentieth Century France, Stanford University Press, 1962, p. 490
- ^ Roger Griffin & Matthew Feldman, Fascism: The Nature of Fascism, Taylor & Francis, 2004, p. 105
- ^ Griffin & Feldman, Fascism, p. 114
- ^ Griffin & Feldman, Fascism, pp. 108-110
- ^ Rees, Biographical Dictionary, p. 89
- ^ Bruno de Wever, Herman van Goethem, Nico Wouters, Local Government in Occupied Europe (1939–1945), Academia Press, 2006, p. 97