Jef van de Wiele | |
|---|---|
| Head of the Flemish Liberation Committee | |
| In office 15 December 1944[1] – January 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1903-07-20)20 July 1903 |
| Died | 4 September 1979(1979-09-04) (aged 76) |
Fredegardus Jacobus Josephus (Jef) van de Wiele (Deurne, Belgium, 20 July 1903 –Bruges, 4 September 1979) was aBelgianFlemishNazi politician. During theNazi occupation of Belgium he became notorious as the leader of the most virulently pro-Nazi wing of Flemish politics.
Van de Wiele was the son of an important local cattle dealer who between 1919 and 1933 acted as mayor of Deurne.[2] Although raised in Deurne van de Wiele was sent toAntwerp andGhent to be educated.[2] He entered the teaching profession, working initially inAalst before returning to his home town.[2] In his early years he was nicknamed "Jef Cognac" by his friends due to his strong reputation forFrancophilia.[2]
In the 1930s he returned to education, studying for a doctorate inPhilosophy and Letters with a specialisation inGermanphilology. His study included an extended period in Germany in 1937 researching German perceptions ofFlemish literature from 1870 to 1937.[2] An increasingGermanophile, in 1936 he establishedDuitschen-Vlaamsche Arbeidsgemeenschap (German-Flemish Labour Community, popularly known asDevlag) as an initially apolitical cultural group for philology scholars with an interest in German literary culture.[2]
Van de Wiele became a staunch admirer ofAdolf Hitler and before long Devlag had moved radically to thefar right and began to campaign for the incorporation ofFlanders into theThird Reich.[2] The group used the Nazi eagle andswastika combined with theblack lion of Flanders as its symbol.[3] As editor of the group's magazine,Nieuw Vlaanderen, he ensured that Nazism featured centrally in its content.[2] 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 ofGauleiter.[4]
Under the occupation he did enjoy some influence, although the complicated nature ofBelgian politics meant that he did not gain the full influence he sought. He enjoyed a good relationship withWalloon leaderLéon Degrelle and accompanied him on various public engagements.[5] At home however he had struggled to gain influence from thefar-right but pro-independenceFlemish National Union and clashed repeatedly with its leadersStaf De Clercq andHendrik Elias, who maintained ambiguous attitudes towards the Nazis.[4] In contrast Van de Wiele called for Flanders to be fully incorporated as aReichsgau with himself asGauleiter.[2] Indeed, he was isolated from the wider Flemish right to such an extent that his closest political ally becameRexist leaderLéon Degrelle, with whom he touredWallonia in 1943.[2] 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 theHitler Youth.[6][7]
After the liberation of Belgium by the Allied forces he fled to Germany in September 1944, settling inWaldeck-Pyrmont with other Flemish exiles.[2] By that point van de Wiele was the only Flemish leader with whom the Nazis were still working and as such they sent him toCologne to organise Flemish refugees into a cohesive pro-Nazi organisation.[2] In December 1944 he was also designated the head of the theoretical "Reichsgau Flandern" and given the nominal titleLeider van het Vlaamsche Volk ("Leader of the Flemish People").[8][9]Joachim von Ribbentrop also recognised van de Wiele as leader of theVlaamsch Bevrijdingscomité (Flemish Liberation Committee) around the same time.[2] For the most part these posts proved meaningless with the liberation effectively completed in early 1945 following theBattle of the Bulge.
Following the end ofWorld War II van de Wiele was branded a traitor for his enthusiasticcollaboration. Initially he evaded capture, but in 1946 he was arrested whilst dressed in the uniform of a German officer.[2] During November of that year, a court in Antwerp condemned him to death.[2] Nevertheless, the sentence was soon commuted to life imprisonment. Van de Wiele was released from prison in 1963, after which he settled inWest Germany.[10] Returning to Belgium some time in the 1970s, he died at Bruges in 1979.[2]
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