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Armand Albert (Bert) Eriksson (30 June 1931 – 2 October 2005) was a leadingFlemishnationalist.
Born inAntwerp. His father was a sailor from Finland his mother was Flemish. Eriksson became aNazi at an early age and joined theHitler Youth before the end of theSecond World War. A staunchanti-communist, he went in 1950 to fight in theKorean War as a paratrooper.
In 1968 he opened a café, 'Lokaal Odal', in Antwerp which became a leading centre forneo-Nazis after the War. He took command of theVlaamse Militanten Orde (VMO) in 1971 after it had been disbanded by founderBob Maes and turned it towards a more extreme right path.[1] After the VMO was outlawed in 1984 he started the Odal Group, which presented itself as the successor to the VMO. As VMO leader Eriksson had been brought to trial in 1981 on charges of leading a private army but, although initially found guilty, he was acquitted by theAntwerp court of appeal in June 1982.[2] The VMO itself continued in defiance of the ban although Eriksson's leadership came to an end in 1985 when Jef Eggermont took over.[3] Eriksson had come to attention in 1973 by going toAustria and digging up the remains of Belgian collaboratorCyriel Verschaeve, which he then reburied inAlveringem.[4] He later claimed to have done the same with the remains ofStaf De Clercq andAnton Mussert.
He also went on to be associated with the Wehrwolf-Verbond, ananti-Semitic group based in Antwerp, and addressed their rally in 1996.[5]
He died 2 October 2005 inWestdorpe,Netherlands from lung disease, aged 73.
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