Ward Hermans | |
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_Vlaams_nationalistisch_politicus%2c_schrijver_en_dichter%2c_SFA022001277.jpg) Ward Hermans in 1929 | |
| Born | Cornelius Eduardus Hermans (1897-02-06)6 February 1897 |
| Died | 23 November 1992(1992-11-23) (aged 95) |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Occupation(s) | politician, writer |
Cornelius Eduardus Hermans (6 February 1897 – 23 November 1992) was aBelgianFlemish nationalist politician and writer.
Hermans saw service with theBelgian Army during theFirst World War before becoming involved in politics as a member of the nationalistFrontpartij.[1] As punishment for his involvement in theFlemish Movement, he was sent to theSpecial Forestry Platoon, a Belgianpenal military unit located inOrne,Normandy, France in July 1918, where he worked as awoodchopper as a form ofpenal labour.[2]
After the war, Hermans served theFrontparij in theBelgian parliament from 1929 to 1932.[1] He quit theFrontpartij in 1933 to joinVerdinaso and soon became known for his pro-Nazi stance in journals such asDe Schelde,Volk en Staat, andStrijd.[1] His membership came to an end the following year when he argued withJoris van Severen and left the group to join theFlemish National Union.[3] Serving as anarrondissement leader for the group from 1935 to 1940, he also returned to parliament as a VNV representative from 1939 to 1944.[1]
Hermans became an enthusiasticcollaborator withNazi Germany after theGerman invasion of Belgium in 1940. The same year, Hermans, along withRené Lagrou, was the founder of theAlgemeene-SS Vlaanderen, the FlemishSchutzstaffel.[3] Having left his official engagements with VNV in October 1940 to concentrate on this assignment, he also edited the new movement's journalSS-Man.[1] In the later years of the war Hermans went to Germany to broadcastpropaganda over the radio inBremen.[3]
Hermans wassentenced to deathin absentia after theSecond World War, but he was not arrested until his capture in Germany in November 1946. He was returned to Belgium where his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he was released in 1955.[1] He largely remained aloof from political involvement following his release, apart from a spell in theOrder of Flemish Militants during the 1970s,[1] before his death on 23 November 1992.
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