2023-11-11 10:12:00
In this period of commemoration of the anniversary of the Armistice of the First World War as well as the first executions of collaborators in Belgium in November 1944, it is to a difficult, troubled and violent period in our common history that we invite you . Indeed, the first two executed (Joseph Hoogeveen and Paul Herten) were shot on November 13, 1944 at Saint-Gilles prison, 79 years ago.
Post-war years punctuated by society’s need for harsh repression and the need for those in power not to let street violence take over and lead to unmanageable situations. To talk regarding this fascinating book “The last 242 executions in Belgium, The followingeffects of the collaboration 1944-1950”, we asked a few questions to one of the authors, the researcher and doctor in history Elise Rezsöhazy. A work which is the result of a federal research project between the State Archives (CegeSoma) and the Royal Military School financed by Belspo (Brain-Be 2.0).
Why did you write this book on this very particular era in Belgian history? Are there any new insights into this immediate post-war period?
Elise Rezsöhazy. “It’s really a work that sits at the crossroads between history and law that we carried out with my colleagues. In recent years, a large number of archives from military justice and the general prosecutor’s office have been transferred from the courthouse to the state archives. They were stored there in the cellars… This is the first time that we have had access to a whole series of documents and coherent sources, so it sheds new light on the history of Belgium at that time – there.”
Two hundred and forty-two executions is a significant figure and one that may even seem impressive. But without context, it’s just a number…
”We must indeed have a vision of all the figures. In Belgium, around 3,000 people were sentenced to death for acts of collaboration. More than half had fled or were simply not in the country at the time of the trials. Of 1,226 people actually present when they were sentenced to death, 242 were ultimately executed. This is why we wonder in the book what earned some the firing squad and others the pardon.”
For certain profiles, among the 242 sentenced to death and executed, did Belgian and military justice have a heavy hand? In other words, has this societal need for repression weighed in certain cases?
”At the end of the war, the Belgian population and political institutions were confronted with a lot of violence in society towards collaborators. It is the Belgian state, wanting to re-establish its authority, which will legally organize the repression. It was necessary to avoid all types of collaboration being put in the same boat. Until the spring of 1946, there was a real desire on the part of military justice to respond to this need. No clemency appeal was successful before this period. The archives of the exchanges between the auditor general (Editor’s note: the military prosecutor’s office) and the minister of justice are very clear: we must respond to the demands of the street and quickly! Afterwards, a certain clemency set in because time had passed and spirits were ‘demobilized’ for a certain part of the population. This was not the case for the former resistance fighters or prisoners of war who remained quite vocal on the subject. However, it should be noted that the majority of those executed clearly had “blood on their hands” or had active roles in the services of the occupier. They committed acts of violence and sometimes took part in crimes. Their denunciations have led people to certain death or torture… “
But let’s take the example, taken from the book, of this man, head of the barracks at Breendonk, who denounced one or the other prisoner without dramatic consequences and who was nevertheless shot following the war…
”I have not studied all 242 cases but it is possible that for some of the convicts, there was a lack of testimony to affirm that the acts of denunciation had a dramatic impact on the lives of others. But their involvement at other levels might be made. Membership in certain formations or groups during years of war was already punishable as such by the Penal Code. The simple fact of carrying a weapon for the enemy was punishable by the death penalty… It is true that the facts of denunciation were the most complicated to prove. However, justice had other elements in hand to decide on their death by execution. We can say that only 19 people were sentenced to death for denunciation only out of 242.”
The persistent myth of harsher repression once morest Flemish collaborators is brought to naught thanks to your in-depth analysis on the subject.
”It is in fact an idea that is still strongly anchored in certain far-right circles in Flanders. This speech is part of their basis: there would have been more repressions of Flemish collaborators following the Second World War. This is completely false! In the figures that we publish in the form of tables in the book we observe two things: there have been more trials on the French-speaking side and the acts prosecuted are not the same on both sides of the linguistic border. As we write in the book: ‘if, until May 1945, nearly 70% of those executed opted for Dutch as the language of proceedings, during the entire period of repression it was nevertheless the French speakers who were more numerous to switch in front of the firing squad. The persistent myth according to which the predominantly French-speaking and ‘Belgian’ military justice system punished the Flemish more severely than the French-speaking collaborators is clearly refuted with regard to those who were shot.”
Trial of collaborators following the Second World War! ©DR
We also read in the pages that organizing a public execution was not always easy…
”We really have to realize a certain reality regarding the preparation and holding of these public executions. First, for some condemned to death, there was pressure to keep them alive because they may not have revealed everything regarding their acts of collaboration. This might have an influence on other affairs… Then, and this ties in with what I have already expressed, the further we got from the end of the conflict, the less popular pressure was strong for these executions to actually take place. . The population will no longer put as much meaning into it as following the war. Finally, and this is a very interesting element, this slowed down those involved in the executions. The general prosecutor must find places of execution, people to shoot and people to bury. We realized that a lot of reluctance appeared almost everywhere in Belgium! This extends to the ranks of the army. Executing remains a hyperviolent symbol even for the gendarmes… In the end, the general prosecutor’s office was quite isolated in these procedures. “
In your eyes, what justifies the cessation of the execution of capital punishment in Belgium in 1950?
”Since 1863, the democratic tradition in Belgium has been to no longer execute those condemned to death. In 1944, it was impossible not to execute because tensions were too strong within Belgian society. Power must show that it will purify society, purge it of its worst elements. It’s the symbol. No political party is going to question this decision to carry out the executions. Socialists, liberals, Catholics and communists are absolutely on the same line. From 1946-1947, a divide emerged within parliament, the majority in government and public opinion. A process which also led to the resignation of the Catholic Minister of Justice, Paul Struye, who had granted two pardons… His successor made no decision in the matter. The policy then was to let time pass. One of the parties in power continuously during this period was the Catholic party which sought greater clemency for those sentenced to death through the process of ‘mercy for cause’. Catholics believed, among other things, that the delays between convictions and appeals for clemency, sometimes years, were too long and inhumane.
What particularly struck you during your research on this important period in Belgian history?
”We realized that in reality the general prosecutor’s office was less powerful than we thought in the management of these events. He had very little catch. Once the death sentences have been issued, the final decision to execute or not is completely beyond his control. We have noticed that a personality with heavy moral, political and symbolic weight like Walter-Jean Ganshof Van der Meersch, the auditor general, will spend his time confronting the ministers of justice. It was the executive who clearly had the upper hand! “
Repression of collaboration in Belgium: what is the profile of the executed?
The average executed person is a man of Belgian nationality, 237 executed (97.93%) are Belgian. Among the 242 people executed between November 1944 and August 1950, only four were women.
French speakers are slightly more numerous than Dutch speakers: 132 executed chose French as the language of the procedure, 110 Dutch
.
The main offenses used for sentencing to death were: military collaboration, political collaboration, denunciation, aiding the enemy, espionage. An overwhelming majority of people were convicted of several offenses.
We must clearly distinguish the seat where the trial took place from the choice of language for the procedure. It is this criterion that was taken into account to determine who was French-speaking or Dutch-speaking in the production of this book.
The last 242 executions in Belgium – The following-effects of the 1944-1950 collaboration
1699706013
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