1941: Belgium

Under the Nazi Yoke.

The process of Nazification in Belgium in 1941 proceeded more slowly than in most of the other countries occupied by the Nazis. Evidently the Germans still hoped that they might persuade King Leopold to become the head of a puppet Belgian State under German control. But the King of the Belgians persisted in regarding himself purely as a prisoner of war and has refused to aid the Nazi forces of occupation in their designs.

In the summer of 1941 it was reported that the Germans had propounded a scheme whereby King Leopold would resume active leadership of his country with an all-Belgian ministry composed of Rexists (Belgian Fascists) and Flemish Nationalists. The Rexists and Flemish Nationalists to be included in the ministry were all pro-Nazi. According to prominent Belgians in London when these proposals were outlined to King Leopold by the Rexist leader, Leon Degrelle (the Belgian Quisling), the King immediately interrupted by declaring, 'the audience which has been imposed upon me has ended.'

King Leopold's steadfast refusal to participate in Hitler's 'New Order' in Europe has heartened the Belgian people, strengthened their will to resist the Nazi invaders and has caused the influence of Degrelle to decline steadily. British newspapers and even Belgian cabinet members in 1940 denounced King Leopold bitterly as a traitor for surrendering the Belgian armies to the Germans. In 1941 the British press and all Belgians who are not Nazi sympathizers are praising the King for refusing to accept Nazi offers to restore him to power if he will rule under German direction.

No Reich commissioner has been appointed as yet in Belgium. The Germans have ruled the country through the Military High Command with the assistance of the Gestapo. The central administration of the country has been carried on by the permanent heads of the Belgian departments of State but the provincial governors have been replaced by German military governors. Later the Germans forbade all communal councils in Belgium to meet on the ground that they were centers of resistance to the 'New Order.' The Germans have tried to disrupt Belgium as much as possible, but unsuccessfully so far, by supporting the Flemish Separatists, and to a lesser degree the Rexists.

Economic Aspects.

Belgian economy has been completely subordinated to that of Germany. All industries in Belgium are forced to operate in the service of Germany. Conquered Belgians, like the peoples in other countries which the Germans have subjugated, are forced to transform their country into an arsenal for their enemies and oppressors. It is estimated that at least 50 per cent of the coal production of the Liège mine fields has been requisitioned by the Germans. Manufacturing activity which is not essential to the Nazi war effort has been prohibited to a large extent. This is due somewhat to the existing shortage of raw materials as well as to the Nazi desire for more implements of war. The textile industry is allowed to manufacture only 30 per cent of its normal output. Biscuits, cakes and other products of white flour are prohibited. Brewers are not allowed to use wheat, barley or rice in brewing. The use of oils or greases in the manufacture of linoleum, oilcloth, and patent leather is strictly forbidden. There is a serious food shortage. Coffee is unobtainable. Pipe tobacco is only occasionally available.

Unemployment has become a serious problem with the dislocation of Belgian industry. A National Labor Committee was established by the Nazis in Belgium. This committee is authorized to order employers to dismiss all single and childless men and replace them with heads of families. The dismissed workers receive no unemployment compensation and are obliged to accept any work that may be offered to them including work in Germany. Many Belgian women have been forced to go to Germany as housekeepers.

Resistance within Belgium.

Belgian resistance to the occupying forces increased in 1941 and came from all sections of the population. Early in the year the Germans imposed a daily curfew in the city of Antwerp because of the many acts of sabotage committed by the inhabitants. Later a heavy fine and a severe curfew was placed upon the city of Liège for the same reason. Dr. F. J. van de Meulebroeck, Burgomaster of Brussels, was dismissed from office and later arrested by the German military authorities because he refused to cooperate with them. Belgium's independence day, July 21, was the occasion of numerous anti-German demonstrations throughout the country. Street fighting broke out in several places. German authorities reproached Belgian police for not having broken up the demonstration and particularly for not saving Rexists and Flemish extremists from attack. In September, Belgian hostages were executed at Tournai for the shooting of a Rexist leader and German police officers. Later in the month the Secretary of the Rexist Party was killed by a bomb at the Party's central office. More and more Belgians were executed for espionage, sabotage, disturbing the internal peace, aiding the enemy, aiding Jews, and attacking German soldiers, German police and Rexists.

The Belgian National Legion of War Veterans was dissolved in December 1941 by the German authorities and 61 of its leaders were court-martialed on the charge that weapons, munitions and anti-German propaganda had been found at the headquarters of the legion. Toward the end of 1941 the University of Brussels closed its doors in protest against the German forces of occupation. The Germans insisted that 18 Flemish professors should be appointed to the faculty of the University which had been entirely Walloon. The University authorities refused to accept the appointment of three of the candidates, one of whom was a Flemish activist during the period of the First World War, and two who were strongly pro-German.

Belgians Fighting Abroad.

Belgian resistance to the Nazis continued outside Belgium. When the Belgian government left Brussels for London it retained its sovereignty over the Belgian Congo. The colonial administration there remained loyal to the Belgian government in exile. A colonial army of about 100,000 trained native troops with European officers was raised and equipped with British and American aid. Some 30,000 of them were sent overland through Central Africa to take part in the Ethiopian campaign. At the end of 1941 they were fighting in Libya. Belgian Congo is also helping the Allied war effort with important raw materials. A new Belgian army has been organized in England; Belgian pilots are fighting with the R.A.F.; new Belgian units are training in Canada; 400,000 tons of Belgian shipping are being used for the Allied cause.

Thus the situation of Belgium in 1941 may be summed up in the words of the Belgian Embassy in Washington: 'As in 1914 Belgian is conquered, occupied, but not subdued.'