1942: Belgium

Conditions under the Nazis.

Conditions in Belgium in 1942 were described by the Swedish Committee for the Relief of Belgian Children as bad as, if not worse than, those existing in Greece. Mortality among children was appalling the committee announced. More than two million Belgians did not see a potato during the winter of 1941-42. The people are keeping alive by eating bread and turnips. By the fall of 1942 the meat ration had been reduced to approximately one-half ounce per day. The food problem became more acute as Allied bombing attacks on Cologne and other western German cities increased in intensity. Many German civilians who were evacuated from these cities entered Belgium.

Early in the year a credit of 3,000,000 Swiss francs was granted by a banking consortium so that foodstuffs might be purchased in Hungary and Rumania for the starving Belgian population. The agreement was negotiated by a Belgian Commission, the banking consortium, German officials, and the Belgian Government-in-Exile. The loan is amortizable over a maximum period of fifteen years by Belgian surpluses from the export of linen. This arrangement has not, however, taken care of the hunger of the Belgian population.

The Germans have used the hunger and misery of the Belgian people as a political weapon. Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German Foreign Minister, in a note to King Leopold of the Belgians 'invited' him at his 'earliest convenience' to establish a collaborationist government with Leon Degrelle, head of the Belgian Rexist Party, and the Belgian Quisling, at its head. The note contained pointed references to the serious food situation in Belgium and suggested that this situation could not be improved without 'manifestations of loyal cooperation inside the country.' In a drive to conscript Belgian workers to work in war factories in Germany the Germans have insisted that food supplies for Belgium will depend on the manpower which Belgium provides in exchange for the food.

Education of Youth.

During the German occupation of Belgium in 1914-18, the Germans followed a policy of creating antagonism between the Flemish-speaking and French-speaking Belgians. The Nazis are now following the same policy of 'divide and rule.' In an attempt to Germanize the Belgians, they are spreading the study and teaching of Flemish in the schools. The Germans issued an order to municipal authorities and to boards of elementary schools to transfer all French-speaking children from French to Flemish classes. It was reported that almost seven thousand children entered over three hundred newly established classes. But many parents took their children out of communal schools and sent them to independent French establishments. The Germans have attempted to change the entire Belgian educational system. But teachers who are willing to carry out the wishes of the Germans have been so scarce that the Germans have been forced to legalize diplomas granted during the German occupation of 1914-18.

A training school for political soldiers and leaders has been opened at Vilvorde where after six years training the student may enter a university. Hours usually devoted to intellectual education have been shortened and the main emphasis placed on sport and physical training.

In spite of these German efforts to win over sections of the youth, hostility to the German invaders has increased among the Belgians. The University of Brussels was closed by order of the German Military Command because of the defiant attitude of the professors. The Germans have taken over the buildings and scientific laboratories and use them for war purposes. The attitude of the Catholic Church toward the Nazi forces of occupation was one of open opposition. Many Catholic schools were closed rather than be put under the influence of pro-Nazi professors. Cardinal van Roey stated: 'If Germany desires, after the peace is made, to keep contact with our country, she should not make these contacts impossible in advance by measures which deeply wound the masses.'

Sabotage and Reprisals.

Acts of resistance to the German invaders and sabotage of the German war effort increased among all sections of the population. In the month of April alone there were 125 railway accidents. Belgian miners have taken dynamite from their mines and used it to blow up factories and houses of pro-Nazi workers. Power stations have been blasted and military supply depots fired. Extensive fires have occurred in coal mines, some of them started with bottles of inflammable liquids. The German-controlled gas and explosives factory at Tessenderloo was completely destroyed in an explosion which killed 250 persons and injured over 1,000 more. In May bombs were thrown at the Luftwaffe headquarters in Brussels. In July many Belgian Quislings were killed.

Reprisals on the part of the Germans have increased rather than diminished Belgian resistance. According to the Belgian Government in Exile Belgians are being executed at a rate of twenty to twenty-five daily. Most of these executions have taken place as a result of Nazi efforts to crush the White Brigade, a Belgian underground group, organized to hinder the German war effort while preparing to take part in the fighting when the Allies invade the continent. M. Albert de Vleeschauwer, Belgian Minister of Colonies, stated, while in the United States, on his way to the Belgian Congo, that despite the fact that hostages are being put to death every week that fifty-two small secret newspapers are still being published in Belgium. The Belgian Prime Minister, M. Pierlot, also in the United States on his way to the Belgian Congo, stated that more civilians have already been shot in Belgium during the present occupation than during the four years of German occupation from 1914-18.

Forced Labor.

One of the greatest tragedies of the German occupation to the Belgians is the fact that they are forced to work directly or indirectly for the German war industry. Official statistics showed that over 1,000,000 workers or approximately 60 per cent of total Belgian labor was so engaged. The Nazi labor dictator, Sauckel, issued a decree compelling all men between the ages of 18 and 50 and all unmarried women between 21 and 35 to undertake any kind of work in Belgian or German territory. It is estimated that there are already over two hundred thousand Belgians working in Germany.

Government in Exile.

During 1942 three new members, MM. Hoste, Rolin and Jaassart were added to the Belgian Government with the title of Secretaries of State. MM. Antoine Delfosse, August de Schrijver and August Balthazar, who at the time of the German invasion were respectively Ministers for Communications, Economic Affairs, and Labor arrived in London to join the Belgian Government-in-Exile. M. Delfosse was appointed Minister of Justice in the Cabinet in London and also given charge of the Information Department. M. de Schrijver was entrusted with an economic mission in the United States and M. Balthazar was given a mission in connection with the International Labor Organization in Montreal. In the fall of 1942 M. Pierlot announced that he was taking over the portfolio of National Defense, formerly held by M. Gutt who remained Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs.

King Leopold.

King Leopold of the Belgians continued to consider himself a prisoner of war and has declined to cooperate with the Nazis in any way. M. Pierlot, who so bitterly denounced King Leopold's surrender of the Belgian armies to the Germans, showed a reconciled attitude toward the Sovereign during his stay in the United States. Referring to the King's marriage to a commoner in September 1941 as a private affair, M. Pierlot remarked that he did not think that this would prevent King Leopold from returning to his royal functions after the war. Respect for King Leopold is very strong among the Belgians and the people place their hope in him to create, after the end of the war, a new order, based on national good will and an equitable division of Walloon and Flemish influence.