For Rex and for Belgium

For Rex and for Belgium PDF Author: Eddy de Bruyne
Publisher: Helion & Company Limited
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Get Book Here

Book Description
Nearly 60 years after the end of the Second World War, the name "Degrelle" remains controversial in Belgium and abroad. Was he a traitor to his nation, or a hero for anti-Communism? Until recently, the only information available on the man and his political movement came from Degrelle's own memoirs, or from works heavily slanted for or against him. Eddy De Bruyne, specialist in WWII Walloon Military Collaboration, has devoted over 20 years to intensively studying the available documentation, as well as interviewing the surviving collaborators of that era, including Degrelle himself. De Bruyne's findings, set down in several French language publications, represent the most detailed studies of Walloon political and military collaboration yet assembled. Now, with the aid of American Waffen-SS researcher Marc Rikmenspoel, De Bruyne has combined his works into a single English language book. The greatest portion of the book is devoted to the most comprehensive account of the campaigns of the Legion Wallonie and its successor SS-Sturmbrigade/Division Wallonien (28th SS Panzergrenadier Division) yet seen in English. The text is supported by approximately 400 period photos, complemented by many maps and illustrations of contemporary posters and other ephemera, completing a package that will be a must-have for military historians, afficianados of rare photos, and collectors of materials on the SS.

For Rex and for Belgium

For Rex and for Belgium PDF Author: Eddy de Bruyne
Publisher: Helion & Company Limited
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Get Book Here

Book Description
Nearly 60 years after the end of the Second World War, the name "Degrelle" remains controversial in Belgium and abroad. Was he a traitor to his nation, or a hero for anti-Communism? Until recently, the only information available on the man and his political movement came from Degrelle's own memoirs, or from works heavily slanted for or against him. Eddy De Bruyne, specialist in WWII Walloon Military Collaboration, has devoted over 20 years to intensively studying the available documentation, as well as interviewing the surviving collaborators of that era, including Degrelle himself. De Bruyne's findings, set down in several French language publications, represent the most detailed studies of Walloon political and military collaboration yet assembled. Now, with the aid of American Waffen-SS researcher Marc Rikmenspoel, De Bruyne has combined his works into a single English language book. The greatest portion of the book is devoted to the most comprehensive account of the campaigns of the Legion Wallonie and its successor SS-Sturmbrigade/Division Wallonien (28th SS Panzergrenadier Division) yet seen in English. The text is supported by approximately 400 period photos, complemented by many maps and illustrations of contemporary posters and other ephemera, completing a package that will be a must-have for military historians, afficianados of rare photos, and collectors of materials on the SS.

Belgium's Dilemma

Belgium's Dilemma PDF Author: Jonathan A. Epstein
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004269738
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Get Book Here

Book Description
In Belgium’s Dilemma: The Formation of Belgian Defense Policy, 1932-1940, Jonathan Andrew Epstein presents, for the first time in English, a detailed examination of the formation of Belgian defense policy in the eight years leading up to the crucial World War II Blitzkrieg campaign in Western Europe. Belgium’s decision to renounce military ties with France in 1936 has been widely criticized as a fatal mistake but it was in fact a reasonable response to Belgium’s situation and was not a significant factor in the Allied defeat. Drawing on Belgian documents, Jonathan Andrew Epstein looks at the leaders and issues that shaped the Belgian army of 1940 and demonstrates that while mistakes were made, most of the decisions were sound.

Joining Hitler's Crusade

Joining Hitler's Crusade PDF Author: David Stahel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316510344
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 457

Get Book Here

Book Description
A ground-breaking study that looks at why European nations sent troops to take part in Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union.

Through the Day, Through the Night

Through the Day, Through the Night PDF Author: Jan Vansina
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Pres
ISBN: 0299299937
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Get Book Here

Book Description
One of twelve children in a close-knit, affluent Catholic Belgian family, Jan Vansina began life in a seemingly sheltered environment. But that cocoon was soon pierced by the escalating tensions and violence that gripped Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. In this book Vansina recalls his boyhood and youth in Antwerp, Bruges, and the Flemish countryside as the country was rocked by waves of economic depression, fascism, competing nationalisms, and the occupation of first Axis and then Allied forces. Within the vast literature on World War II, a much smaller body of work treats the everyday experiences of civilians, particularly in smaller countries drawn into the conflict. Recalling the war in Belgium from a child’s-eye perspective, Vansina describes pangs of hunger so great as to make him crave the bitter taste of cod-liver oil. He vividly remembers the shock of seeing severely wounded men on the grounds of a field hospital, the dangers of crossing fields and swimming in ponds strafed by planes, and his family’s interactions with occupying and escaping soldiers from both sides. After the war he recalls emerging numb from the cinema where he first saw the footage of the Nazi death camps, and he describes a new phase of unrest marked by looting, vigilante justice, and the country’s efforts at reunification. Vansina, a historian and anthropologist best known for his insights into oral tradition and social memory, draws on his own memories and those of his siblings to reconstruct daily life in Belgium during a tumultuous era. Best Special Interest Books, selected by the American Association of School Librarians Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the Public Library Reviewers

International Commerce

International Commerce PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Consular reports
Languages : en
Pages : 610

Get Book Here

Book Description


Mayoral Collaboration under Nazi Occupation in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, 1938-46

Mayoral Collaboration under Nazi Occupation in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, 1938-46 PDF Author: Nico Wouters
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319328417
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book explores the role of mayors in navigating the realities of living and governing under Nazi occupation. In Western Europe under Nazi occupation, mayors of villages and cities were forced into strategic cooperation with the occupier. Mayors had to provide good governance, mediate between occupier and populations, maintain personal legitimacy, and build local consensus. However, as national systems underwent authoritarian reform and collaborationists infiltrated administrations, local governments were gradually turned into instruments of Nazi control and repression. Nico Wouters uses rich new archival data to compare the realities of local government in three countries. Looking at topics such as food supply, public order and safety, forced labour, the repression of resistance, the persecution of the Jews and post-war purges, this book redefines our knowledge of collaboration, resistance and accommodation during Nazi occupation.

The Crusade of a Walloon Volunteer: August 8, 1941 - May 5, 1945

The Crusade of a Walloon Volunteer: August 8, 1941 - May 5, 1945 PDF Author: Gerry Villani
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0359438458
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Get Book Here

Book Description
Raymond was born on October 13, 1922 in Dampremy (province of Hainaut, Belgium). During the turbulent times of the occupation in Belgium he joined the "Legion Wallonie" on August 8, 1941 at the same time as his father Marcel and Rexist leader Leon Degrelle. He was initially attached to the 1st Platoon, 1st Company as a MG gunner. During his 4 years on the eastern front he participated in many major battles like, but not limited to Gromovayabalka or the "Valley of Thunder", the Caucasus and Cherkasy. Wounded several times during combat he saw many of his good friends die during these terrible battles but he would always return to the front lines since his fate was already sealed as a volunteer of the Waffen SS. He climbed up the ranks from private to officer of the Waffen SS and after his graduation as an officer in March 1945 he returned to the front and joined "Kampfgruppe Derriks." On May 5, 1945 he was captured by the Americans and later convicted for treason by the Belgian authorities.

Encyclopedia of the New Order - Special Issue - Wallonia (Part I)

Encyclopedia of the New Order - Special Issue - Wallonia (Part I) PDF Author: GrŽgory Bouysse
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0244450595
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Get Book Here

Book Description
Biographies of the 212 officers who served in the ranks of the Legion / Sturmbrigade / Division Wallonie from 1941 to 1945. The most comprehensive study to date on this topic (in English language). PS: the part 2 will include the biographies of NCO/Enlisted mens of the Legion Wallonie, and biographies of the officers of the others Walloon units in german uniform (NSKK, Garde Wallonne, RAD, SD).

Belgium and the Holocaust

Belgium and the Holocaust PDF Author: Dan Mikhman
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9789653080683
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 632

Get Book Here

Book Description
About the Holocaust in Belgium.

A European Anabasis

A European Anabasis PDF Author: Kenneth Estes
Publisher: Helion and Company
ISBN: 1912174251
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Get Book Here

Book Description
Kenneth Estes studies the 100,000 West Europeans who fought against Russia as volunteers for the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS. A retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, Estes shows tremendous knowledge of combat and writes gripping battlefield prose. Two-thirds of the West European volunteers came from Spain and the Netherlands, yet Estes demonstrates wide range and covers Flemish, Walloon, French, Danish, and Norwegian combat units. Avoiding over-generalization, the author distinguishes carefully among the Danes and Flemings who fought competently with the SS-Wiking Division and later with Nordland, the courageous but poorly-armed Spanish, the ill-trained Dutch and French in Landstorm Nederland and SS-Charlemagne, and the Norwegians who after a first wave of enthusiasm held back altogether. Estes pulverizes the Nazi propaganda notion of a multinational European army defending 'Western civilization' against 'Bolshevism'. He shows that West Europeans, mainly of the urban working classes, volunteered from a mix of motives -adventure-seeking, ideology, hopes of personal advantage or material gain, a desire for better food, or a wish to escape a criminal record at home. He demonstrates that the best-performing foreign legions were trained and led by German officers and formed parts of larger SS units, and also that the Wehrmacht placed little value on foreign formations until its other manpower reserves ran out in 1944-45. This is a landmark work on a subject, which has been much written about, but rarely understood or described as perceptively as in the pages of this book.