~FLANDERS~
FLEMISH NATIONALIST POLITICAL PARTIES
Grateful acknowledgement is made to Mr. Thomas Vanhassel for his kind assistance with this section of Axis Biographical Research.
de CLERCQ, Gustave "Staf"
(1886 -1942)
Algemeen Leider (General Leader):
Born: 1886.
Died: 22. Oct. 1942.
Career:
Leider (leader; later "Algemeen Leider" or General Leader) of the Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond (V.N.V. / Flemish National Union): Oct. 1933 - 22. Oct. 1942
Schoolteacher.
ELIAS, Dr. jur. Dr. phil. Hendrik
(1902-1973)
Algemeen Leider (General Leader):
Born: 1902 in Brabant / Flanders.
Died: 1973 (heart attack).
Career:
Algemeen Leider, V.N.V.: 21.12.42 - 1944 (or '45).
Burgomaster of Ghent: Jan. 1941 - ____
Graduate of Universities of Bonn, Louvain, and Paris.
Joined V.N.V.: 1933
Arrest and Prosecution:
Arrested on 27.5.45 by French troops, but was already sentenced to death in absentia by a Belgian court in 1944. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment; he was released in 1959 because of health problems.
Notes:
* Did at first not wish to collaborate in any form. Halted all collaboration with the SS on 14. Aug. 1943, thereby stopping the
active recuitment of Waffen-SS volunteers through the V.N.V.-party. Fled to Germany during the Allied drive into Belgium, but refused to
collaborate any longer.
CLAESSENS, Jetje
(-)
Born:
Died:
Career:
Leader of the Girls section of the Nationaal-Socialistische Jeugd Verbond (N.S.J.V. / National-Socialist Youth Union):.
Leader of the Girls section of Jong-Dinaso (Youth Movement of Dinaso): 193_ -
LEHEMBRE, Dr. Edgar
(-)
Jeugdleider
Born:
Died:
Career:
Leader of the Nationaal-Socialistische Jeugd Verbond (N.S.J.V. / National-Socialist Youth Union; only youth movement permitted in Flanders after May 1942): ____ - Aug. 1943 (dismissed by V.N.V. leader Dr. Elias when Lehembre expressed his inability to cooperate with the German Hitler-Jugend).
Leader of Jong-Dinaso (youth movement of the Verbond van Dietsche Nationaal-Solidaristen [Dinaso]): 193_ -
MAR�CHAL, Madame Odile
Born:
Died:
Career:
Leader of the Vlaamsch Nationale Vrouwen Verbond (V.N.V.V. / Women's Section of the V.N.V.):.
Member of the Belgian Senate (the second woman to achieve that status): (pre-World War II)
Van SEVEREN, Joris
(1894 - 1940)
Born: 1894 in West Flanders.
Killed: 20. May 1940 (shot without trial by French soldiers at Abbeville, northern France, along with 22 other suspected "fifth columnists"; had been turned over to French custody by the Belgian Surete de l'Etat [secret police])
Career:
Leader of the Verbond van Dietsche Nationaal-Solidaristen (abbreviated to "Verdinaso or "Dinaso" / Union of Netherlandisch National Solidarity): Oct. 1931 - 1940.
Deputy in the Belgian Parliament: 1921 - 1929
Officer of the Belgian Army:.
Lawyer.
Notes:
STEENLANDT, Joris van
( - )
Commandant Generaal (D.M.):
Career::
Chief of the Dietsche Militie (D.M.; uniformed militia of
the V.N.V.). Successor to Reimond Tollenaere after
Tollenaere's death in Russia on 22. Jan. 1942.
Van THILLO, Ren�
(-)
Born:
Died:
Career:
Leader of the Vrijwillige Arbeidsdienst voor Vlaanderen (V.A.V.V. / Volunteer Labor Service for Flanders): 1940 -
High-ranking official of the V.N.V.:
TOLLENAERE, Dr. Reimond
(1909 - 1942)
SS-Untersturmf�hrer
Born: 29. June 1909 in Oostakker / Flanders.
Killed in Action: 22. January 1942 at Koptsy near Leningrad (accidentally killed by an artillery barrage from the 250.(Spanish)Infanterie-Division of the German Army during an inspection of the Flemish Legion's forward lines; buried at Podbyeryezhve, Russia).
Promotions:
SS-Untersturmf�hrer: September 1941
Career:
Assigned to 2.Kompanie / Legion Flandern: end of September 1941 - 22. January 1942.
Officer training at Lauenberg / Pommern: August 1941 - end of September 1941.
Volunteered for Waffen-SS service: 17. July 1941.
Arrested by the Belgian authorities: 10. May 1940; liberated by German troops: 21. June 1940.
First chief of the Dietsche Militie (D.M.; uniformed militia of the V.N.V, which included the elite D.M.-Z.B. [Dietsche Militie - Zwarte Brigade / Black Brigade]): ____ - 22. January 1942 (succeeded by Joris van Steenlandt)
Elected people's representant: 1936.
Algemeen Propagandaleider (general propaganda leader) of the V.N.V.: 1933.
In Germany: 1931 - 1932.
Studied law at the R.U.G. (University of Ghent): 1928 - 1934.
Decorations & Awards:
Notes:
* Following his death, Reimond Tollenaere's younger brother, Leo, volunteered to served in the Flemish Legion of the Waffen-SS.
* Married with three children.
* Staunch anti-communuist - devoted National-Socialist, expressed strong hatred for the Belgian state.
* The Z.B. [Zwarte Brigade - Black Brigade] was founded in 1933 by the
V.N.V. to secure party rallies.
Van de Wiele, Jef
(-)
Born:
Died:
Career:
Founder and leader of the "Duitschen-Vlaamsche Arbeidsgemeenschap" (Devlag / German-Flemish Working Community): 1935 -
Notes:
* Fanatical National-Socialist and admirer of Adolf Hitler.
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