Wiesenthal Centre Calls on European Parliament to Condemn Flemish Parliament Honours to Nazi Collaborators

January 18, 2021

Paris – In a letter to European Parliament President, David Maria Sassoli and twenty Belgian Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), the Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, drew attention to “the outrageous posthumous recognition of two Flemish World War II Nazi collaborators, for their role in ‘shaping the emancipation of the Flemish language' (sic), to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Flemish Parliamentary journal.”

- August Borms was, indeed, a Flemish nationalist, but a Nazi sympathizer who sought refuge in Berlin towards the end of the war. He was executed by a firing squad in 1946 for his collaboration crimes.

 

- Staf De Clercq welcomed the Nazi occupation and headed the round-up squads for the identification and deportation of Jews to Auschwitz. Over 24,000 Belgian and foreign Jewish fugitives were sent through Mechelen/Malines to the death camps.

 

The Centre argued that, “this glorification of Nazi collaborationists can only:

- serve the narrative of populist political parties in future elections;

- boost the recruitment of frustrated youth into extremist ranks;

- spawn the nostalgic celebration of other Nazi war criminals;

- contribute to the growing trade in Nazi memorabilia;

- support the banalization and denial of the Holocaust... and above all,

- spur hatred and violence against live Jews, as well as cemetery desecrations of their dead.” 

 

“We call on the European Parliament and the Belgian MEPs to take measures to disinfect society from this dangerous and recurring disease,” concluded Samuels.

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The letter was shared with the following Belgian MEPs:

Flemish-speaking college:

Geert Bourgeois, Assita Kanko and Johan Van Overtveldt - New Flemish Alliance (N-VA)

Gerolf Annemans, Filip De Man and Tom Vandendriessche - Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang)

Guy Verhofstadt and Hilde Vautmans - Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD)

Cindy Franssen - Christian Democratic and Flemish list (CD&V)

Kathleen Van Brempt - Socialist Party & Different list (SPA)

Sara Matthieu - Green Party (Groen)

French-speaking college:

Marie Arena and Marc Tarabella - Socialist Party (PS)

Philippe Lamberts and Saskia Bricmont - Green Party (ECOLO)

Olivier Chastel and Frédérique Ries - Reformist Movement (MR)

Marc Botenga - Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB)

Benoît Lutgen - Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH)

German-speaking college:

Pascal Arimont - Christian Social Party (CSP)

For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, follow the Center on Facebook, or @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).