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The Flemish Legion (Dutch: Vlaams Legioen, pronounced [ˈvlaːms leːɣiˈjun]) was a collaborationist military formation recruited among Dutch-speaking volunteers from German-occupied Belgium, notably from Flanders, during World War II.
These units were all commanded by General Ernst August Köstring (1876−1953). [9] A lower estimate for the total number of foreign volunteers that served in the entire German armed forces (including the Waffen SS) is 350,000. [10] These units were often under the command of German officers and some published their own propaganda newssheets.
Gradually, more prisoners were released, but around 64,000 Belgian soldiers were still in captivity by 1945, of whom just 2,000 were Flemish. [6] According to estimates compiled for the Nuremberg Trials , 53,000 were still incarcerated in 1945 at the end of the war, [ 11 ] but there could have been as many as 70,000 according to some estimates ...
During World War I several Flemish soldiers were punished for their active or passive involvement in the Flemish Movement. Ten of these soldiers were sent to a penal military unit in 1918 called the Special Forestry Platoon in Orne, Normandy, France. They were forced to work as woodchoppers in hard living conditions until several months after ...
The Flemish Guard (Dutch: Vlaamsche Wacht) was a collaborationist paramilitary formation which served as an auxiliary police in parts of German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It was founded as an independent formation in May 1941 at the initiative of the Union of Flemish Veterans [ nl ] ( Verbond van Vlaamsche Oudstrijders , VOS) and the ...
Nevertheless, many Flemish people were also involved in the resistance, joining local organizations like the Kempische Legioen (KL) in Limburg, and support from Flemish resistance members of the Witte Brigade and the Nationale Koninklijke Beweging (NKB) allowed the Allied armies to capture the vital port of Antwerp intact in 1944.
Flemish people also emigrated at the end of the fifteenth century, when Flemish traders conducted intensive trade with Spain and Portugal, and from there moved to colonies in America and Africa. [28] The newly discovered Azores were populated by 2,000 Flemish people from 1460 onwards, making these volcanic islands known as the "Flemish Islands".
Its origins were in the long-established Frontpartij, a moderate Flemish patriotic party which was taken over by Staf Declercq and moved to the right in 1932. [8] From the start, the VNV was authoritarian and anti-democratic, being influenced by fascist ideas from elsewhere in Europe. [9] However, it initially included both moderate and radical ...