Committee of General Secretaries

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The Committee of Secretaries General was set up by Belgian Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot.

The Committee of General Secretaries ( French: Comité des Sécretaires-généraux , nld. Comité van de secretarissen-generaal ) was an administrative body set up in German-occupied Belgium during the Second World War . The committee consisted of the senior civilian employees ("General Secretaries") of the most important Belgian government ministries and formed one of the most important parts of the German occupation administration from 1940 to 1944. It was part of the "Politics of the Lesser Evil" ( " Moindre-mal " ) which was understood to mean limited economic and political cooperation with the German occupying power to protect Belgian interests.

background

The committee was set up by the Belgian government under Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot on May 16, 1940. It was supposed to ensure that, even in the absence of an official Belgian government, the administrative management of the Belgian state would not collapse. While most of the ministers fled to Bordeaux in France , the general secretaries were given the task of remaining in the country with all other civilian employees and ensuring a continued functioning administration.

During the German occupation of Belgium in World War I , many Belgians had refused to cooperate with the German occupation authorities in a form of passive resistance . This led to massive repression against the population, as the Germans tried to force a certain collaboration with violence.

The committee hoped to be able to avoid close cooperation with the occupiers during the Second World War, but also to maintain a certain degree of autonomy and national independence. In addition, it hoped to prevent the German authorities from introducing radical measures such as forced labor and deportations.

Position within the German occupation administration

After the Belgian surrender on May 28, 1940, the Germans formed the military administration in Belgium and northern France under the leadership of General Alexander von Falkenhausen . A department of the military administration called the Military Administration Staff under the command of Eggert Reeder was responsible for day-to-day politics and civil administrative tasks. The military administrative staff had the authority to make demands of the secretaries general who had to carry them out.

General Secretaries

The original committee consisted of five general secretaries and was set up after the government fled in May 1940. In August of that year, it was expanded to include five more general secretaries representing other ministries. In early 1941 there was a restructuring of the committee, which was replaced by the many secretaries general. The purpose of the restructuring was to fill the committee with more Germany-friendly people like Gérard Romsée , who was a member of the pro-German party Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (Flemish National Association, VNV).

The original committee consisted of Alexandre Delmer as President and Public Relations Officer, Jean Vossen for Internal Affairs, Marcel Nyns for Education, Oscar Plisnier for Finance and Charles Verwilghen for Labor and Social Affairs. Verwilghen was released from his post in March 1942. In August 1940, the committee was expanded to include Ernst de Bunswyck for Justice, Emile de Winter for Agriculture, Victor Leemans for Economics, A. Castau for Transport, Post, Telegraph and Telephone and E. de Jonghe as the person responsible for the colonies. After the restructuring in early 1941, Gérard Romsée occupied the post for internal affairs, Gaston Schuind for justice, A. de Cock was responsible for public relations, G. Claeys for transport and M. van Hecke for the colonies. Schuind was fired in September 1943, while the rest remained in office until the military administration was dissolved in 1944.

criticism

Despite its best efforts, the committee was identified as being responsible for an ease with which the Germans could establish their occupation. It was not able to prevent the deportation of forced labor to the German Reich or the Holocaust in Belgium. It was only able to partially prevent such measures until October 1942. The efforts of the committee to take over administrative tasks from the occupation authorities meant that they could fall back on an established administration for their purposes and thus shape and exploit the country more effectively according to their ideas.

The Belgian government-in-exile in London strongly criticized the committee for supporting the occupiers. After the war ended, several general secretaries were charged with collaborating with the enemy. Most were acquitted after initial questioning. Only Schuind and Romsée were sentenced to five and twenty years in prison, respectively.

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Mark van den Wijngaert and Vincent Dujardin: La Belgique sans Roi, 1940–1950. 2006, pp. 19-20.
  2. ↑ a b c d e José Gotovitch and Paul Aron (eds.): Dictionnaire de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale en Belgique. 2008, p. 408.
  3. ↑ a b ark van den Wijngaert and Vincent Dujardin: La Belgique sans Roi, 1940–1950. 2006, pp. 20-26.
  4. ↑ Jay Howard Geller: The Role of Military Administration in German-occupied Belgium, 1940-1944. 1999, p. 99.
  5. ↑ a b José Gotovitch and Paul Aron (ed.): Dictionnaire de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale de Belgique. 2008, p. 409.
  6. ↑ a b c José Gotovitch and Paul Aron (eds.): Dictionnaire de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale en Belgique. 2008, p. 410.
  7. ↑ a b José Gotovitch and Paul Aron (ed.): Dictionnaire de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale de Belgique. 2008, pp. 412-413.
  8. ↑ Thierry Grosbois: Pierlot, 1930–1950. 2007, pp. 271-272.

literature

  • Jay Howard Geller: The Role of Military Administration in German-occupied Belgium, 1940-1944. In: The Journal of Military History. No. 63, January 1999, ISSN  1543-7795 , OCLC 37032245 .
  • José Gotovitch and Paul Aron (eds.): Dictionnaire de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale en Belgique. André Versaille, Brussels 2008, ISBN 978-2-87495-001-8 , OCLC 213376392 .
  • Thierry Grosbois: Pierlot, 1930–1950. Racine, Brussels 2007, ISBN 2-87386-485-0 , OCLC 187418295 .
  • Mark van den Wijngaert and Vincent Dujardin: La Belgique sans Roi, 1940-1950 ( Nouvelle Historie de Belgique, 1905-1950. Volume 2). Ed. Complexe, Brussels 2006, ISBN 2-8048-0078-4 , OCLC 492090334 .