Le Nouveau Journal

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Le Nouveau Journal - vendredi 15 août 1941 - édition ** - page 1.jpg

Le Nouveau Journal was a Belgian daily newspaper with an editorial office in Brussels , which was founded on a German initiative during the German occupation of Belgium in World War II . Although the will to cooperate with Germany was already emphasized in the editorial of the first edition, after a while, due to the approval of Greater Germanic plans by the management, there was first a break between the editor-in-chief and the managing director and then between the majority of the editorial team and the new managing director. With the end of the German occupation came the end of the newspaper.

history

The newspaper was founded by the journalist Paul Colin , who was one of the initiators of a pro-German manifesto at the beginning of the Second World War and who had to spend the summer of 1940 in a French internment camp. Colin came back in August of that year and originally wanted to place the newspapers Le Soir and the Antwerp Matin , which had suspended its publication, under his surveillance. However, Le Matin was affected by the fact that French-language newspapers were no longer allowed to appear in Flanders ; moving to Brussels was out of the question, so this newspaper never appeared again. Since La Nation Belge also disappeared on October 1, 1940, a loophole arose in Brussels, whereupon the propaganda department of the military administration decided to found a new newspaper and entrusted Colin with it.

Editoria was to serve as the publishing house , where before the war Colin was both chairman of the board of directors and director of the pre-war paper Cassandre , which appeared there weekly and dealt with art, literature and politics . Due to the bad financial situation Colin was forced to find sponsors for the new paper. Two Belgian financiers could finally be won, whose identity could not be clarified after the war despite a lawsuit and all kinds of speculations (Colin was to be violently killed before the end of the war). Originally the printing house of Nation Belge had been selected for the new newspaper, but this was not allowed to be used, so an alternative solution was used. Robert Poulet , brother of Georges Poulet , was appointed editor-in-chief ; Colin occupied the rest of the editorial team mainly with intellectuals who, like himself, had signed the pro-German manifesto. In the editorial of the first issue, Poulet emphasized the need for cooperation with the German occupiers. On December 28th, Cassandre also resumed its publication. The majority of the editors of the Nouveau Journal also worked on this newspaper, only the editorial secretary worked there full-time.

In early 1943 there was a major upheaval when Poulet left the newspaper. Colin had excerpts from Léon Degrelle's speech printed, but Poulet disagreed with Degrelle's Greater Germanic theories and wrote three articles in which he rejected Degrelle's ideas. However, this did not come from the previous German censorship, so Poulet drew the consequences from it. Colin's attempt to defuse the situation through a banquet with Chicken and Degrelle failed when a drunk Colin uttered another hymn of praise to Degrelle, whereupon Poulet left the hall in a mad rage. However, according to Paul Struye, author of a work on the development of public sentiment during the occupation, Poulet's departure was seen not as an act of resistance but as an excuse to leave the paper.

After there had already been an unsuccessful attack on him in January 1942, Colin was killed in another assassination attempt on April 8, 1943. The assassination met with a great response from the population, whom Colin hated by the majority, as well as excitement among collaborating journalists - Colin was respected in the press for his ability. Some editors tried to persuade Colin's widow to bring Poulet back as editor-in-chief, but Poulet refused. After it became clear that Colin's successor Herten shared his stance, nine key editors left the Nouveau Journal . Chicken was not replaced as Herten decided to run the newspaper alone.

The average circulation of the Nouveau Journal was 50,000 copies, with a slight decrease since 1943. Le Soir sold significantly more copies, but was also more dependent on the free sale, while the Nouveau Journal was largely based on subscriptions . In contrast to other newspapers, an exception was made for the Nouveau Journal , Volk en Staat and Le Pays Réel when the circulation was forcibly reduced in October 1942 because of paper rationing. The profit made by the Nouveau Journal and Cassandre was already considerable in 1941, but was concealed by Colin's instructions to the accountant from the board of directors, who were only shown a fraction. Colin paid off all the shareholders in December 1941 and became the sole owner of the publishing house, which passed to his widow after his death.

Because of his sympathy for Rexism and because of the sometimes radical character of Colin's articles, the Nouveau Journal was in a certain sense more pro-German than Le Soir . However, the initial proximity to Rex changed to a greater distance after Léon Degrelle's commitment to Hitler in January 1941. After the differences had been settled for the time being, the relationship cooled down again when Degrelle Rex declared the unity of the French-speaking Belgians. Poulet and the editor-in-chief of Le Soir Raymond De Becker had also had such plans for a unity movement, and the former was now hostile to Rex. Colin then called for a "journalistic truce" between Poulet and Rex. According to Poulet, the dispute was settled after Germany's attack on the Soviet Union, when Rex and the newspaper supported the Walloon Volunteer Legion. But only Colin and a few fellow travelers supported Rex. The rest of the editorial team was “Belgianist”, that is, they rejected the annexation of Belgium and stuck to a unified Belgium, which brought them into conflict with both the Rexist and the Flemish nationalist press; In Flemish circles, the newspaper was accused that behind the Belgian mask was the desire to continue Wallonia's long-standing supremacy over Flanders.

In terms of content, the directives of the propaganda department were clearly reflected, so that the synchronization of the Belgian newspapers could also be seen in the Nouveau Journal (propaganda for the labor service, the Todt organization , the Waffen SS and the National Socialist “rescuers” as well as against the London government in exile , the Allies, clericals, Jews , Freemasons and especially after Colin's death against the resistance). Despite one or the other reprimand, the relationship with the propaganda department was generally good, as the newspaper proved to be by and large obedient. Not once was a fine, let alone a short-term ban on appearance. The newspaper was able to stand out with its high-quality cultural sections and especially with its six special editions on a specific topic, which were characterized by excellent specialist knowledge.

The newspaper was the subject of an experiment in which the preliminary censorship for the newspaper was abolished on an experimental basis on October 1, 1940; it was hoped that this would give the press a livelier and more individual design and make work easier for the censors - the journalists would, it was thought, already voluntarily submit to the guidelines. The experiment did not go as hoped, however, as the journalists turned out to be too headstrong, so that on October 10th the pre-censorship for all newspapers was abolished and replaced by guidelines with a system of sanctions, important political reports as well as photos and drawings had to be submitted beforehand.

On September 1, 1944, when it became foreseeable that the liberation of Brussels was imminent, the newspaper was shut down.

literature

Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerp / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 ( online , PDF ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerpen / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , p. 349.
  2. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerp / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , pp. 349–351, 354 (publication frequency and direction of Cassandre ) and 355 (origin of most editors).
  3. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerpen / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , p. 356, footnote 123.
  4. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerpen / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , p. 357.
  5. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerp / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , pp. 357-358.
  6. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerpen / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , p. 359.
  7. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerpen / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , p. 110, footnote 98.
  8. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerpen / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , p. 355.
  9. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerp / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , pp. 359-360.
  10. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerp / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , pp. 360–362.
  11. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerpen / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , p. 118.
  12. ↑ Els de Bens: De Belgische dagbladpers onder Duitse censuur (1940-1944) . De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerpen / Utrecht 1973, ISBN 90-289-9883-7 , p. 143.