Jef François
Jef François | |
|---|---|
| Born | Josephus Alphonsus Marie François 22 May 1901 |
| Died | 1996 (aged 94–95) |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Occupation | Politician |
Josephus Alphonsus Marie François(22 May 1901 – 1996) was aBelgianFlemishfar rightpolitician andNazi collaborator.
Political career
[edit]A native ofGhent,he first came to politics as a member of theFrontpartij,along with the likes ofWard HermansandJoris Van Severen.[1]In 1931 he joined the likes of Van Severen andWies Moensin launchingVerdinaso(The Verdinaso (Verbond der Dietse Nationaal-Solidaristen – Union of Diets National Solidarists) was an authoritarian and fascist-inspired political party in Belgium and the Netherlands during the 1930s), and was installed as deputy leader of the group the following year and head of the militia in 1937.[1]François succeeded Van Severen as leader of Verdinaso after Van Severen's murder in the 1940 massacre in Abbeville, taking the movement in a new, pro-Nazi Germanydirection and merging them into theFlemish National Union.[1]He commanded the militia group,Dietsche Militie,of this combined organisation.[1]
François enrolled in theSchutzstaffel(SS), in August 1941 and for a time he was the leader of theFlemish SS.[2]Seeing action on theEastern Front,he rose to the rank ofObersturmführer(First Lieutenant) in the27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck.[1]After the war he was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he was released in 1952.[1]After the war he organised an SS veterans group and was involved on the fringes of theVlaamse Militanten Orde(a Flemish nationalist activist group in Belgium defending far-right interests by propaganda and political action).[1]
References
[edit]- ^abcdefgPhilip Rees,Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890,1990, p. 134
- ^David Littlejohn,The Patriotic Traitors,London: Heinemann, 1972, p. 155