August Borms (14 April 1878 – 12 April 1946) was a

Flemish nationalist The Flemish Movement (, ) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to promote Flemish cultu ...

politician active in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

during the first half of the twentieth century. He belonged to the

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

of the

Flemish movement The Flemish Movement (, ) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgium, Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to promote Flemis ...

. Borms collaborated with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

during both the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

s and was sentenced to death at the end of each conflict. He was not however executed until 1946, having had his sentence quashed the first time.

First World War

Borms was a prominent figure in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

and served as a professor at the Royal Lycee in the city. He was part of a Flemish delegation to

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in 1917 that sought to work with the Germans and was instrumental in the establishment of the ''Raad van Vlaanderen'', a provisional assembly body that ratified collaboration with Germany by asking them to oversee the separation of Flemish government apparatus from that of Belgium. In 1918 this body declared the independence of

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

with Borms as the leader of the new government. Although he collaborated closely with Germany, Borms did not support unity with that country, insisting that he was working with the Germans only to facilitate the establishment of a fully independent Flanders that would nonetheless be allied to Germany.

Inter-war activity

Borms was initially sentenced to death for his collaboration with the Germans. After an intervention from a sympathetic cleric attached to the German Foreign Ministry,

Papal nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is a ...

Eugenio Pacelli Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

(who later became

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as Pius XII) intervened in support of Borms, writing a letter to the Belgian authorities that presented the Flemish leader as an idealist and argued that his frequent visits to Germany during the war had been to see Flemish prisoners rather than to discuss collaboration. He added that Borms was a staunch

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

who had never attacked the church, something that should be taken into account by an avowedly Catholic country like Belgium. As a result of this and other campaigns his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. August Borms

Despite his imprisonment Borms continued to be active in Flemish politics and was instrumental in establishing the Front Movement and ''

Frontpartij The ''Frontpartij'' (, "Front Party") was a Belgian political party that campaigned for increasing recognition for the Flemish people and their language. Originating from the earlier ''Frontbeweging'' (, "Front Movement"), the ''Frontpartij'' wa ...

''. Along with his close ally Cyriel Verschaeve he was the leader of a tendency within this group that saw future collaboration with Germany as the best way to fulfil Flemish ambitions. By 1926 Borms had been offered an early release from prison but he refused to accept it, as it included a clause barring him from political activity, and instead campaigned from jail for a general amnesty for prisoners held because of nationalist activism. From his prison cell Borms won a by-election in Antwerp, defeating the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

candidate in a vote that was boycotted by both the Catholic Party and the

Belgian Labour Party The Belgian Labour Party (, , BWP; , , POB) was the first major Socialism, socialist party in Belgium. Founded in 1885, the party achieved its first electoral breakthrough in the aftermath of World War I. It was officially disbanded after the Ger ...

. The margin of his victory in the election, which was held on 9 December 1928, caused a stir as he won 83,053 votes to 44,410 for the Liberals' Paul Baelde and 58,052 spoiled ballots (as the Catholics and Labour had told their supporters to do). Baelde took the seat however as Borms' conviction de barred him from parliament. Nonetheless, on the back of this performance the ''Frontpartij'' enjoyed significant gains in the general election the following year. Borms was released from prison the same year.

Second World War

He was once again involved in collaboration during the German occupation of Belgium. The

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

military governor

Alexander von Falkenhausen Alexander Ernst Alfred Hermann Freiherr von Falkenhausen (29 October 187831 July 1966) was a German general and military advisor to Chiang Kai-shek. He was an important figure during the Sino-German cooperation to reform the Chinese army. In ...

established a "Reparations Committee" to investigate alleged atrocities against First World War collaborators by the Belgian government and distribute compensation to them. Falkenhausen appointed Borms to chair this body and, after fourteen months of investigations, the body distributed some six million francs to the supposed victims, including a sizeable sum to Borms himself. In 1943 he toured Germany and Central-Europe with his wife, visiting among others a forced labour camp in Berlin and Auschwitz. After the war Borms was sentenced to death a second time for collaboration although this time he was to receive no clemency and was executed by firing squad in 1946.Littlejohn, ''The Patriotic Traitors'', p. 183

References

External links

* Christine Van Everbroeck
Borms, August
in

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borms, August 1878 births 1946 deaths 20th-century Belgian criminals Belgian Roman Catholics Belgian collaborators with Imperial Germany Executed Belgian collaborators with Nazi Germany Flemish activists Flemish politicians People executed by Belgium by firing squad People from Sint-Niklaas Political controversies in Belgium