Faux Soir
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The "''Faux Soir''" (, ) was a spoof issue of the newspaper ''
Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, ) is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Émile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. Together with '' La Libre Belgique'', it is one of the most popular Francophone newsp ...
'' published in German-occupied Belgium on 9 November 1943. It was produced by the
Front de l'Indépendance The Independent Front (, , FI; , , OF) was a left-wing faction of the Belgian Resistance in German-occupied Belgium in World War II. It was founded in March 1941 by Dr Albert Marteaux of the Communist Party of Belgium, Father André Roland, a ...
, a faction in the
Belgian Resistance The Belgian Resistance (, ) collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Belgium, resistance was fragmented between many ...
, in a satirical style that ridiculed the propaganda put out through German-controlled media like ''Le Soir''. Though it resulted in significant repression, the ''Faux Soirs embodiment of '' zwanze'', the characteristic folk humour of
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, made it an enduring symbol of the Resistance. The incident was the centerpiece for the 1954 film, '' Un Soir de Joie''.


Background

The Belgian newspaper ''Le Soir'' had ceased to appear on 18 May 1940, a few days after the German invasion of Belgium. It was relaunched by
collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to the 19th ...
journalists such as Horace Van Offel and Raymond De Becker with the acceptance of the German occupier. The most famous author to publish in ''Le Soir'' during this time was doubtlessly
Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé ( ; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of T ...
with ''
The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' ( ) is a series of 24 comic albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. By 2007, a c ...
'' comic ''
The Shooting Star ''The Shooting Star'' () is the tenth volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story was serialised daily in , Belgium's leading francophone newspaper, from October 1941 to May 1942 amidst th ...
'' (''L'étoile mystérieuse''), featuring his famous character
Tintin Tintin usually refers to: * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), the protagonist and titular character of the series Tintin or Tin Tin may also refer to: Material related to ''The A ...
. The paper's
propagandist Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
transformation led to its nickname ''Soir volé'' ("the stolen ''Le Soir''"). Nonetheless it maintained a comfortable circulation of 300,000 (compared with just over 90,000 as of 2009 for the modern ''Soir''). The
Front de l'Indépendance The Independent Front (, , FI; , , OF) was a left-wing faction of the Belgian Resistance in German-occupied Belgium in World War II. It was founded in March 1941 by Dr Albert Marteaux of the Communist Party of Belgium, Father André Roland, a ...
(FI) was a Belgian resistance movement founded in March 1941 by Dr. Albert Marteaux (a
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
), Father André Roland, a
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 ...
priest, and Fernand Demany, with the aim of uniting Belgian resistance fighters of various opinions and stances. By the end of the war the FI national committee would include representation from a large number of resistance organisations such as the '' Armée belge des partisans'' (PA), the '' Milices Patriotiques'' (MP) (Patriotic Militias), ''Wallonie indépendante'' (Independent Wallonia), the ''Rassemblement national de la jeunesse'' (National Rally of Youth) and the country's main parties and trade unions. Through these various organisations, the FI ran sabotage operations, escape routes, a false document service, and circulated 250 different underground publications.


The ''Faux Soir'' project

The idea for ''Faux Soir'' came to Marc Aubrion on 19 October 1943 while he was editing an article planned for 11 November. The following day he shared his idea with René Noël, head of the press department of the FI in Brabant and Hainaut. The idea was to publish and distribute a fake issue of ''Le Soir'' on 11 November, which would be the 25th anniversary of the German defeat in World War I. Noël was enthusiastic about the idea, and along with Aubrion, he quickly put in place the steps which would allow such a significant operation to be carried out within 21 days. The publication date was fixed for November 9. The 10th was a Wednesday, the day when ''Le Soir'' would be published on four pages. The difficulty of printing a single page seemed enough, and the release of ''Faux Soir'' was put forward by a day. Problems abounded. Firstly, Aubrion and Noël rapidly realised that the project would go well beyond their initial estimate of a few hundred copies. They decided to limit the circulation to 100 copies per newsagent or kiosk, adding a banner to each pack of newspapers which explained that the small number of copies was due to a breakdown of ''Le Soirs machinery. Nonetheless even this limited distribution demanded a print run of 50,000 copies, assuming 500 kiosks to give Brussels reasonable coverage. Added to the difficulty of printing the fake newspaper, which in particular presupposed obtaining almost non-existent large-format paper and using printing machinery which was all under surveillance, the paper would have to be distributed under the very nose of the occupier as well as short-circuiting the normal distribution channels of the real ''Le Soir''. Noël set out to find financial support. He quickly obtained it thanks to Andrée Grandjean ("Françoise"), a lawyer at the Court of Appeal and a key figure in publishing the clandestine newspaper ''Justice libre au Palais''. She enlisted the help of businessman Alfred Fourcroy, who was also in charge of an escape network for allied pilots. 50,000 Belgian francs were advanced to cover printing costs.


The operation

Although the initial idea was to make ''Faux Soir'' a counter-propaganda pamphlet, it rapidly evolved into a parody. ''Faux Soir'' was to become a full expression of Brussels' ''zwanze'' humour, aiming to amuse Brussels, Belgium, and all European resistance sympathisers. While the articles were being written and edited, the practical problems were surmounted at a speed which can only be explained by the level of enthusiasm created by the project. Through Théo Mullier, a member of the FI who worked for ''Le Soir'', the resistance gained access to a printing template with the paper's title letterhead, and to a list of bookstores directly served by the newspaper with the time of day and size of each delivery. Pierre Ballancourt, a
linotypist The Linotype machine ( ) is a "line casting" machine used in printing which is manufactured and sold by the former Mergenthaler Linotype Company and related It was a hot metal typesetting system that cast lines of metal type for one-time use. Li ...
who published newspapers and tracts for the FI, put Aubrion in contact with his former employer, Ferdinand Wellens, a printer who would put his presses at the FI's disposal. As luck had it, Wellens was also a resistance sympathiser who already published for the FI. Wellens provided the use not only of the necessary paper, his workshops and linotypists, but also his presses, all for the price of one
franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...
per copy. At this point the 5,000 copies were no longer a dream; it was decided to print 50,000, of which 5,000 would be distributed using standard routes. The others would be sold underground for 10 francs each with proceeds going towards financing the FI. The most tricky part was to ensure the circulation. One of the reasons that ''Le Soir'' was chosen was the fact that the paper was distributed in the afternoon at about 4 pm. Often, employees and workmen would have left work and be lining up outside the kiosks at the moment when the ''Le Soir'' was delivered; this situation was ideal for making quick sales of ''Faux Soir''. The FI's knowledge of distribution times permitted it to drop the 100 copies at about the right time. To allow all the copies to be sold, various plans were made for delaying the distribution of the real ''Le Soir''. The British were asked to fly over Brussels on the afternoon of the 9th, which would trigger an air raid warning and delay the printing of ''Le Soir''. This would have the additional effect of emphasising the support that the FI received from the British. However, the British did not reply to the request. This led to a plan for sabotaging ''Le Soir''s delivery vans. By 27 October, the ingredients of the false publication had been assembled: the title flan, the articles, the photos, even the cartoon, announcements and the
obituaries An obituary (obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Acco ...
, which were all written by enthusiastic participants. On the weekend of 30 October to 1 November, the paper was put together in Wellens' workshop. Wellens' linotypist, Julien Oorlinckx, worked throughout the weekend. The following week, the van sabotages were organised: at 3:30pm, a few young partisans would throw incendiary devices into the vans parked in front of the ''Le Soir'' buildings. Théo Mullier would arrange to confuse the
firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...
, and these measures together would delay the distribution of ''Le Soir'' enough for the operation. On 6 and 7 November the paper was printed by Wellens' machinery. The copies were carefully cropped to remove indentations which could act as a
fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...
to trace the copies back to their machine of origin. The printing went on through the night of Sunday, and finished at about 3 am on Monday 8 November.


The final straight, and the circulation

On 8 November, the 5,000 copies set for direct distribution were issued at three distribution centres in Brussels based at cafés. Tens of volunteers left at set times to deliver their 100 copies to kiosks. However the news was not good. London had not responded to the request for overflight, and no-one had managed to contact the partisans who were to organize sabotage of the vans. A second sabotage was improvised, involving some youths who were participating in the distribution. On 9 November at about 3:30pm, some youths tried to set fire to the vans. However a passer-by gave the alert, and the sabotage was foiled. At 4pm, the distribution of ''Faux Soir'' began. The bundles of 100 papers, tied with a banner explaining the absence of the usual number of copies, were dropped in the kiosks where the people of Brussels were awaiting their newspaper. The issues sold quickly without event. The customers went away, some of them starting to read their papers and stopping suddenly; glancing quickly around them, they folded their papers and retreated, astonished and eager to read the rest. In certain trams, to the great joy but also concern of the passengers, bemused readers loudly declaimed extracts from the paper. Everyone rushed to acquire a copy, as the deliveries of the real ''Le Soir'' arrived at the kiosk to the complete disbelief of the salesmen. Certain outlets were spooked, and stopped selling ''Faux Soir''. Others offered their buyers a choice between the real and the fake one.


Aftermath

The following day, the 10 November, the British
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
, a day late, performed the raid requested by Brussels. In the days which followed, the ''Faux Soir'' gave great joy throughout Belgium. The 45,000 copies printed by the FI "for sale" sold quickly. Some copies went for as much as 1,500 or 2,500 francs. 10,000 copies were distributed throughout Europe thanks to Dr. Marteau, the delegate of the FI in London. The paper was reproduced in
facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of r ...
and had a comical effect throughout Europe. The reaction of the Germans and the collaborators was quite the opposite. The inquiry was charged to the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
and ultimately identified the press machinery from which ''Faux Soir'' had originated. Wellens, Mullier, Oorlinckx and the machine operator Henri Vandevelde were all arrested. Wellens and Mullier never returned from the camp where they were taken. Somewhat later on, Aubrion was arrested; he was given a
death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
which was commuted to 15 years in prison. In all about 15 people were arrested and sentenced to penalties ranging from four months (for distribution) to five years.


Commemoration

The Belgian postal service issued a commemorative stamp for the 50th anniversary of the Faux Soir in 1993.


Content of ''Faux Soir''

The reader's first surprise was on page one, which displayed two photos, while ''Soir volé'' usually had no more than one. The first photo, in the top left, showed bombers with the title of "in the middle of action". A quick inspection revealed the unbelievable: the rosettes of the bombers were stars (they were American B-17 "Flying Fortresses"). In the bottom right, a second photo showed
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
with his arms on his waist, and his eyes raised to the heavens, saying "''Das habe ich...''". The mystery of the two photos was clarified in a note which explained: Moreover the titles of the first pages, as in the rest of the paper, seemed bland enough, for example "Effective Strategy", where the author strove to imitate the convoluted prose of Maurice-George Olivier, a collaborationist journalist who was a mouthpiece of propaganda communications for the people: He goes on to satirize enemy propaganda, poking fun in passing at the military concepts of hedgehog defense and elastic defense: Another first-page article was the "German communiqué": Finally, under the title "International week" and the subtitle "From picking back to defensive victory", ''Faux Soir'' drove the point home by asserting that: From the classified section, to the obituaries and the advertisements, each paragraph was a farce aimed at one or another collaborationist, or hinting at the government in exile or the country's liberation.


References


Further reading

* Istas, M. ''Le "faux Soir"'' (Brussels: Editions J.M. Collet) *Ramzipoor, E. R. ''The Ventriloquists'' (New York: Park Row)


External links


Faux Soir
at Belgian War Press (
Cegesoma The Study and Documentation Centre for War and Contemporary Society (; ), known by its combined French—Dutch acronym Cegesoma or CegeSoma, is a historical research institute and archive based in Anderlecht, Brussels in Belgium. It focusses on Wor ...
), including a PDF of the original publication {{Belgian resistance groups Hoaxes in Belgium 1943 in Belgium Journalistic hoaxes 1940s hoaxes Belgian resistance publications Underground press in World War II