Paul Hoornaert (5 November 1888 – 2 February 1944) was a Belgian

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

political activist. Although a pioneer of

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

in the country he was an opponent of German

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

and, after joining 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 ...

during the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, died in Nazi custody.

Early years

Hoornaert was born in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

to a middle class

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family and studied at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

, completing his doctorate in law in 1910. Philip Rees, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the ...

'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 190 A lawyer by profession, Hoornaert was a veteran of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

where his combat record was highly distinguished.

National Legion

A strong admirer of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

, but equally demonstrating a staunch hatred of

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 ...

, Hoornaert was a member of the far right veterans' group National Legion (, ) which was established in

in 1922.R.J.B. Bosworth, ''The Oxford Handbook of Fascism'', Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 472 Initially a minor group it grew rapidly from 1927 when Hoornaert became leader and converted it into a paramilitary militia. Under Hoornaert's leadership the 4,000-strong group, who wore a blue-shirted uniform in common with other European fascist groups, became associated with a militant

Belgian nationalism Belgian nationalism, sometimes pejoratively referred to as Belgicism (; ), is a nationalism, nationalist ideology. In its modern form it favours the reversal of federalism and the creation of a unitary state in Belgium. The ideology advocates r ...

, rejecting emphasis on both

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

and Walloon identities in favour of a united Belgium. Other important ideological aspects included

anti-communism Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

, opposition to

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

, and the

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...

. As Legion leader Hoornaert participated in the 1934 Montreux Fascist conference, campaigned in support of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935–37) and raised volunteers for the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

(1936–39). The militia, which staunchly opposed

Rexism The Rexist Party, or simply Rex, was a far-right Catholic authoritarian and corporatist political party active in Belgium from 1935 until 1945. The party was founded by a journalist, Léon Degrelle.

despite sharing some aims, was strongly opposed to

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

activity and for this reason Hoornaert broke from his sometime supporter, the writer Pierre Nothomb when he returned to the Catholic Party. His opponent

Léon Degrelle Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle (; 15 June 1906 – 31 March 1994) was a Belgian Walloon politician and Nazi collaborator. He rose to prominence in Belgium in the 1930s as the leader of the Rexist Party (Rex). During the German occupatio ...

suggested that Hoornaert never had more than 300 followers although more recent estimates have suggested that the Legion commanded as many as 7000 members by the early 1930s. He has been compared to

Georges Valois Georges Valois (; born Alfred-Georges Gressent; 7 October 1878 – February 1945) was a French journalist and national syndicalist politician. He was a member of the French Resistance and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Lif ...

in leading a pioneer fascist movement that rejected

and instead took its impetus from the likes of

Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet and critic. He was an organiser and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that was monarchist, corporatis ...

whilst drawing on disaffected ex-servicemen for its membership. As well as leading the Legion Hoornaert was also briefly involved with the National Corporate Workers' Union (''Nationaal Corporatief Arbeidsverbond'', or NACO), a group set up by industrialist Charles Somville in June 1933. Hoornaert was a founder member of this group, although he and Somville clashed and became bitter rivals, partly because Somville feared that Hoornaert wanted to swallow up NACO in the Legion and partly because he was not enthusiastic about Somville's pet project,

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. In 1940 he co-operated with

Joris Van Severen Joris Van Severen (19 July 1894 – 20 May 1940) was a Belgian politician and ideologue of the Flemish Movement as well as a Pan-Netherlander. A leading figure of pre-World War II Flemish nationalism, he co-founded the extreme-right group V ...

, with an attempt made to merge the Legion with Van Severen's

Verdinaso Verdinaso (''Verbond van Dietsche Nationaal-Solidaristen'', ), sometimes rendered as Dinaso, was a small fascist political movement active in Belgium and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands between 1931 and 1941. Verdinaso was founded by Jori ...

based on a shared loyalty to

Leopold III of Belgium Leopold III (3 November 1901 – 25 September 1983) was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the Battle of Belgi ...

although the attempt was not a success.

Later years

Following the German invasion Hoornaert was forced underground after the Nazis outlawed his militia. As a consequence he joined the '' Légion Belge'', a far right

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

led by dissident Rexists who opposed the occupation of Belgium. For his activity in this group Hoornaert was arrested by the Germans in 1942 and died in the prison of Sonnenburg on 2 February 1944. His spell in the resistance saw Hoornaert awarded the

Croix de guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoornaert, Paul 1888 births 1944 deaths Lawyers from Liège Belgian Army personnel of World War I Belgian fascists Belgian Fascist propagandists Belgian people of the Spanish Civil War Belgian people who died in Nazi concentration camps Belgian resistance members Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) University of Liège alumni People who died in Sonnenburg concentration camp 20th-century Belgian lawyers