Robert Jan Verbelen (5 April 1911,

Herent Herent () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the villages and former municipalities of Herent proper, Veltem-Beisem and Winksele. On January 1, 2016, Herent had a total population of ...

, Belgium – 28 October 1990,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria) was a Belgian

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 ...

collaborator. During the last years of World War II, Verbelen was head of the '' De Vlag Veiligheidscorps'', a Nazi SS security force in Belgium. In that function he ordered the assassination of Alexandre Galopin, director of the

Société Générale de Belgique The ' (, ; often referred to in Belgium simply as "Société Générale" or SGB) was an investment bank and, subsequently, an industrial and financial conglomerate in Belgium between 1822 and 2003. It has been described as the world's first u ...

, and tried to murder Albert Devèze,

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

, Charles Collard-de Sloovere,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, and

Robert de Foy Robert Herman Alfred de Foy CBE (23 March 1893 in Geraardsbergen – 15 August 1960 in Brussels) was a Belgian magistrate who served as head of the State Security Service during the Nazi occupation of Belgium. His conduct in that role is the s ...

, former State Security director. He was sentenced to death by a Belgian court in 1947 that had found him responsible for the deaths of 101 Belgian resistance fighters. After the liberation of Belgium during the

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 ...

, Verbelen fled through Germany to Austria, where he worked for eight years for the Counter Intelligence Corps of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

although he had been convicted as

war criminal A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

in Belgium.NEW CASE OF NAZI CRIMINAL USED AS SPY BY U.S. IS UNDER STUDY
Ralph Blumenthal, 9 Jan. 1984, p. A3 He obtained Austrian citizenship in 1959. In 1965, Verbelen was charged with five murders by a court in Austria. However, he was acquitted on all counts.

Sources

* Gerald Steinacher, ''Nazis auf der Flucht. Wie Kriegsverbrecher über Italien nach Übersee entkamen''. Studienverlag Wien-Innsbruck-München 2008

References

External links

Robert Jan Verbelen and the United States Government: A Report to the Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division
1911 births 1990 deaths Belgian collaborators with Nazi Germany Belgian people convicted of war crimes Belgian prisoners sentenced to death Nazis sentenced to death in absentia by Belgium Naturalised citizens of Austria {{Belgium-bio-stub People of the United States intelligence agencies Prisoners and detainees of Austria