Cornelius Eduardus Hermans (6 February 1897 – 23 November 1992) was a Belgian

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 and writer. Hermans saw service with the

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during the

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before becoming involved in politics as a member of the nationalist '' Frontpartij''. Philip Rees, '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', 1990, p. 179 As punishment for his involvement in 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 ...

, he was sent to the Special Forestry Platoon, a Belgian penal military unit located in

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, France in July 1918, where he worked as a woodchopper as a form of

penal labour Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included in ...

. After the war, Hermans served the ''Frontparij'' in the Belgian parliament from 1929 to 1932. He quit the ''Frontpartij'' in 1933 to join Verdinaso and soon became known for his pro-

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 ...

stance in journals such as ''De Schelde'', '' Volk en Staat'', and ''Strijd''. His membership came to an end the following year when he argued with Joris van Severen and left the group to join the Flemish National Union.David Littlejohn, '' The Patriotic Traitors'', London: Heinemann, 1972, p. 155 Serving as an

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leader for the group from 1935 to 1940, he also returned to parliament as a VNV representative from 1939 to 1944. Hermans became an enthusiastic collaborator with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

after the German invasion of Belgium in 1940. The same year, Hermans, along with René Lagrou, was the founder of the '' Algemeene-SS Vlaanderen'', the Flemish ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

''. Having left his official engagements with VNV in October 1940 to concentrate on this assignment, he also edited the new movement's journal ''SS-Man''. In the later years of the war Hermans went to Germany to broadcast

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over the radio in

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. Hermans was sentenced to death ''in absentia'' after 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 ...

, but he was not arrested until his capture in Germany in November 1946. He was returned to Belgium where his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he was released in 1955. He largely remained aloof from political involvement following his release, apart from a spell in the Order of Flemish Militants during the 1970s, before his death on 23 November 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermans, Ward 1897 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Belgian criminals Belgian Army personnel of World War I Belgian collaborators with Imperial Germany Belgian radio presenters Belgian Nazi propagandists Flemish politicians Flemish writers People extradited to Belgium Belgian people imprisoned abroad Belgian prisoners sentenced to death Foreign nationals imprisoned in France Prisoners sentenced to death by Belgium People from Turnhout Belgian Waffen-SS personnel