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

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

Flemish nationalist politician and writer. Hermans saw service with the

Belgian Army The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

before becoming involved in politics as a member of the nationalist ''

Frontpartij The ''Frontpartij'' (Dutch; "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'' w ...

''.

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *''Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pres ...

, ''

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 r ...

'', 1990, p. 179 As punishment for his activities in the Flemish movement he was sent to a

penal military unit Penal military units, including penal battalions, penal companies, etc., are military formations consisting of convicts mobilized for military service. Such formations may contain soldiers convicted of offenses under military law, persons enrolled ...

: the infamous ''

woodchopping platoon of the Orne The woodchoppers of the Orne ( nl, houthakkers van de Orne) were 10 Flemish soldiers during the First World War punished for their active or passive involvement in the Flemish Movement in the Belgian Army. They were removed from their platoons and ...

'' (Peloton Spécial Forestier) located in

Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

in July 1918. After World War I he served the Frontparij in the Belgian parliament from 1929 to 1932. He quit the ''Frontpartij'' in 1933 to join

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

and soon became known for his pro-

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

stance in journals such as ''De Schelde'', ''

Volk en Staat ''Volk en Staat'' (Dutch; "People and State") was a Flemish daily newspaper between 1936 and 1944, linked to the Fascist Flemish National League (''Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond'', VNV) party. It was founded on 15 November 1936 and banned shortly a ...

'' and ''Strijd''. His membership came to an end the following year when he argued 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 ...

and so left the group to join the

Flemish National Union The ( Dutch for "Flemish National Union" or "Flemish National League"), widely known by its acronym VNV, was a Flemish nationalist political party active in Belgium between 1933 and 1945.

.David Littlejohn, ''

The Patriotic Traitors ''The Patriotic Traitors: A History of Collaboration in German-Occupied Europe, 1940–45'' is a 1972 book by David Littlejohn. It is a history of the Europeans who took part in collaborationism with Nazi Germany. Individual chapters are dev ...

'', London: Heinemann, 1972, p. 155 Serving as an

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

leader for the group from 1935 to 1940, he also returned to parliament as a VNV representative from 1939 to 1944. Given his disposition towards

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

Hermans became an enthusiastic collaborator after the invasion. Along with René Lagrou, he was the founder of the '' Algemeene-SS Vlaanderen'', the Flemish SS, in 1940. 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 Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to broadcast propaganda over the radio in Bremen. Hermans was sentenced to death ''in absentia'' after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

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 freed in 1955. He largely remained aloof from political involvement following his release, apart from a spell in the Vlaamse Militanten Orde during the 1970s.

References

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