Albert Folens (1917-2003) was a Belgian-born publisher of educational materials in the Republic of Ireland. His company, Folens, is a major publisher of educational materials. He was also the author Aiséirí Flóndrais (The Resurrection of Flanders) a book in Irish discussing the fortunes and rise of the Flanders and the Flemish language vis-à-vis French, with references to the situation of the Irish language.
After the Second World War, being named on the CROWCASS list of suspected collaborators, he was sentenced by a Belgian court to 10 years imprisonment for assisting the Gestapo in finding members of the Belgian Resistance. He alleged he had only worked as a translator. He escaped from gaol after 30 months and made his way to the Republic of Ireland.[1]
Hidden History: Ireland's Nazis, a two-part documentary series shown on RTÉ revealed his collaboration with the Third Reich. (The first part was broadcast on RTÉ 1 on January 7, 2007, the second on January 16). Juliette Folens, his widow, obtained a temporary High Court injunction to prevent the use of a 1987 interview with her husband on an ex parte basis. The Folens family issued a press release denying that Albert Folens was ever involved with Nazi war crimes, though he was a member of the Flemish Legion.[2] After the programme was broadcast, a letter containing a death threat was sent to Albert Folens' widow Juliette.[3]