Fredegardus Jacobus Josephus (Jef) van de Wiele (Deurne, Belgium, 20 July 1903 - Bruges, 4 September 1979) was a Belgian Flemish Nazi politician.
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Van de Wiele was a staunch admirer of Adolf Hitler and in 1935 he set up the Duitschen-Vlaamsche Arbeidsgemeenschap (German-Flemish Labour Community, popularly known as Devlag) to campaign for the incorporation of Flanders into the Third Reich. This group used the Nazi eagle and swastika combined with the black lion of Flanders as its symbol.[1] Van de Wiele had some contact with the Nazis before the invasion of Belgium and even claimed that Hitler had promised him that Flanders would be incorporated according to his wishes and that he had further been promised the position of Gauleiter.[2]
Under the occupation he did enjoy some influence, although the complicated nature of Belgian politics meant that he did not gain the full influence he sought. He enjoyed a good relationship with Walloon leader Léon Degrelle and accompanied him on various public engagements.[3] At home however he had struggled to gain influence from the far-right but pro-independence Flemish National Union and clashed repeatedly with its leaders Staf De Clercq and Hendrik Elias, who maintained ambiguous attitudes towards the Nazis.[4] Van de Wiele however worked enthusiastically with the Nazis, advocating the full mobilisation of the region and, in 1943, turning the entirety of his youth movement over to the Hitler Youth.[5][6] After the liberation of Belgium by the Allied forces he fled to Germany, and was designated the head of the theoretical "Reichsgau Flandern" in December of 1944.
Following the end of World War II van de Wiele was branded a traitor for his enthusiactic collaboration and sentenced to death in November 1946. However the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and he was released after 17 years, settling in West Germany.[7]
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