The Complete History Of The Flemish SS

The Eastern Front of World War 2 was a very Pan-European affair but no nation contributed more per capita than Flanders, a people without a state. Why did so many Flemings sign up to fight and die for Hitler's War in the East? What did they stand to gain? What were their motives? Did they regret their actions? I'll be answering all of these questions and more in this video.


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Sources:

Hitler's Flemish Lions - Jonathan Trigg
Lions of Flanders - Richard Landwehr
The Last Knight of Flanders: Remy Schrijnen - Allen Brandt
Voices of the Flemish SS - Jonathan Trigg

(In Dutch and sections/quotes translated by our Flemish correspondent)

’30 Dagen Oorlog’ (30 Days of War), by Wies Moens; 1940
‘De Witte Hel: Soldatenverhalen over den veldslag in het Oosten’ (The White Hell: Soldier-stories about the battle in the East), put together by H. Van Duinkerken; 1943
‘Dries Coolens: Zijn Nagedachtenis in het Vlaams Legioen en de SS-Divisie Langemarck’ (Dries Coolens: his memories in the Flemish Legion and the SS-Division Langemarck) by Dries Coolens; 2021
‘Hendrik Jozef Elias’; by Pieter Jan Verstraete; 2005
‘Raf Van Hulse: een Vlaamse Kriegsberichter aan het Oostfront’ (Raf Van Hulse: a Flemish war reporter at the Eastern Front), by Pieter Jan Verstraete; 2011
‘Reimond Tollenaere’, by Pieter Jan Verstraete; 1996
‘Trouw’ (Loyalty) by Arthur de Bruyne; 1973
‘Trouw en Dietsch’ (Loyal and Dietsch) by Pieter Jan Verstraete; 2006
‘Van Syndicalist tot Nationaal Socialist: de Vlaamse Waffen-SS in Rusland 1941-1943’ (From Syndicalist to National Socialist: the Flemish Waffen-SS in Russia 1941-1943) by Jaak Smets
‘Ward Hermans’, by Dr. Guido Provoost; 1977
‘Wij, Verdachten’ (We, Suspects), by René Lagrou; 1940
‘Zo Stierven Zij en Wij (That is how we and they died) by Tony Van Dyck; 1991



Chapters:

Intro: 0:00
Flemish Separatism: 1:42
The Fall of Belgium: 11:11
Birth of the Flemish SS: 16:56
Leningrad 1941: 30:12
Volkhov/Leningrad 1942-43: 33:44
Ukraine 1944: 47:51
Narva 1944: 1:01:46
Pomerania 1945: 1:19:16
Retribution: 1:34:54