Hitler Propaganda Wedge Driven Deep Among the Belgians

The Nazi campaign of propaganda and agitation in Belgium has been getting more and more violent, especially in the frontier districts, and acts of terrorism have been occurring daily. Nazi spies are everywhere. The position of the Jewish population in Eupen and Malmedy, the two provinces taken from Germany in the War and containing a large German population, is becoming more and more difficult as a result of the open anti-Semitic propaganda that is being carried on there.

There is not the slightest doubt that this campign is inspired and financed by the German Nazis. It has reached even Brussels, where an official Nazi organ is appearing, and Antwerp, which has a large German population. In both towns there are well-organized Nazi groups, conducting a widespread campaign, not only among the Germans, but also among the Belgian population. The Liberal and Socialist press of Belgium has been revealing the pernicious activities of these Hitlerists, and has disclosed that they have been forcing German business men and manufacturers in Belgium to dismiss their Belgian and anti-Nazi staff, and to employ only Nazis.

There have been several clashes between Jews and Nazis, particularly ni Antwerp. On some occasions the Nazis visited Jewish quarters or cafes frequented by Jews, wearing their swastikas, and with the evident intention of provoking a fight. But on these occasions they were soon taught that Belgium is not Germany, and they got the worst of the fights that followed.

So far the Belgian Government has taken no action whatever against these Nazi organizations, though they are mostly composed of German citizens, and though their activities are not only political but anti-Belgian. They have remained mute to all the challenges hurled at them by the Nazis. The reason for this is no doubt to be found in the fact that the great Belgian port of Antwerp depends to such an extent on German trade that Belgium cannot afford to quarred with the present rulers of Germany.

The most rabid followers of Hitlerism are a section of the Flemish Nationalists. These originally only wanted a Fascist state combining the Flamands and the Dutch, but after Hitler’s victory in Germany they borrowed anti-Semitism from his program, and are now going ahead of their master. In a pamphlet issued by them they make a violent attack on M. Heymans, the Foreign Minister of Belgium, who is a Jew, and try to prove that the Jews have been exercising a pernicious influence in Belgium. In their statements they are no more accurate than their masters, the German Nazis, for in their list of Jewish "criminals" they include Lenin and other non-Jewish Communists, as well as Princip, the Serbian student who assassinated the Archduke Ferdinand in Serajevo in 1914.

Unfortunately, the example of the Nazis has had some influence on certain sections of the Belgian middle classes, who have a grudge against the Jews, their chief competitors. These sections have issued a paper, "I’Assaut", which is exclusively devoted to anti-Semitic propaganda. The paper has a large circulation and is distributed free, and there is little doubt that it is in close touch with the German Nazis and is financed by them. The result is that large sections of the Belgian population are infected with the poison of anti-Semitism.