Attempts of Exist storm troopers to usurp the functions of the police in the enforcement of the anti-Jewish regulations issued by the German occupation authorities have led to “serious clashes”between the Belgian Fascists and the police, according to information received here today through Belgian Government sources.
Members of Exist leader Leon Degrelle’s “formations de combat”–“shock troops”–invaded the Brussels market of Saint Giles under the pretext that a German order obliging Jewish stall holders to display a sign, “Jewish enterprise,” was not being obeyed.
Police dispersed the demonstrators, the report added, confiscating numerous Sam Browne belts worn by the troopers.
A Flemish broadcast from Brussels announced today the formation of a new anti-Jewish committee named “The Peoples’ Defense” in Bruges for the avowed purpose of purging the coastal area of Jews and Jewish influence. The coastal area includes Bruges and Furnes, the seat of the German military command.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
