Praha.
Although nearly all means of the “Dinaso” (Dietsche National Solidaristen) movement in Belgium, its employes and many other things about this Flemish Nazi organization may be obscure, one thing is quite certain—the abundant anti-Semitism of its leader, Herr van Severen.
The Bruges correspondent of the “Prager Presse” confirms this impression fully in an interview which he had with van Severen, who heads the pan-Flemish movement which aims at uniting all territories where Dutch and its dialect, Flemish, are spoken. This would necessitate the overthrow of the present Belgian and Dutch governments and the snatching away of a part of Northern France. The new country would be called “Dietschland.”
Flemish movements of various kinds have existed, ceased to exist and reappeared during the history of Holland and Belgium. They have caused many a bitter hour to the leaders of the barely 100-year-old Belgium. Now, for the first time in history, such an one has been linked up with anti-Semitism and Nazism.
Since all, or nearly all, Fascist movements of this kind must boast colored shirts, Dinaso does likewise. Its emblem is green.
The Bruges correspondent describes van Severen as a man of small stature, with sharp, hard eyes. His movements are not convincing. There is something artificial about them.
At the very beginning of the conversation, the “Leader” shows his aversion to journalists. In characteristic fashion he calls them “liars.” But he gives himself away by saying, “Some time ago one of them wrote: ‘van Severen despises the Hitlerists’. I will cite this liar before the judge!”
This is followed by a stream of “swearing words which show a boundless anti-Semitism.”
Answering a question, van Severen contends that he has no direct communications with the German Nazis, although he admires them. He denies that he receives the ample means necessary to keep up the propaganda of the movement, to buy the uniforms, and to furnish the “green houses” (the equivalent of the German “brown houses”) from Berlin. He even gets excited when he speaks about the opponents of his movement who allege that the money is supplied by Germany. “I will bring these slanderers to justice, and I will prove that I do not get money from Germany!” he froths.
But when he is suddenly confronted with the questions, “Do you sometimes make a trip to Germany? Are you in contact with leading personalities of the Nazi party?”—van Severen is taken aback. He is not able to give a straightforward answer. He maintains that everyone has a right to make trips to Germany. Of all the Nazi leaders, he know only Rosenberg, he asserts.
Asked about the means he intends to employ to bring his “Dinaso” party to power, van Severen declares that he will achieve his aim by propaganda only, striving to make his party the state party.
Yet another time, van Severen gives elusive answers when he is questioned about his attitude to Holland and the Flemish parts of France, where the movement necessarily must be a revolutionary one. Only one point is clear. He regards the Dutch Nazi leader, Mussert, as a traitor.
After listening once more to a detailed explanation of van Severen’s aims, the correspondent reaches the conclusion they are very much akin to the principles laid down in Adolf Hitler’s “My Struggle.”
Van Severen goes far to confirm this opinion by crying: “We are nationalistic socialists, but not in the Marxian sense of the word. We are absolutely anti-Semitic, but accept the race principle only up to a certain degree.”
The last question the correspondent put, “What is your attitude towards war,” remains unanswered.
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.
