Jef Van de Wiele

Fredegardus Jacobus Josephus (Jef) van de Wiele (Deurne, Belgium, 20 July 1903 – Bruges, 4 September 1979) was a Belgian Flemish Nazi politician. During the Nazi occupation of Belgium he became notorious as the leader of the most virulently pro-Nazi wing of Flemish politics.

Van de Wiele was the son of an important local cattle dealer who between 1919 and 1933 acted as mayor of Deurne. Although raised in Deurne van de Wiele was sent to Antwerp and Ghent to be educated. He entered the teaching profession, working initially in Aalst before returning to his home town. In his early years he was nicknamed "Jef Cognac" by his friends due to his strong reputation for Francophilia.

In the 1930s he returned to education, studying for a doctorate in Philosophy and Letters with a specialisation in German philology. His study included an extended period in Germany in 1937 researching German perceptions of Flemish literature from 187 to 1937. An increasing Germanophile, in 1936 he established Duitschen-Vlaamsche Arbeidsgemeenschap (German-Flemish Labour Community, popularly known as Devlag) as an initially apolitical cultural group for philology scholars with an interest in German literary culture.

Van de Wiele became a staunch admirer of Adolf Hitler and before long Devlag had moved radically to the far right and began to campaign for the incorporation of Flanders into the Third Reich. The group used the Nazi eagle and swastika combined with the black lion of Flanders as its symbol. As editor of the group's magazine, Nieuw Vlaanderen, he ensured that Nazism featured centrally in its content. 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.

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