An early member of the Rexist movement, Matthys took over the editorship of the party newspaper, Le Pays Réel, in 1936 and in May 1941 was promoted to director of propaganda.[1] He became official leader of Rex that same July after Léon Degrelle left to serve in the Waffen SS.[2] He was nominated for the position as he was a weak character who posed no real threat to Degrelle's position as leader.[3] Matthys was also popular with the Germans as he had a long standing admiration for Adolf Hitler.[1]
As Rexist leader Matthys proved as weak and ineffective as Degrelle had hoped, although he also demonstrated a propensity towards violence to mask his failings.[1] His position eventually came under scrutiny after he ordered the massacre of 20 people in Courcelles as a reprisal against resistance activity. The move was roundly condemned as being too heavy-handed and Matthys gave up the leadership of the Rexists in favour of Louis Collard.[1] He was sentenced to death for collaborationism and executed.[4]
victor, matthys, march, 1914, november, 1947, belgian, politician, served, both, deputy, acting, leader, rexist, party, later, executed, collaboration, with, nazi, germany, born, 1914, march, 1914belgiumdied10, november, 1947, 1947, aged, charleroi, belgiumcau. Victor Matthys 20 March 1914 10 November 1947 was a Belgian politician who served as both deputy and acting leader of the Rexist Party He was later executed for collaboration with Nazi Germany Victor MatthysBornVictor Matthys 1914 03 20 20 March 1914BelgiumDied10 November 1947 1947 11 10 aged 33 Charleroi BelgiumCause of deathExecution by firing squadNationalityBelgianKnown forPolitician propagandistTitleActing leader of the Rexist PartyPredecessorLeon DegrelleSuccessorLouis Collard An early member of the Rexist movement Matthys took over the editorship of the party newspaper Le Pays Reel in 1936 and in May 1941 was promoted to director of propaganda 1 He became official leader of Rex that same July after Leon Degrelle left to serve in the Waffen SS 2 He was nominated for the position as he was a weak character who posed no real threat to Degrelle s position as leader 3 Matthys was also popular with the Germans as he had a long standing admiration for Adolf Hitler 1 As Rexist leader Matthys proved as weak and ineffective as Degrelle had hoped although he also demonstrated a propensity towards violence to mask his failings 1 His position eventually came under scrutiny after he ordered the massacre of 20 people in Courcelles as a reprisal against resistance activity The move was roundly condemned as being too heavy handed and Matthys gave up the leadership of the Rexists in favour of Louis Collard 1 He was sentenced to death for collaborationism and executed 4 References edit a b c d Philip Rees Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 1990 p 330 R J B Bosworth The Oxford Handbook of Fascism Oxford University Press 2009 p 485 David Littlejohn The Patriotic Traitors London Heinemann 1972 p 168 Rees Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right p 331 External links editVictor Matthys Archived 2019 05 17 at the Wayback Machine at BelgiumWWII Cegesoma Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Victor Matthys amp oldid 1222257234, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
