Interview(s) with Degrelle

[Sudaev]

An amalgam of two separate interviews with Nazi apologist and Eastern Front hero Leon Degrelle:

http://www.hotlinecy.com/Interviews/Degrelle.htm

His Honor was True! :hitler: Hail Victory! [cough]

[OVERWATCH]

Thanks for posting this, was well worth reading.

[Commander]

Agreed, very interesting read ! I am somewhat familiar with Leon Degrelle, he was quite a character, a man among men !

http://www.geocities.com/integral_tradition/Degrelle.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/integral_tradition/degrelle.html

[Captain Marinesko]

That his actions were heroic is undeniable. However, DeGrelle really exagerrated Hitler's socialist side, and was completely oblivious to Hitler's views regarding Pan-Europeanism. DeGrelle saw the Hitler he wanted to see, not the real man. I remember reading in Epic: The Story of the Waffen SS, how he once argued with Hitler 8 hours over how the Russian Slavs should be treated. DeGrelle was pro-Russian. Of course, none of this mattered, and none of this changed a damn thing regarding what happened on the Eastern Front. If memory serves me correctly, that argument must have taken place AFTER the beginning of the Leningrad blockade.

[Mike]

I hope that everyone takes the time to read these interviews. Degrelle was a writer, thinker, statesman, as well as a true hero and warrior for Europe. He was also a Christian and an advocate of humanity. I recommend his book Campaign In Russia (http://www.amazon.com/Campaign-Russia-Waffen-Eastern-Front/dp/0939484188).

[Sudaev]

Coincidentally I noticed this interview was published in one of the military history mags this month--Military History(?) or something. Anyway I'm glad they saw fit to include it. Most people aren't aware of this cat.

I never knew that he ended the war as an Oberfuhrer or that he was to be promoted to Brigadefuhrer; I had always assumed he was Standartenfuhrer (colonel).

Collaboration in Belgium by Martin Conway is pretty interesting although it's so in-depth it's almost ponderous. It's a relatively unbiased account of the small-scale civil war in Belgium during WW II, with the focus on Rex and Degrelle. Degrelle comes across as somewhat vainglorious and a bit of a blowhard but not villified.

Campaign in Russia is almost poetic.

[Captain Marinesko]

Campaign in Russia is almost poetic.


Even the parts about starving and murdering millions of white people? Or did he just not mention that?

[Sudaev]

Even the parts about starving and murdering millions of white people? Or did he just not mention that?

Oh for Pete's sake, enough with the nonsense--I was talking about how the book was written.

[Eurovox]

Even the parts about starving and murdering millions of white people? Or did he just not mention that?

Yes, indeed he mentioned the death by starvation of millions of slavic people programmed by the soviets and particularly by Stalin!

[Captain Marinesko]

Yes, indeed he mentioned the death by starvation of millions of slavic people programmed by the soviets and particularly by Stalin!

And guess where THAT story originated? From the same people DeGrelle was fighting for!!

[Mike]

Are you suggesting that we all are the dupes of NS German propaganda?

And guess where THAT story originated? From the same people DeGrelle was fighting for!!

[Ambrosio Spinola]

Degrelle was a great man and I will not tire to say that I had the honor to shake this man´s hand and listen to his speeches life. :)

[Mike]

That is quite an honor! I saw a video of his speech entitled Epic: The Story of the Waffen SS. Transcript here:

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v03/v03p441_Degrelle.html

Degrelle was a great man and I will not tire to say that I had the honor to shake this man´s hand and listen to his speeches life. :)

[Eurovox]

And guess where THAT story originated? From the same people DeGrelle was fighting for!!

Story!!! How could you deny such documented issue as the death by sartarvation of millions of ukrainians and other slavic people???

This is not a story but History and with a big H!!!

[cerberus]

Mike I recommend his book Campaign In Russia.
I did buy have his book for many years - I read it once but it did not make a great impression on me, just could not warm to it.

Degrelle himself - no question about him being a brave man - he didn't get his Knight's Cross for nothing.

I do agree with the Captain - about how he precieved Hitler and reflected on him post war.

Degrelle's letter to the Pope regarding Auschwitz - and how it was used by the revisionist movement does make me question what Degrelle stood for.
As a soldier I cannot but admire him , but his totally rose tinted view of Hitler , the regime he fought for and what it achieved does little for me.

There are accounts by German soldiers which I found better .
( Ali Cremer , Heinz Knoke , Wolfgang Flack, Adolf Galland).

[Tchort]

The 'Ukrainian' famine as most know it is an anti-Stalinist/Bolshevik lie. There was a famine in the region, building/going on for years before Stalin- his economic proposals simply aggravated the situation (no different than various Communist field progress attempts throughout history, resulting in famine and deaths of thousands of peasants).

[Mike]

I haven't read the accounts of the soldiers you mention - mostly flying aces apparently - but hopefully sometime I'll get around to reading those. I suppose the reason I like Degrelle is that his life was more than that of just a soldier. He was more of a stateman and thinker trying to find a path for Europe. He fought with the Germans mainly because he was trying to win respect for Belgium as an anti-communist force. I also think that the treatment of the "democratic" French, who jailed him and tortured him for being anti-war (not pro-German, originally), might have had something to do with it. Of course, there was a great deal of agreement between Degrelle and Hitler on various issues. There was also a lot of disagreement, such as the question of treatment towards the Slavs. Degrelle felt he was gradually making his case, which would only have been a good thing in the long run.

As far as Hitler goes: Who knows the real Hitler anyway? The man has been portrayed as an evil comic book caricature of a villian so thoroughly that I am not sure we will ever get an untinted view. Perhaps David Irving, having scanned hundreds of thousands of pieces of primary source evidence and interviewed dozens (hundreds?) of surviving acquaintances, knows him the best of anyone alive. Irving's view is a lot rosier than the mainstream, though not as rosy as Degrelle's. Then again, Degrelle actually knew Hitler, so that maybe we should trust Degrelle slightly more than the comic book historians after all.

Degrelle's letter to the Pope regarding Auschwitz - I couldn't find a copy on the Net but I assume that it regarded the alleged existence of homicidal gas chambers, and probably also the defamation that international jewry regularly subjects the RC Church to. I'd rather not pull the thread offtopic, so I'll limit myself to saying that Degrelle is entitled to his doubts, and as a Catholic he has a right to defend the traditional faith of Europe against "Holocaust" allegers' never-ending guilt mongering.

Mike
I did buy have have his book for many years - I read it once but it did not make a great impression on me, just could not warm to it.

Degrelle himself - no question about him being a brave man - he didn't get his Knight's Cross for nothing.

I do agree with the Captain - about how he precieved Hitler and reflected on him post war.

Degrelle's letter to the Pope regarding Auschwitz - and how it was used by the revisionist movement does make me question what Degrelle stood for.
As a soldier I cannot but admire him , but his totally rose tinted view of Hitler , the regime he fought for and what it achieved does little for me.

There are accounts by German soldiers which I found better .
( Ali Cremer , Heinz Knoke , Wolfgang Flack, Adolf Galland).

[Captain Marinesko]

Story!!! How could you deny such documented issue as the death by sartarvation of millions of ukrainians and other slavic people???

This is not a story but History and with a big H!!!

Because it's actually false and there is no evidence to support that.

[cerberus]

Mike- I did not intend to pull the suject off topic - but Degrelle's views on the excesses of the Hitler Goverment might be viewed as colouring his judgement?
Yes he met Hitler , but did he know him ?
Hitler said that if had ever had a son he would have wanted him to be like Degrelle mutual admiration indeed, but does this qualify as knowledge of the man himself ?
Comic book historians - I don't know any and certainly don't subscribe to the movie and comic book view as per the 1960's-70's.

In recent years a great many books have come from EX- Wehrmacht and Waffen SS veterans - both autobiographical and divisional histories .
Hubert meyer ( 12th Hj) , Otto Wiedinger ( Das Reich) , Karl Ulrich ( Das Reich), , Rudolf Lehmann ( Liebstandarte) , Kurt Meyer ( Grenadiers) , Ralf Tiemann ( Liebstandarte) and many of the excellent books written by mark yerger who recieved massive input and cooperation from many of the major suriving figures of the Waffen SS - Otto Kumm, Otto Baum , Ernst Kragg ,Heinz harmel, Heinz Macker , to name but a few .
Yerger's books are quality and reflect the trust given by veterans who made major contributions.
( His 2 x Volume history of Waffen SS Commanders , his 2x Volume of RK holders of Das Reich ("Knight's of Steel") , his on going biographical series covering DK in Gold holders of the Waffen SS and police Divisions ( Vol 3 is presently at the printers) and his book on Holders of DK in Silver are but a few of his well researched books.
Patrick Agte's biographies of Jochen Peiper and Michael Wittmann are worth seing as well.

Apart from this many many senior Commanders have written post war.
Guderian ( Panzer leader ) Manstien ( Lost Victories ) , Von Mellenthin ( Panzer Battles) spring to mind.

In common with them Degrelle being human is flawed , they all write their histories in a manner which is friendly to themselves and their own views.

Is Degrelle a valuable historical witness - most definately , should his writings be discounted - certainly not , but they should not be read alone nor should they be taken at face value.

Much is said about "history being written by the victors" - as with all conflicts initially this is true but it does not endure and in relation to Germany in particular a vast amount of balanced history which is factual and objectively written can be had from a number of reputable publishers.
R. J. Bender , Ulric of England, Schiffer , Greenhill , After The Battle, Pen and Sword , J.J.Fedorowicz , Naval Institue Press to name but a few.

As far as knowing Hitler goes - I think a good picture of the man can be drawn from numerous sources - Hitler as an evil comic book character - no I don't think that does him justice and I would walk away from any such presentation.
As far as anything written goes - you can generally judge the quality not only by the price but by the publisher - by and large you will pay for what you get.

[Sudaev]

Here's a pic of then-Leutnant Degrelle in the Caucusus in Decmber 1942 when the Legion was paraded for some reason or another.

The flag is from 1st Company--the other seven companies had similar flags.

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8960/untitledscanned13ps2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)