886:"After being asked whether his increasing closeness to Jews and Israel is a tactical move, he responds: "This is perhaps not proof, but this will explain to you a bit who I am. Many people think I come from a family of collaborators, but I do not. My father was a young medical student during the war. His studies were interrupted during the war and he was due to be taken to forced labor in Germany. But he fled from the Germans and managed to elude them for several months. They caught him, threw him in prison and ultimately sent him to do forced labor. I saw pictures of him when he returned from the war. He had nothing and he was sick. He never became a doctor and his career was ruined. My grandfather was also a member of the Resistance. He fought against the Germans as a police officer".
33:
591:. Not at all. I understand that this is hard to understand as a Jew. I respect very much that Jews have a problem with this. But Jews must also understand that this is not as simple as it seems. Not all of the collaborators wanted to kill the Jews in Europe. Most of the collaborators had other motives. I think that if they were living today, most of them would be ashamed of what happened to the Jews. The only thing I can do today is to say that I respect very much the suffering of the
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364:, in which he formed a political faction with Gerolf Annemans (who, earlier that year, had succeeded to founder-Flemish Block president Karel Dillen). Under Dewinter's leadership, the parliamentary group continued to grow, notably in 1991, when the Flemish Block, from a small party, grew to about 12% of the voters. This growth has continued ever since.
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because the Church called upon them to go out and fight the
Communists—something that Western Europe continued to do for 50 years. Now, in 2005, it is easy to say: 'The collaboration was a mistake.' The collaboration did not help our country at all; we just became a vassal state of Germany. At the time, it was logical, because of the
484:, wanted to render respect and flower the graves of the 38 Flemish SS collaborators who fought for Nazi Germany and embraced fascist Nazi ideology. The Belgian police forces stopped the small rally and pushed them back; only holders of German citizenship were allowed to enter the cemetery. During a debate in 1992 at the
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In 1988, he also became a City councilman in
Antwerp. When the Flemish Parliament and the Belgian Parliament got elected separately in 1995, he chose to be a member of the Flemish Parliament (which deals with a lot of regional matters). His hard statements on especially foreign migration provided for
554:
Many
Flemish nationalists collaborated during the war because they thought—and now it is clear that they were wrong—that this would help them achieve independence for Flanders. This is the whole story. The overwhelming majority were not Nazis. They collaborated in order to attain independence and
586:
He is one of the historic leaders of the party. This is part of the history of the
Flemish nationalist movement and it is impossible to deny this. We are the descendants of this movement. Some of the members of the party attend these events because they want to honor the heritage of the Flemish
686:
readers to understand, most collaborators thought that they could realise an independent
Flanders by cooperating with the Germans. Most of them are ashamed of the horror they caused. The only thing I can do today is to show understanding for the suffering of the Jewish
515:
Filip
Dewinter was the guest speaker for a gathering of the former SS-collaborators of Sint-Maartensfonds which took place on 1 December 2001. That evening, Filip Dewinter opened his speech with the words
610:
included a question if "Jews should vote for a party that espouses xenophobia". Dewinter responded by saying: "Xenophobia is not the word I would use. If it absolutely must be a 'phobia,' let it be '
595:, to express my sympathy and condolences about what happened and to try to move far away from this. But the Jewish people must understand that not every collaborator was necessarily anti-Semitic.
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671:" turn themselves into self pity. They become hostile, they cause nuisance and show criminal behaviour. In Flanders the multicultural society led to a multicriminal society."
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250:, when he had to hide, as the threat of being deported by the Germans increased. He was nevertheless arrested and already after a few months of imprisonment in
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Christophe
Diercxsens (2007). "The Double Face of Flemish Extreme Right: Public Propaganda vs. the Real Soul of Vlaams Belang". Catholic University of Leuven.
416:
An extreme right-wing activist is sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 for planning the murder of Filip
Dewinter, hoping to drag Belgium into civil war.
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family origins. Later on, Dewinter confirmed the resistance of his grandfather and the deportation of his father, including to the
Flemish Jewish magazine
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victories in the elections of 1999 and 2003 for the
Flemish Parliament. Dewinter was, together with Gerolf Annemans, the author of the notorious '
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with Etienne Vermeersch, he countered this philosopher on this subject and reminded him of his own father, who had been a member of the
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where 40,000 bodies of Nazi Germany Wehrmacht soldiers of WWII were buried. He and other members of his party, notably neo-Nazi
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614:.'" This statement, as well as the Blok's condemnation for racism, have weighted heavily on the French-speaking Belgian
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In October 2022, Dewinter was physically assaulted by a left-wing activist while giving a talk at a community centre in
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to work in a munitions factory. He returned, after the war, sick and emaciated and unable to take up his studies again.
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682:, is the continuator of this movement. We may not deny this past. Although I realise that it might be difficult for
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says: Our own people first!! And yes, Vlaams Blok chooses a Flemish Flanders. And yes, Vlaams Blok chooses a white
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but dropped out at the end of his first year. At university he became a member of the Nationalist Student Society (
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With the view of harming the image of Dewinter in the eyes of part of his electorate, the Flemish newspaper
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website revealed that Filip Dewinter had worked for several years as a "senior political advisor" for
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488:, Filip Dewinter mentioned some persons as his friends. Most of these persons were in the ranks of
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as well as other francophone and Flemish parties for them to become part of an appeal against the
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One month later it was revealed that Filip Dewinter was also involved in the then uncovered
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party. In 1983, he became a member of Vlaams Blok. In November 1987, he was elected
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372:' published in the beginning of the 1990s, a policy paper consisting of 70 articles.
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is one of the historical leaders of the Flemish national movement. Our party, the
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A December 2005 interview by Dewinter with the American Jewish newsweekly
308:), one of the ideological seminaries of the Vlaams Belang. He completed a
292:), that later was transformed into the Nationalist Young Students League (
288:. In 1978, as a 16-year-old, he founded the Flemish Student Action Group (
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About the attendance of party members to ceremonies marking the death of
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953:"Vlaamse media: politicus Filip Dewinter jarenlang werkzaam voor China"
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316:) in 1985. After his studies he worked as a reporter for the newspaper
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520:" which was the official motto of the German SS-soldiers during WWII.
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899:"Les yeux doux de Benyamin Nétanyahou à l'extrême droite européenne"
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216:, journalist and commentator. He is one of the leading members of
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conference in Brussels in the European and Flemish Parliaments.
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1185:"Europe's response to the Paris attacks is different this time"
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Eigen volk eerst, een Vlaams Vlaanderen en... een blank Europa
917:"Quinze sympathisants nazis parmi les candidats Vlaams Belang"
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where he began studying political and social sciences at the
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935:"Far-right MP assaulted by left-wing activist in Leuven"
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In 2007 Dewinter took part in hosting the international
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who had been very active in the resistance group, the
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As a teenager, Dewinter was briefly a member of the
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276:Dewinter was already politically active during his
587:movement. This does not mean that they agree with
423:. The incident was condemned by CD&V chairman
261:Dewinter's grandfather on his mother's side was a
234:
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476:On 6 November 1988, Filip Dewinter visited the
356:) which had split from the Flemish nationalist
1131:Echte gezicht van Vlaams Belang (Vlaams blok)
394:party, Dewinter formed a list cartel for the
1050:(Documentary). Belgium: RTBF. Archived from
405:In 2010, he participated in a conference in
1117:. Georgetown University. 17 September 2020.
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821:(The Morning) made known Dewinter's rather
472:Flemish nationalism and Nazi collaboration
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797:Learn how and when to remove this message
563:. But this has no connection with Nazism.
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504:or other men convicted for treason like
239:His father was studying medicine at the
78:Member of the Chamber of Representatives
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657:signs her 'return to sender' contract."
438:On March 25, 2024, an investigation by
143:National Council of European Resistance
90:13 December 1987 – 21 May 1995
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348:, one of the precursor parties of the
294:Nationalistisch Jong Studenten Verbond
212:(born 11 September 1962) is a Belgian
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979:"Russian influence scandal rocks EU"
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306:Nationalistische Studentenvereniging
210:Philip Michel Frans "Filip" Dewinter
1128:Philip Dewinter (Speaking) (1991).
1111:"Factsheet: Counter-Jihad Movement"
897:Vidal, Dominique (2 October 2018).
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1157:Bristow, Kyle (4 September 2008).
296:). In September 1982, he moved to
282:Sint-Franciscus-Xaverius instituut
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48:Member of the Flemish Parliament
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235:Family background and education
1338:Right-wing populism in Belgium
1047:The Hidden Face of Vlaams Blok
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567:In addition, as noted by the
290:Vlaamse Studenten Actie Groep
1044:Jean-Claude Defossé (2004).
733:, especially if potentially
711:biography of a living person
108:Philip Michel Frans Dewinter
7:
829:, to the Israeli newspaper
731:must be removed immediately
550:during WWII he had to say:
457:Russian Influential Network
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1328:MEPs for Belgium 2009–2014
478:Lommel German war cemetery
375:In 2006, he was quoted in
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1333:Politicians from Bruges
1318:Counter-jihad activists
1080:16 October 2005 at the
860:7 February 2008 at the
523:Dewinter has also been
431:, and Flemish minister
254:, had been deported to
1273:Vlaams Belang web site
1256:Quotations related to
1022:Cite journal requires
725:Please help by adding
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573:The Political Cesspool
569:Stephen Roth Institute
565:
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486:University of Antwerp
429:Georges-Louis Bouchez
314:Erasmus Handelsschool
302:University of Antwerp
1283:20 July 2017 at the
1248:at Wikimedia Commons
880:A little-known story
518:My Honour is loyalty
269:(White Brigade), in
198:www.filipdewinter.be
1159:"Global Politician"
823:politically correct
714:relies too much on
402:on 8 October 2006.
342:Vlaamse Volkspartij
222:Flemish nationalist
1343:Vlaams Belang MEPs
1193:. 14 November 2015
1054:on 13 January 2008
941:. 23 October 2022.
884:(28 August 2005):
263:resistance fighter
16:Belgian politician
1323:Flemish activists
1244:Media related to
1115:Bridge Initiative
923:. 2 October 2018.
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660:"He who sows the
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539:. About the
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1303:1962 births
1288:(in French)
1197:17 November
737:or harmful.
644:Vlaams Blok
525:interviewed
433:Zuhal Demir
425:Sammy Mahdi
354:Vlaams Blok
278:high school
163:(1983–2004)
161:Vlaams Blok
158:(1978–1983)
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1297:Categories
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882:in Haaretz
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1281:Archived
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