High Ranking Fascist Collaborators: Politicians
Leader of Belgium’s Fascist Rex Movement and Nazi Collaborator: Louis Collard
13m
Louis Collard became one of the leading figures of the Rex movement, the fascist organization that collaborated with Nazi Germany during the occupation of Belgium in World War II. Rising through the ranks under Léon Degrelle, Collard helped direct propaganda, coordinate repression, and strengthen ties with the Gestapo and SD as Rex transformed into a key instrument of Nazi control in occupied Belgium.
As the war turned against Germany, Collard oversaw violent reprisals against resistance supporters and became closely linked to the Courcelles massacre, one of the most infamous atrocities committed by Belgian collaborators during the occupation.
This story follows Collard’s rise from a young fascist activist to one of the most powerful Rexist leaders in Belgium, his role in collaboration and political terror, the collapse of Rex after liberation, and the war crimes trials that ended with his execution in 1947.