Bruine en witte paters. Franciscanen, kapucijnen en dominicanen en de collaboratie tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog in Vlaanderen

In this doctoral dissertation, the involvement of the Flemish regular clergy in the collaboration with the occupying forces during the Second World War is investigated. A first exploration of the topic revealed that an approach focussing on concrete acts would not be very productive. Considering this, we opted for an approach focussing on motivation, based on the historical work of Aline Sax. An analytical framework, based on a series of motives, was created for the interpretation of the source material. Those motives are: collaboration out of (1) a desire for a Catholic New Order, (2) Flemish or Pan-Dutch nationalism, (3) anti-communism, (4) anti-Jewish sentiments, (5) esthetical appreciation and (6) family or friendly connection with the collaboration movement. This framework based on motivations does not only permit an analysis of the ideological and actual support of religious to the collaboration, but also the formulation of an answer to one of the most important questions in the societal debate about the collaboration: to which degree did religious before the war contribute to an intellectual climate that proved to be a fertile soil for the seed of the collaboration during the war? Next, the selected motives are applied to three religious orders: Franciscans, Capuchins and Dominicans. In the three chapters discussing these respective orders, their spiritual and institutional background is discussed first, as well as their evolution in the interwar period. Attention is given especially to the reception of major social and political issues within the religious institutes, such as the Flemish question. With regard to the first motive, the desire of a Catholic New Order, we see that the interest in right wing authoritarian regimes among religious faded away at the end of the thirties, when the incompatibility with Catholicism had become very clear. Those who were willing to hold on to an ecclesiastical politics of accommodation towards the occupier, were motivated by authoritarian sympathies and a distrust towards the Catholic pillar. The second motive, Flemish nationalism, shows an important difference between the three orders. Whereas the Franciscans took a more moderate stance in the Flemish question, political commitment among the Capuchins was complicated by a religious observant movement. The Dominicans on the other hand profiled themselves on the Flemish question, resulting in an influx of radical youngsters and, in some cases, sympathy for the collaboration, hoping that the occupying forces would give Flanders its independence. Anticommunism was not as important as a motive as is generally assumed. Only in the Dominican Order an organised anti-communist apostolate can be shown to have existed. Sympathy for the collaboration out of anti-Jewish or esthetical considerations was equally virtually absent. The network dimension of the collaboration is addressed by researching the support of religious to persecuted collaborators. Beside an expression of Christian charity, this support was often also motivated by family or friendship bonds, and in some cases even an expression of shared political convictions. As regards to the integration in the religious institutes of persons coming from a collaboration background, we see that a fraught personal or familial past formed no objection. The crucial question was whether or not someone was suitable for religious life.

Jaar van publicatie:2020

Toegankelijkheid:Closed