Leon Degrelle’s Tunic
SS-Oberführer Léon Degrelle’s original wartime tunic and medals. Degrelle was a famous Belgian nationalist leader, veteran war hero and founder of the Walloon Legion. He commanded this unit, later renamed the the SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division Wallonien (SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonia), with distinction on the Eastern Front. Due to his unique charisma and media presence, Degrelle came to be seen as the face of the wider European collaboration movement, symbolizing order, cohesion and national renewal for Europe, as promised by the National Socialists.
Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle was born on June 15th, 1906, in a small village in southern Belgium. A journalist in his younger years, he served as the inspiration for the famous cartoon character Tintin, devised by his then-colleague Hergé. From the mid-1930’s Degrelle would begin to participate directly in politics, founding the Catholic, third-positionist Rexist Party. He was highly critical of governmental corruption, and what he saw as collusion between high finance and Belgium’s liberal-democratic establishment.
When Belgium was occupied by Germany in 1940, and witnessing the Wehrmacht’s total victory in the West, Degrelle began to see collaboration as the only avenue to achieve political power or independence for his nation. Upon hearing about the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Degrelle would declare his unconditional support for Germany. As leader of the Belgian Rexist Party, he would offer to raise a volunteer battalion of his fellow French-speaking Walloons to join the fight against Bolshevism, convinced this would secure Belgium a place of honor in Adolf Hitler’s coming ‘new order’ for Europe. The unit, christened the Légion Wallonie (Walloon Legion), would encounter heavy frontline action on the Eastern Front, join the vaunted Schutzstaffel (SS) and fight alongside their German comrades until the bitter end.
Degrelle’s legion would initially be assigned to rearguard anti-partisan (Bandenbekämpfung) duties by the Germans, who were skeptical of the combat prowess of these untried volunteers. They were tasked with hunting down Bolshevik terrorists who often hid amongst Soviet women and children, and the inexperienced legionnaires were reportedly shaken to their core by this extraordinarily brutal and cruel type of warfare they were thrown into.
Having proven their mettle, the Walloon Legion eventually began to be deployed against regular Soviet forces and Degrelle commanded his heavily outnumbered legion with courage and grim determination. For his bravery and inspirational leadership amidst grim hand-to-hand combat, Degrelle would be awarded the Iron Cross. Despite the grievous losses sustained by his legion, the fighting qualities and astonishing tenacity displayed by the Belgians finally earned Degrelle and his men the admiration and respect of regular Wehrmacht troops. With the Walloons’ reputation greatly enhanced, the thawing of relations with their German peers restored the unit’s flagging morale, as did their considerable successes in the savage battles that awaited them during the autumn of 1942.
Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler considered the now battle-proven Walloons worthy of admission into his personal elite paramilitary, the Waffen-SS. The unit was reorganized as the 5. SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Wallonien (5th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade Wallonia) with Degrelle, recently promoted to SS-Hauptstürmfuhrer (Captain), acting as its chief of staff. With his deepening ties to the SS, it was around this time that Degrelle would begin to vocalize his intentions to revive and rule the medieval Duchy of Burgundy as a modern SS buffer state led by a warrior aristocracy, with Belgium at its core and further territories carved out of France.
Elevated to new heights of combat prowess, the 2,000 men of the now fully motorized brigade were rushed to the Ukrainian sector of the front in November 1943 to halt the Russian advance. During the bloody engagement, the brigade commander SS-Obersturmbannführer Lucien Lippert was killed, and it fell to Degrelle to quickly take command of what was left of the shattered unit. Degrelle’s questionable grasp of military strategy was compensated for by his unflinching courage, cool head and hard-won battle experience. At a time when the fate of the Walloons hung by a thread, it was often Degrelle’s qualities as a fighting leader that set the example for his men. Few of his troops would ever forget seeing Degrelle, in agony from a deep wound in his side, continue to personally lead them through fighting so ghastly that it was considered completely beyond the comprehension of anyone who had not lived through it.
Despite these hellish conditions, the Belgians managed to hold back the Russian onslaught. Dragging their wounded with them, they fought alongside German units in a desperate rear-guard action through lethal Russian rocket and artillery fire. However, as Degrelle and the exhausted remnants of the brigade closed on the German lines, they appeared certain to be overtaken and massacred by the pursuing Russians. In a heroic act of self-sacrifice, the 5th SS-Panzerdivision Wiking‘s few remaining panzers suddenly turned back to hold off the Red Army units until the Belgians had reached safety.
This action came at a heavy cost to the brigade, but Degrelle would be promoted to SS-Sturmbannführer (Major) and flown out of Russia to be awarded the Knight’s Cross personally by Adolf Hitler for his incredible bravery. As the two men discussed the situation on the front, it was apparent that Hitler not only had a great personal interest in the progress of the brigade but also held Degrelle in high esteem.
In 1944, the brigade found themselves almost encircled in the Baltic, fending off an insurmountable onslaught. For three weeks during the Battle of Narva, Degrelle’s mostly inexperienced Walloons had been committed to heavy combat. Degrelle was flown out of Estonia and once again brought before Hitler on August 27th, 1944, where he had the unique distinction of being one of the few non-ethnic Germans to be awarded the coveted Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross alongside the prestigious Close Combat Clasp in gold (awarded to men who had fought through no less than 50 days of close-quarter combat), and by none other the Führer himself. During this encounter, Hitler is said to have stated to Degrelle that “If I had a son, I would have liked him to be like you”.
Despite being virtually annihilated during its service in Russia and Estonia, the Wallonien Brigade was upgraded in September 1944 to form the 28th SS-Division, commanded by the now SS-Oberstürmbannfuhrer (Lieutenant Colonel) Léon Degrelle.
Degrelle’s men were eventually pushed back to the gates of the German capital alongside their German allies. Seeing the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, Degrelle decided here to relieve the men under men under his command who no longer wished to fight. Escaping the Soviet encirclement himself, Degrelle made his way to occupied Norway and boarded a Heinkel He 111 aircraft arranged by the local Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. The aircraft crash-landed in Francoist Spain, and the badly injured Degrelle was detained by the authorities in a hospital for nearly a year.
Being wanted by the Belgian government for his alleged war crimes, Degrelle was granted asylum in Spain by the sympathetic dictator Francisco Franco, eventually obtaining Spanish citizenship under the name José León Ramírez Reina and living out the rest of his days in Málaga while avoiding extradition. He remained politically active while in exile in Spain and was a prolific writer until his death in 1994. Throughout his many publications, autobiographies and memoirs, he defended his actions and National Socialist worldview, recounting his career with the Waffen-SS with pride. He continued to make public appearances in this very SS uniform, and organized reunions for fellow SS veterans at his estate in Málaga.
“They died out there, in countless numbers, not for government officials in Berlin, but for their old countries, gilded by the centuries, and for their common fatherland, Europe, the Europe of Virgil and Ronsard, the Europe of Erasmus and Nietzsche, of Raphael and Dürer, the Europe of St. Ignatius and St. Theresa, the Europe of Frederick the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte.” – Léon Degrelle, The Eastern Front: Memoirs of a Waffen SS Volunteer, 1941–1945
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SS-Oberführer Léon Degrelle’s original wartime tunic and medals. Degrelle was a famous Belgian nationalist leader, veteran war hero and founder of the Walloon Legion. He commanded this unit, later renamed the the SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division Wallonien (SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonia), with distinction on the Eastern Front. Due to his unique charisma and media presence, Degrelle came to be seen as the face of the wider European collaboration movement, symbolizing order, cohesion and national renewal for Europe, as promised by the National Socialists.
Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle was born on June 15th, 1906, in a small village in southern Belgium. A journalist in his younger years, he served as the inspiration for the famous cartoon character Tintin, devised by his then-colleague Hergé. From the mid-1930’s Degrelle would begin to participate directly in politics, founding the Catholic, third-positionist Rexist Party. He was highly critical of governmental corruption, and what he saw as collusion between high finance and Belgium’s liberal-democratic establishment.
When Belgium was occupied by Germany in 1940, and witnessing the Wehrmacht’s total victory in the West, Degrelle began to see collaboration as the only avenue to achieve political power or independence for his nation. Upon hearing about the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Degrelle would declare his unconditional support for Germany. As leader of the Belgian Rexist Party, he would offer to raise a volunteer battalion of his fellow French-speaking Walloons to join the fight against Bolshevism, convinced this would secure Belgium a place of honor in Adolf Hitler’s coming ‘new order’ for Europe. The unit, christened the Légion Wallonie (Walloon Legion), would encounter heavy frontline action on the Eastern Front, join the vaunted Schutzstaffel (SS) and fight alongside their German comrades until the bitter end.
Degrelle’s legion would initially be assigned to rearguard anti-partisan (Bandenbekämpfung) duties by the Germans, who were skeptical of the combat prowess of these untried volunteers. They were tasked with hunting down Bolshevik terrorists who often hid amongst Soviet women and children, and the inexperienced legionnaires were reportedly shaken to their core by this extraordinarily brutal and cruel type of warfare they were thrown into.
Having proven their mettle, the Walloon Legion eventually began to be deployed against regular Soviet forces and Degrelle commanded his heavily outnumbered legion with courage and grim determination. For his bravery and inspirational leadership amidst grim hand-to-hand combat, Degrelle would be awarded the Iron Cross. Despite the grievous losses sustained by his legion, the fighting qualities and astonishing tenacity displayed by the Belgians finally earned Degrelle and his men the admiration and respect of regular Wehrmacht troops. With the Walloons’ reputation greatly enhanced, the thawing of relations with their German peers restored the unit’s flagging morale, as did their considerable successes in the savage battles that awaited them during the autumn of 1942.
Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler considered the now battle-proven Walloons worthy of admission into his personal elite paramilitary, the Waffen-SS. The unit was reorganized as the 5. SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Wallonien (5th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade Wallonia) with Degrelle, recently promoted to SS-Hauptstürmfuhrer (Captain), acting as its chief of staff. With his deepening ties to the SS, it was around this time that Degrelle would begin to vocalize his intentions to revive and rule the medieval Duchy of Burgundy as a modern SS buffer state led by a warrior aristocracy, with Belgium at its core and further territories carved out of France.
Elevated to new heights of combat prowess, the 2,000 men of the now fully motorized brigade were rushed to the Ukrainian sector of the front in November 1943 to halt the Russian advance. During the bloody engagement, the brigade commander SS-Obersturmbannführer Lucien Lippert was killed, and it fell to Degrelle to quickly take command of what was left of the shattered unit. Degrelle’s questionable grasp of military strategy was compensated for by his unflinching courage, cool head and hard-won battle experience. At a time when the fate of the Walloons hung by a thread, it was often Degrelle’s qualities as a fighting leader that set the example for his men. Few of his troops would ever forget seeing Degrelle, in agony from a deep wound in his side, continue to personally lead them through fighting so ghastly that it was considered completely beyond the comprehension of anyone who had not lived through it.
Despite these hellish conditions, the Belgians managed to hold back the Russian onslaught. Dragging their wounded with them, they fought alongside German units in a desperate rear-guard action through lethal Russian rocket and artillery fire. However, as Degrelle and the exhausted remnants of the brigade closed on the German lines, they appeared certain to be overtaken and massacred by the pursuing Russians. In a heroic act of self-sacrifice, the 5th SS-Panzerdivision Wiking‘s few remaining panzers suddenly turned back to hold off the Red Army units until the Belgians had reached safety.
This action came at a heavy cost to the brigade, but Degrelle would be promoted to SS-Sturmbannführer (Major) and flown out of Russia to be awarded the Knight’s Cross personally by Adolf Hitler for his incredible bravery. As the two men discussed the situation on the front, it was apparent that Hitler not only had a great personal interest in the progress of the brigade but also held Degrelle in high esteem.
In 1944, the brigade found themselves almost encircled in the Baltic, fending off an insurmountable onslaught. For three weeks during the Battle of Narva, Degrelle’s mostly inexperienced Walloons had been committed to heavy combat. Degrelle was flown out of Estonia and once again brought before Hitler on August 27th, 1944, where he had the unique distinction of being one of the few non-ethnic Germans to be awarded the coveted Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross alongside the prestigious Close Combat Clasp in gold (awarded to men who had fought through no less than 50 days of close-quarter combat), and by none other the Führer himself. During this encounter, Hitler is said to have stated to Degrelle that “If I had a son, I would have liked him to be like you”.
Despite being virtually annihilated during its service in Russia and Estonia, the Wallonien Brigade was upgraded in September 1944 to form the 28th SS-Division, commanded by the now SS-Oberstürmbannfuhrer (Lieutenant Colonel) Léon Degrelle.
Degrelle’s men were eventually pushed back to the gates of the German capital alongside their German allies. Seeing the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, Degrelle decided here to relieve the men under men under his command who no longer wished to fight. Escaping the Soviet encirclement himself, Degrelle made his way to occupied Norway and boarded a Heinkel He 111 aircraft arranged by the local Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. The aircraft crash-landed in Francoist Spain, and the badly injured Degrelle was detained by the authorities in a hospital for nearly a year.
Being wanted by the Belgian government for his alleged war crimes, Degrelle was granted asylum in Spain by the sympathetic dictator Francisco Franco, eventually obtaining Spanish citizenship under the name José León Ramírez Reina and living out the rest of his days in Málaga while avoiding extradition. He remained politically active while in exile in Spain and was a prolific writer until his death in 1994. Throughout his many publications, autobiographies and memoirs, he defended his actions and National Socialist worldview, recounting his career with the Waffen-SS with pride. He continued to make public appearances in this very SS uniform, and organized reunions for fellow SS veterans at his estate in Málaga.
“They died out there, in countless numbers, not for government officials in Berlin, but for their old countries, gilded by the centuries, and for their common fatherland, Europe, the Europe of Virgil and Ronsard, the Europe of Erasmus and Nietzsche, of Raphael and Dürer, the Europe of St. Ignatius and St. Theresa, the Europe of Frederick the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte.” – Léon Degrelle, The Eastern Front: Memoirs of a Waffen SS Volunteer, 1941–1945
