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‘I Swear I Am a True Patriot!’ Rhetorical Defence Strategies of Suspects During the Prosecution of Denunciation to the Enemy in Belgium in the Wake of the First World War

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Doing Justice In Wartime

Part of the book series: Studies in the History of Law and Justice ((SHLJ,volume 19))

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Abstract

In the wake of the First World War, the Belgian judiciary prosecuted Belgian civilians for various kinds of collaboration with the former German occupier. This chapter examines how Belgian civilians suspected of having denounced others to the German occupier defended themselves against such accusations during the post-war judicial investigations. To this end, a corpus of judicial case files of cases of denunciation was scrutinized. Besides analysing the suspect’s defence strategies, this chapter also reflects on the nature of cases of denunciations. It is argued that due to the distinctive interpersonal character of the underlying conflicts, the difficulties to prove a denunciation in court and the lack of material evidence, suspects were given ample opportunity to develop various rhetorical strategies to defend themselves against accusations of denunciation to the enemy.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Consulting these archives resulted in a diverse corpus of 391 files that considered a total of 420 suspected denouncers (cases dismissed, cases judged in the first instance and cases sentenced in higher appeal put together). A random sample was taken for this research, resulting in a total of 159 files (196 suspects) scrutinised thoroughly. State Archives Beveren (SAB), Public Prosecutor’s Office Antwerp, R527, nr. 138–141; SAB, Public Prosecutor’s Office Antwerp, R600, nr. 6053–6058; SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisten’, nr. 1–548. State Archives Brussels 2—Dépot Cuvelier (SAB2), Court of appeal Brussels, Dossiers incivisme.

  2. 2.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisten’, nr. 293, Case against Maria Van D., Letter from Maria Van D. to Military Prosecutor, 16/7/1919.

  3. 3.

    SAB, Public Prosecutor’s Office Antwerp, R527, nr. 141, Case against Gabrielle O., PV from Military Security, 5/3/1919.

  4. 4.

    SAB2, Court of appeal Brussels, Dossiers incivisme, Case against Eugenie Van L., PV police Schelle, 27/1/919.

  5. 5.

    See also Jan Julia Zurné’s chapter in this volume.

  6. 6.

    SAB, Public Prosecutor’ Office, R527, nr. 138, Case against Van Den P, Letter from Van Den P. to Police Antwerp, 17/12/1918.

  7. 7.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisten’, Case against Sophia J. & Antonia Van Den E., PV Military Prosecutor Antwerp, 18/2/1919.

  8. 8.

    SAB2, Court of appeal Brussels, Dossiers incivisme, Case against Hermann P., Letter lawyer P. to Public Prosecutor-General, 12/12/1919.

  9. 9.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisten’, nr. 278, Case against August B., PV Investigating magistrate Antwerp, 24/3/1919.

  10. 10.

    SAB2, Court of appeal Brussels, Dossiers incivisme, Case against Maurice V., Letter from lawyer to Public Prosecutor General, 9/10/1919.

  11. 11.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisten’, nr. 473, Case against Prudent F., letter from F. to Military Prosecutor, 23/3/1919.

  12. 12.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisten’, nr. 266, Case against Valentina G., passim.

  13. 13.

    SAB2, Court of appeal Brussels, Dossiers incivisme, Case against Josef C. & Irène Van P., Letter from lawyer to Investigating Magistrate, 13/2/1919.

  14. 14.

    SAB2, Court of appeal Brussels, Dossiers incivisme, Case against Josef C. & Irène Van P., PV police Antwerp, 17/2/1919.

  15. 15.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisme’, nr. 276, Case against Marie C. and Jan De M., Letter from C. to Minister of Justice, 3/12/1919.

  16. 16.

    SAB, Public Prosecutor Antwerp, R527, nr. 140, Case against Louise F., Letter from F. to investigating magistrate, 14/4/1919.

  17. 17.

    SAB2, Court of appeal Brussels, Dossiers incivisme, Case against Marie Van T., Letter of denunciation, undated.

  18. 18.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisme’, nr. 475, Case against Henri R., Note from Belgian Military Security Service, 7/1/1919.

  19. 19.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisten,’ nr. 458, Case against Karel S., PV police Antwerp, 6/3/1919.

  20. 20.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisten,’ nr. 458, Case against Karel S., Sentence of the correctional tribunal, 26/6/1920.

  21. 21.

    SAB2, Court of appeal Brussels, Dossiers incivisme, Case against Camiel De C., PV police Antwerp, 18/12/1918.

  22. 22.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisten’, Case against Karel C., Primus di L., Emmanuel Van H., Jozef W., Sentence of the correctional tribunal, 18/9/1919.

  23. 23.

    SAB, Correctional Tribunal Antwerp, R20, Dossiers ‘Activisme’.

  24. 24.

    At the time, the Court of appeal of Brussels had jurisdiction for appeal procedures of cases judged in the first instance by the correctional tribunals of Antwerp, Mechelen, Turnhout, Leuven, Brussels, Nivelles, Tournai, Mons and Charleroi.

  25. 25.

    See also Jan Julia Zurné’s chapter in this volume.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. History Department, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Gertjan Leenders

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  1. Gertjan Leenders
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Correspondence to Gertjan Leenders .

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  1. CegeSoma/Royal Military Academy, Brussels, Belgium

    Mélanie Bost

  2. Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Antoon Vrints

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Leenders, G. (2021). ‘I Swear I Am a True Patriot!’ Rhetorical Defence Strategies of Suspects During the Prosecution of Denunciation to the Enemy in Belgium in the Wake of the First World War. In: Bost, M., Vrints, A. (eds) Doing Justice In Wartime. Studies in the History of Law and Justice, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72050-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72050-6_3

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