Collective Memories of WWII Collaboration in Belgium and Attitudes About Amnesty in the Two Main Linguistic Communities
Abstract
Collaboration with the Nazi occupier during WWII has always been a topic of dissent between French-speakers (FS) and Dutch-speakers (DS) in Belgium. According to a popular myth coined after the war and often narrated in the media and literature, collaboration was widespread in Flanders, whereas Walloons bravely resisted, although historical reality is much more nuanced. These representations regularly resurface in political debates surrounding the Belgian linguistic conflict. Demands for amnesty addressed by nationalist Flemish parties are a case in point. A questionnaire survey (N = 521; 315 FS and 206 DS) showed that collaboration was represented negatively and was morally condemned in both groups. However, DS expressed more Support for Amnesty (SA) than FS. This effect of Linguistic Group (LG) on SA was mediated by judgment of morality of collaboration, and this mediation was moderated by identification with the LG. Interestingly, SA was predicted by judgments of morality of DS, but not of FS, collaborators, in both groups, as if francophone collaboration was deemed irrelevant. Results suggest that differences between DS and FS in political position taking regarding the granting of amnesty are partly due to differences in representations of collaboration, and to different perspectives towards the same historical representation. The myth is both shared and disputed.References
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http://www.cegesoma.be/cms/pdf.php?pge_art=54&article=1121&pagnbr=12&pagofs=2
[2] O., Klein, L., Licata, N., Van Der Linden, A., Mercy & O., Luminet. ‘A waffle-shaped model on how realistic dimensions of the Belgian conflict structure collective memories and stereo-types’. Memory Studies, 5(1), pp. 16-31, 2012.
[3] R., Van Doorslaer. (2006). ‘L’héritage politique de la guerre et en particulier de la collaboration en Belgique, 1945-2000’. In Collaboration : nazification ? Le cas du Luxembourg à la lu-mière des situations française, belge et néerlandaise. Actes du Colloque international de mai 2006 (pp.475-491). Neumün-ster : Ed. Archives nationales de Luxembourg.
[4] B., De Wever. (September 2010). Traduit par D., Berkenbaum. La tribune de Bart De Wever: “Nazis Flamandsâ€. [Online] Available: http://www.lesoir.be/actualite/belgique/2010-09-22/la-tribune-de-bart-de-wever-nazis-flamands-794538.php.
[5] Br., De Wever, Br. ‘La collaboration en Belgique pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale’. In Collaboration : nazification ? Le cas du Luxembourg à la lumière des situations française, belge et néerlandaise. Actes du Colloque international de mai 200 (pp.293-347). Neumünster: Ed. Archives nationales de Luxembourg, 2006.
[6] F., Plisnier. Ils ont pris les armes pour Hitler (1940-1944). La collaboration armée en Belgique francophone. Bruxelles : Ed. Luc Pire, 2008.
[7] V., Dujardin, & M., Van den Wijngaert. La Belgique sans roi. Nouvelle histoire de Belgique 1940-1950. Nivelles : Ed. Le Cri, 2010.
[8] F., Maerten. ‘Préface’. In F. Plisnier. Ils ont pris les armes pour Hitler (1940-1944). La collaboration armée en Belgique fran-cophone (pp. 9-19). Bruxelles : Ed. Luc Pire, 2008.
[9] M., Beyen. ‘Elle est de plus en plus noire, la masse des flamingants. Comment s’est forgée l’image de l’occupation et de la répression en Flandre, 1945-2000. In J. Gotovich, & Ch., Kes-teloot (Eds.), Collaboration, répression. Un passé qui résiste (pp. 99-113). Bruxelles: Editions Labor, Coll. La Noria, 2002.
[10] K., Aerts. "Repressie zonder maat of einde ?", Ph.D. Thesis, UGent, Gent, Belgium, may 2011.
[11] M., Halbwachs. La mémoire collective. Paris: Presses Universi-taires de France, 1950.
[12] L., Licata, & O., Klein, O. ‘Regards croisés sur un passé commun : anciens colonisés et anciens coloniaux face à l’action belge au Congo’. In M., Sanchez-Mazas & L., Licata. L'Autre: Regards psychosociaux (pp.241-277). Saint-Martin d'Hères: Presses Universitaires de Grenoble, 2005.
[13] L., van Ypersele. ‘Les mémoires collectives’. In L. van Ypersele (Ed.), Questions d’histoire contemporaine. Conflits, mémoire et identités (pp. 191-201). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2006.
[14] J., Viaud. Mémoire collective, représentations sociales et pra-tiques sociales. Connexions, 2(80), pp. 13-30, 2003.
[15] C.W., Leach, N., Ellemers, M., Barreto, ‘Group virtue: The im-portance of morality (vs. competence and sociability) in the positive evaluation of in-group’. Journal of personality and so-cial psychology, 93(2), pp. 234-249, 2007.
[16] L., Licata, O., Klein, & R., Gely, R. ‘Mémoire des conflits, conflits de mémoires : une approche psychosociale et philosophique du rôle de la mémoire collective dans le processus de réconcil-iation intergroupe’. Social Science Information, 46, pp. 563-589, 2007.
[17] H.J., Liu, & D.J.,Hilton. ‘How the past weights on the present: Social representations of history and their role in identity pol-itics’. British Journal of Social Psychology, 44, pp. 537-356, 2005.
[18] O., Klein, & L., Licata. ‘When group representations serve social change: The speeches of Patrice Lumumba during the Congo-lese decolonization’. British Journal of Social Psychology, 42(4), 571 593, 2003.
[19] S., Heenen-Wolff, A., Bazan, & A., Verougstraete. ‘The Belgo-Belgian conflict in individual narratives: Psychodynamics of trauma in the history of Belgium’. Memory Studies, 5(1), pp. 58-73, 2010.
[20] Fr., Balace. ‘Collaboration et répression en Wallonie: un regard particulier?’ In J., Gotovich, & Ch. Kesteloot (Eds.), Collabora-tion, répression. Un passé qui résiste (pp.51-70). Bruxelles: Edi-tions Labor, Coll. La Noria, 2002.
How to Cite
DE GUISSMé, Laura; LICATA, Laurent; MERCY, Aurélie.
Collective Memories of WWII Collaboration in Belgium and Attitudes About Amnesty in the Two Main Linguistic Communities.
Култура/Culture, [S.l.], n. 5, p. 49-58, mar. 2014.
ISSN 1857-7725.
Available at: <http://journals.cultcenter.net/index.php/culture/article/view/62>. Date accessed: 11 feb. 2026.
Section
English Articles
Keywords
collective memory, social representations, WWII, collaboration, amnesty
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