Belgium issued a report documenting its collaboration with Nazi Germany during World War II. “Docile Belgium,” a historical study commissioned by Brussels and issued this week, paints a picture of a country that was ripe for helping carry out the Holocaust due to the anti-Semitism of the ruling classes. “Belgium adopted a docile attitude providing collaboration unworthy of a democracy in diverse and crucial areas for a disastrous policy toward Belgian and foreign Jews,” the 1,114-page report by the Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society, www.cegesoma.be, says. Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt called for the findings to be incorporated in the country’s schoolbooks.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.