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~SOLD~DEGRELLE León
Standartenführer
Degrelle, León
* 15.05.1906 Bouillon/Belgien
+ 31.03.1994 Malaga/Spanien
Awarded Knights Cross: 20.02.1944
as: Hauptsturmführer Kommandeur SS-Freiw.Brig "Wallonie"
Signed postwar 5” x 7” photo
Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle (Bouillon., June 15, 1906 – March 31, 1994) was a Walloon Belgian politician, who founded Rexism and later joined the Waffen SS (becoming a leader of its Walloon contingent) which were front-line troops in the fight against the Soviet Union.
He joined the Walloon legion of the Wehrmacht, which was raised in August 1941, to combat against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, and Degrelle himself joined it in combat (with leadership of the Rexists passing to Victor Matthys). Lacking any previous military service Degrelle was compelled to join as a private soldier, only later becoming an officer. Initially, the group was meant to represent a continuation of the Belgian Army, and fought as such during Operation Barbarossa - while integrating many Walloons that had volunteered for service. The Walloons were transferred from the Wehrmacht to the control of the Waffen SS in June 1943, becoming the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien
Severely wounded at Cherkasy in 1944 he received the Ritterkreuz (Knights Cross) from Hitler's hands.
Military record
Degrelle, Léon Joseph Marie SS-Standartenführer d. R. der Waffen-SS
15.06.1906 in Bouillon, Belgium.
+ 31.03.1994 in San-Antonio-Park Hospital, Málaga, Spain.
NSDAP-Nr.: [Not a member]
SS-Nr.: [None – Walloon Waffen-SS volunteer]
Promotions:
12.02.1942 Gefreiter (Heer)
28.02.1942 Oberfeldwebel (Heer)
01.05.1942 Leutnant d. R. (Heer)
01.06.1943 SS-Obersturmführer d. R. der Waffen-SS
01.01.1944 SS-Hauptsturmführer d. R. der Waffen-SS
20.04.1944 SS-Sturmbannführer d. R. der Waffen-SS
01.01.1945 SS-Obersturmbannführer d. R. der Waffen-SS
20.04.1945 SS-Standartenführer d. R. der Waffen-SS
Note: Degrelle was promoted directly to SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS d. R. by Heinrich Himmler on 02.05.1945; an entry to this effect appears in his Soldbuch, however this promotion cannot be considered official as Himmler had been stripped of all SS and Party posts by Führer order on 28.04.1945.
Decorations & Awards:
Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves22.08.1944 Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht
27.08.1944 Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as SS-Sturmbannführer d. R. and Kdr. 5.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzer-Brigade “Wallonien” / Kampfgruppe Wagner / Armee-Abteilung Narwa / Heeresgruppe Nord, Northeastern Front
20.02.1944 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer d. R., and Führer SS-Sturmbrigade “Wallonien” / 8.Armee / Heeresgruppe Süd, Eastern Front
09.10.1944 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold as SS-Sturmbannführer d. R. and Kdr. 5.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade “Wallonien” / 5.SS-Panzer-Division “Wiking” / III.(germanische) SS-Panzer-Korps / Armee-Abteilung Grasser / Heeresgruppe Nord, Northeastern Front
21.05.1942 1939 Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse
13.03.1942 1939 Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse
14.09.1944 Nahkampfspange III.Stufe (Gold)
19.03.1944 Nahkampfspange II.Stufe (Silber)
30.11.1943 Nahkampfspange I.Stufe (Bronze) (other documents indicate 23.12.1943 and 20 .02. 1944)
25.08.1942 Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Silber
19.03.1944 Verwundetenabzeichen, 1939 in Gold
20.02.1944 Verwundetenabzeichen, 1939 in Silber (another document indicates 23.12.1943)
15.08.1942 Medaille “Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42” (Ostmedaille)
Notes:
Came from a christian family of 8 children.
Studied law at the university of Leuven.
1936: Founded the "REX" ('Christus King') political party.
1939: Was elected people's representant in Belgian parliament.
10.5.1940: Arrested by Belgian police, deported to France.
10.7.1944: Edouard Degrelle (his apolitical brother) murdered in his drugstore by the resistance, in front of his children.
1954: Takes on Spanish nationality.
Became an outspoken advocate of Holocaust denial after the war.
Postwar Prosecution:
Sentenced to death in absentia by Belgian court, Nov. 1944.
(Based on: Mike Miller, Axis Biographical Research, http://www.geocities.com/~orion47, June 10 200
After Germany's defeat, Degrelle fled to Denmark and eventually Norway, where he commandeered a Heinkel He 111 aircraft[1], allegedly provided by Albert Speer. He was severely wounded in a crash-landing on the beach at San Sebastian in Northern Spain. The government of Franco in Spain initially refused to hand him over to the Allies (or extradite him to Belgium) by citing his health condition. After further international pressures, Francisco Franco permitted his escape from hospital, while handing over a look-alike; in the meanwhile, José Finat y Escrivá de Romaní helped Degrelle obtain false papers. In 1954, in order to ensure his stay, Spain granted him Spanish citizenship under the name José León Ramírez Reina, and the Falange assigned him the leadership of a construction firm that benefitted from state contracts. Belgium convicted him of treason in absentia and condemned him to death by firing squad.
While in Spain, during the time of Franco, Degrelle maintained a high standard of living and would frequently appear in public and in private meetings in a white uniform featuring his German decorations, while expressing his pride over his close contacts and "thinking bond" with Adolf Hitler. He continued to live undisturbed when Spain became democratic after the death of Franco.
Degrelle continued publishing and polemicizing, voicing his support for far right solutions. He became active in the Neo-Nazi Círculo Español de Amigos de Europa (CEDADE), and led its printing press in Barcelona - where he published a large portion of his own writings, including an Open Letter to Pope John Paul II[2] on the topic of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the extermination purpose of which Degrelle called "one big fraud, Holy Father." His repeated negationist statements on the topic of Nazi genocide brought Degrelle to trial with Violeta Friedmann, a Romanian-born Venezuelan survivor of the camps; although the lower courts were initially favourable to Degrelle, the Supreme Court of Spain decided that he had brought offence to the memory of the victims, both Jews and non-Jews, and it sentenced him to pay a substantial fine. It was also decided that he should pay a fine for his Open Letter to Pope John Paul II as well.
Degrelle died from cardiac arrest in a hospital in Málaga in 1994.
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