World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseLucien Alphonse Joseph "José" Streel was born in Seraing, Belgium in 1911. He obtained a doctorate degree in Romance philology (ie. the study of the history and development of Romance languages) from the University of Liège. In the 1930s, he met Léon Degrelle and Jean Denis and became an early member of the nationalist Rexist movement. In 1936, he was made the editor-in-chief of all Rexist publications. In the same year, he published the important Rexist book Ce Qu'Il Faut Penser de Rex. Because he was a member of the Belgian Army Reserve, he was briefly held in a prisoner of war camp upon German conquest of Belgium. During the occupation, he collaborated with the Germans despite having earlier reservations with Naziism. In Aug 1940, he was made the editor of the newspaper Le Pays Réel. Around the same time, he also became a senior advisor to Rexist acting party leader Victor Matthys. In Jan 1943, he resigned from the Rexist Party after clashing with Rexist leader Degrelle. As an independent, despite his pro-German sentiments having cooled considerably by this time, he continued to collaborate with the German occupation administration by writing pro-German essays. In 1944, as Allied troops neared Belgium, he fled to Germany. He worked in a factory for the remainder of the war. Although he was declared a traitor, he voluntarily returned to Belgium. Streel was tried at the Brussels War Tribunal and was executed by firing squad at the army barracks in Ixelles, Brussels in 1946.

José Streel Timeline