Entre la peste et le choléra

During the Second World War, the church, like the secretaries general, the judiciary and business leaders, adapted to the occupation regime and tried to protect its own interests. As a result of this policy of accommodation, it recognized the Militärverwaltung as occupying power. The bishops, however, dismissed collaborationism  since they  considered Nazism as incompatible with Christianity and serving the enemy as irreconcilable with patriotism.

This book explores the question of how church policy was applied on the ground by clergy and Catholic organizations and institutions. Did the catholic community act in such a prudent and calculated way as most bishops or, concerned and worried about the fate of others, did it engage in a much more decisive manner? How did the clergy and believers react in view of the persecution of Jews? What impact did the occupation have on catholic youth movements and on the catholic trade – union ? ? How did the priest Cyriel Verschaeve, one of the figureheads of the collaboration, intend to reconcile Christian doctrines with Nazism?

In addition to two summary articles, the book consists of eleven contributions, divided into two sections. One of them is related to civil society, the other one to the ecclesiastical world. In the latter section, a special place has been reserved for "the Church and the Jewish question".

The Belgian church in the turmoil of the Second World War