Bidspirit auction | Underground Pamphlet from the Period

Underground Pamphlet from the Period of the Nazi Occupation of Belgium, Opposing Defeatism in the Face of Nazi Germany. Belgium, 1942 - Servir – To Serve. An underground pamphlet from the period of the Nazi occupation of Belgium, clandestinely published at Christmas 1942, at the height of the war. A comprehensive ideological, political, and moral manifesto issued by Belgian Catholic-conservative and monarchist resistance circles associated with the resistance organization “Secret Army” (Armée Secrète), the underground intellectual group “Servir, ” and the renowned underground newspaper La Libre Belgique (a handwritten inscription on the title page attributes its provenance to the newspaper’s archives and to physician and Resistance member Dr. Michel Goffart). Belgium, 1942. Extremely rare. A clandestine pamphlet written amid the turmoil and national crisis that engulfed Belgium following its rapid military defeat and Nazi occupation. The pamphlet calls for the moral and national revival of Belgium through the rejection of defeatism, and outlines a program of underground resistance, national unity, and loyalty to the monarchy in preparation for the country’s liberation. The authors sharply criticize the failures of the country’s leadership on the eve of the war – including the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, the economic elite, and the leaders of the labor movements – who, they argue, had sunk into individualism, defeatism, and class conflict under the influence of the principles of the French Revolution, abandoning their role as leaders of the public. The pamphlet rejects the defeatist approach and proposes a program of national and moral reconstruction based upon a return to the values of Christianity, tradition, social order, and the establishment of a new moral elite. The author presents the institution of the monarchy and loyalty to the Royal House – paying tribute to the achievements of Kings Leopold I, Leopold II, Albert I, and especially the reigning King Leopold III – as the sole pure pillar of Belgian identity and unity. At the same time, the text presents a complex assessment of the Belgian government-in-exile in London headed by Hubert Pierlot: on the one hand, it criticizes its hesitations and its complicated relationship with the King; on the other, it emphasizes that the government should not be judged too harshly and that it constitutes a vital and indispensable asset in representing the legal continuity of Belgium before the Allied powers. The work concludes with an emphatic call for activism, determined underground organization, solidarity among all sectors of the Belgian people both within the country and abroad, and the establishment of an ideological and practical foundation for the future liberation of Belgium and the restoration of its independence and democratic system. Extremely rare. Not listed in the WorldCat global library catalog. 28 pages. Very good condition.