Abbeville massacre

The Abbeville massacre took place during World War II on 20 May 1940 in the city of Abbeville, France.During the German invasion, the Belgian authorities had arrested a number of suspects between 10 and 15 May on the orders of the auditor general Walter Ganshof van der Meersch. "It is clear that the arrests were very irresponsible and arbitrary. They just picked up some people: out of revenge, out of jealousy, because of their political beliefs, their Jewish origin or because of their foreign nationality," wrote survivor Gaby Warris. These administrative internees were imprisoned in 't Pandreitje, the former prison of Bruges. Among them were Joris Van Severen, Léon Degrelle and other notables. Despite unsuccessful attempts by befriended members of parliament to free Van Severen , he was deported to France on 15 May 1940 with Degrelle and 77 others. Unlike the other suspects who were taken away in so-called "ghost trains", this mixed group was driven in three buses via Ostend to Dunkirk, where Degrelle was removed from the group. In the study Dossier Abbeville, the backgrounds of all 'suspicious' persons were extensively discussed. The 21 Belgians also included the Rexist René Wéry, Verdinaso member Jan Rijckoort and VNV member Maurits Van Gijsegem. The group also included 18 Jews, 14 German citizens, four Italians , two Dutchmen , Canadian ice hockey coach Bobby Bell, a number of Belgian communists , and two Belgians who actually did work for the German Abwehr.

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