Courcelles massacre
The Courcelles massacre (), sometimes known as the Rognac massacre (Tuerie du Rognac), involved the killing of 27 civilians in a number of separate instances by a collaborationist militia associated with the Rexist Party in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. The killings occurred on 17–18 August 1944 near Courcelles, a suburb of the industrial city of Charleroi in Hainaut Province, shortly before the Liberation of Belgium in revenge for the killing of a Rexist official by the Belgian Resistance. Background Rex and German-occupied Belgium At the time of the German invasion in May 1940, Belgium had several political parties that were broadly sympathetic to the authoritarian and anti-democratic ideals represented by Nazi Germany. In Wallonia and Brussels, the largest of these groups was the Rexist Party, led by Léon Degrelle. This had originated as a faction of the mainstream Catholic Block, but split in 1935 to form an independent populist party. Ideologically, Rex supported Belgian nationalism, but its support for corporatism and anti-communism made it sympathetic towards aspects of Nazi ideology. It achieved some early success, peaking at the elections of 1936 in which it received 11.5 percent of the national vote, but experienced a decline in the following years before the German invasion and remained marginal. After the Belgian surrender on 28 May 1940, a German Military Administration was created to govern the occupied territory. Preferring a strategy of indirect rule, the administration preferred to work with established Belgian political and social elites, largely ignoring fringe political groups such as the Rexists. In order to acquire more influence and German support, Rex attempted to bring itself closer to the occupation authorities. On 1 January 1941, Degrelle announced Rex's total support for the occupation authorities and for the policy of collaborationism and its political influence in German circles rose after the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. Rex and the Belgian Resistance Over following years, especially after 1943, Rex consolidated its control over local government in German-occupied Wallonia and an increasing number of party members were installed as burgomasters with German support. This was particularly true in the industrial region around Charleroi and La Louvière known as the Pays Noir, historically a centre for socialist and communist activism, where Rex even formed its own paramilitary units. However, the deterioration of the German military position on the Eastern Front emboldened the Belgian Resistance which were also active among communist and socialist workers in the same region. Assassinations of Rexist officials became common, especially in Charleroi where two Rexist burgomasters would be assassinated during the conflict. These attacks sparked retaliation by Rexist militias against civilians and suspected resistance sympathisers, often with tacit approval of the German authorities, and these escalated after the Normandy Landings in June 1944. It has been argued that by the end of the German occupation, "Rex was essentially caught up in a process of local civil war." Massacre , Rex's first burgomaster of Greater Charleroi, was assassinated on 19 November 1942. He was