Balder Ex-Libris

Author : Degrelle Léon
Title : The Story of the Waffen SS
Year : 1982

Link download : Degrelle_Leon_-_The_Story_of_the_Waffen_SS.zip

Introduction. You are about to hear Leon Degrelle, who before the Second World War was Europe's youngest political leader and the founder of the Rexist Party of Belgium. During that cataclysmic confrontation he was one of the greatest heroes on the Eastern Front. Of Leon Degrelle Hitler said: "If I should have a son I would like him to be like Leon." As a statesman and a soldier he has known very closely Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill, Franco, Laval, Marshal Petain and all the European leaders during the enormous ideological and military clash that was World War Two. Alone among them, he has survived, remaining the number one witness of that historical period. The life of Leon Degrelle began in 1906 in Bouillon, a small town in the Belgian Ardennes. His family was of French origin. He studied at the University of Louvain, where he acquired a doctorate in law. He was -and is -also interested in other academic disciplines, such as political science, art, archeology and Tomistic philosophy. As a student his natural gift of leadership became apparent. By the time he reached twenty he had already published five books and operated his own weekly newspaper. Out of his deep Christian conviction he joined Belgium's Catholic Action Movement and became one of its leaders. But his passion has always been people. He wanted to win the crowds, particularly the Marxist ones. He wanted them to 5hare his ideals of social and spiritual change for society. He wanted to lift people up; to forge for them a stable, efficient and responsible state, a state backed by the good sense of people and for the sole benefit of the people. He addressed more than 2,000 meetings, always controversial. His, books and newspaper were read everywhere because they always dealt with the real issues. Although not yet twenty-five, people listened to him avidly. In a few short years he had won over a large part of the population. On the twenty-fourth of May 1936 his Rexist Party won against the established parties a smashing electoral victory: Thirty-four house and senate seats. The Europe of 1936 was still split into little countries, jealous of their pasts and closed to any contact with their neighbors. Leon Degrelle saw further. In his student days he had traveled across Latin America, the United States and Canada. He had visited North Africa, the Middle East and of course all of the European countries. He felt that Europe had a unique destiny and must unite. Mussolini invited him to Rome. Churchill saw him in London and Hitler received him in Berlin. Putting his political life on the line, he made desperate efforts to stop the railroading of Europe into another war. But old rivalries, petty hatreds and suspicion between the French and the German, were cleverly exploited. The established parties and the Communist Party worked on the same side: for war. For the Kremlin it was a unique opportunity to communize Europe after it had been bled white. Thus, war started. First in Poland, then in Western Europe in 1940. This was to become the Second World War in 1941. Soon the flag of the Swastika flew from the North Pole to the shores of Greece to the border of Spain. But the European civil war between England and Germany continued. And the rulers of Communism got ready to move in and pick up the pieces. But Hitler beat them to it and invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. For Europe it was to be heads or tails; Hitlers wins or Stalin wins. It was then that from every country in Europe thousands of young men made up their minds that the destiny of their native country was at stake. They would volunteer their lives to fight communism and create a united Europe. In all, they would grow to be more than 600,000 non-German Europeans fighting on the Eastern Front. They would bring scores of divisions to the Waffen SS. The Waffen SS were ideological and military shock troops of Europe. The Germans, numbering 400,000, were actually in the minority. The one million-strong Waffen SS represented the first truly European army to ever exist. After the war each unit of this army was to provide their people with a political structure free of the petty nationalism of the past. All the SS fought the same struggle. All shared the same world view. All became comrades in arms. The most important political and military phenomenon of World War Two is also the least known: the phenomenon of the Waffen SS. Leon Degrelle is one of the most famous Waffen SS soldiers. After joining as a private he earned all stripes from corporal to general for exceptional bravery in combat. He engaged in seventy-five hand-to-hand combat actions. He was wounded on numerous occasions. He was the recipient of the highest honors: The Ritterkreuz, the Oak-Leaves, the Gold German Cross and numerous other decorations for outstanding valor under enemy fire. One of the last to fight on the Eastern Front, Leon Degrelle escaped unconditional surrender by flying some 1500 miles across Europe toward Spain. He managed to survive constant fire all along the way and crash landed on the beach of San Sebastian in Spain, critically wounded. Against all odds he survived. Slowly he managed to re-build a new life in exile for himself and his family. For Degrelle philosophy and politics cannot exist without historical knowledge. For him beauty enhances people and people cannot improve their lives without it. This philosophy is reflected in everything he does. In his Spanish home art blends gracefully with history. The work of Leon Degrelle has always been epic and poetic. As he walks in the environment of his home one feels the greatness of Rome with its marbles, its bronzes, its translucent glass; one feels the elegant Arabian architecture, the gravity of the Gothic form and the sumptuousness of Renaissance and Baroque art. One feels the glory of his flags. In this atmosphere of beauty and greatness, the last and most important living witness of World War Two awaits you, Ladies and Gentlemen: General Leon Degrelle. ...