Flag used by the anti-Semitic Volksverwering during the first progrom in Antwerp - April 14, 1941

This flag is one of the five flags sewn by hand on 2 April 1941 by Elisabeth Bollaerts in Antwerp, family of Rene Bollaerts, member of the extreme anti-Semitic party called "Volksverwering" ( People's Defense ), who provoked the first pogrom " in Antwerp on 14 April 1941.

On April 14, 1941- Antwerp anti-Semitism led to this pogrom. On that day, 'The Eternal Jew' [Der Ewige Jude] was shown for the first time in Cinema Rex. This Nazi propaganda film portrayed the “Jewish danger” with shocking images, comparing Jews to rats invading the world. The main themes were the Jewish plot for world domination, the barbarity of ritual slaughter and the uncleanness of the 'Jewish race'. The film prominently features Hitler's prophecy of January 30, 1939, in which the Führer announces that the outbreak of a new war will be accompanied by the extermination of the Jewish race in Europe. The film, which was presented to the public as a documentary, was a great success and filled the cinemas.

At 2 previous film screenings in Antwerp on April 10 and April 12, René Lambrichts, leader of the 'People's Defense', addressed the crowd and encouraged the spectators to openly express their hatred. On April 10, activists from the 'League' attacked the windows of Jewish shops in the Lange Kievitstraat in Antwerp. On April 12, they disrupted a performance in the Ancienne Belgique, a music hall in Antwerp. In this action, anti-Semitism and flamingoism came together.

René Lambrichts, founder of the movement, stirred up hatred among the 1,500 spectators present in the packed cinema. When leaving the Rex cinema, three men further stirred up the audience. Two hundred people, mainly activists from the New Order movements (Black Brigade, De Vlag, SS-Vlaanderen and Volkswering) gathered, ready to fight. The perpetrators of the pogrom left from the corner of Statieplein and Breydelstraat, passed De Keizerlei, Pelikaanstraat and arrived at Oostenstraat and Van Den Nestlei. As they passed by, they pasted anti-Semitic pamphlets on the windows of Jewish shops. When Jewish shopkeepers protested, their windows were broken and their stalls looted. Along the way, some German soldiers joined the procession out of curiosity. Two officers from the municipal police wanted to intervene, followed by two Feldgendarmes, but they were stopped by the intervention of one of the provocateurs. The impunity filled the minds of the vandals... The shops in Pelikaanstraat, the center of the Jewish quarter and the headquarters of the Feldkommandantur, are looted, without the soldiers providing any response.

This flag was carried arround in the streets during this processions of hate by Rene Bollaerts.

This flag was acquired by donation in 2013 and preserved in the workplace of the museum (fixation of the tissue and removal of mold).

This flag was acquired by donation in 2013 after the death of the previous owner, being related to a descendant of Rene Bollaerts.