[Below: An autographed photo from 1944.]
[Below: Léon Degrelle]
[Below: Léon Degrelle]
[Below: Some young admirers examine Degrelle's Knight's Cross.]
[Below: Degrelle during the offensive into the Caucasus in the summer of 1942.]
[Below: Degrelle inspecting new volunteers for the Sturmbrigade Wallonien in July 1943 in Namur, Belgium.]
[Below: Leutnant Léon Degrelle at an opening ceremony in Belgium on June 18, 1943 of an exhibition of photographs of the Wallonian Legion in honor of his 30th birthday. In the same month, the Wallonian Legion was taken into the Waffen-SS as the SS Sturmbrigade Wallonien and attached to the Wiking Division in the southern sector of the Eastern Front in late 1943.]
[Below: Degrelle with 'Sepp' Dietrich at a special celebration parade held in the Belgium capital on April 1, 1944 to mark the triumphant return of the courageous Belgium volunteers after their break-out of the Russian encirclement at Tscherkassy in February of that year.]
[Below: Degrelle with 'Sepp' Dietrich at a special celebration parade held in the Belgium capital on April 1, 1944 to mark the triumphant return of the courageous Belgium volunteers after their break-out of the Russian encirclement at Tscherkassy in February of that year.]
[Below: Degrelle with 'Sepp' Dietrich at a special celebration parade held in the Belgium capital on April 1, 1944 to mark the triumphant return of the courageous Belgium volunteers after their break-out of the Russian encirclement at Tscherkassy in February of that year.]
[Below: Degrelle with 'Sepp' Dietrich at a special celebration parade held in the Belgium capital on April 1, 1944 to mark the triumphant return of the courageous Belgium volunteers after their break-out of the Russian encirclement at Tscherkassy in February of that year.]
[Below: SS-Hauptsturmführer Léon Degrelle with his men from SS Sturmbrigade Wallonien in the Cherkassy Pocket in early 1944. 56,000 soldiers were encircled there at the end of January 1944, it proved to be the most violent, exhausting, and terrible battles for them thus far. The battle was a heroic duel effort of Waffen-SS and German Army units to break through to encircled and trapped Waffen-SS and German Army units.]
[Below: SS-Sturmbannführer Léon Degrelle with members of the Panzer-Brigade Wallonien on the Eastern Front.]
[Below: Léon Degrelle at his brother Edouard's funeral, who was murdered in Bouillon (Bouillon is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium). He was murdered by communist 'resitance' cowards (his brother was a civilian and a pharmacist). July 10, 1944.]
[Below: Léon Degrelle at his brother Eduard’s funeral.]
[Below: Degrelle with his brother’s casket.]
[Below: Degrelle visiting Wallonian guest workers in Berlin.]
[Below: The Russian mud, like glue, would sometimes be knee-deep and worse.]
[Below: A rare photo showing Degrelle with a hand wound.]
[Below: Degrelle on the cover of Signal magazine - 1944.]
[Below: Degrelle is being awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross. Adolf Hitler, whom is congratulating him here, said to Degrelle 'If I had a son, I would want him to be like you.' February 18, 1944.]
[Below: ...]
[Below: Léon Degrelle is congratulated by Adolf Hitler]
S P A I N
[Below: Emergency landing of Degrelle's Heinkel 111 on the Beach of La Concha in San Sebastián, Spain in May 8, 1945.]
[Below: Boats extracting the plane from the water.]
[Below: It was a miracle anyone survived, but it wouldn't be the first or the last. Miracles seemed to shine down on Degrelle his whole life. From the battlefield where so many others died around him, to his life in exile, always being one step ahead of his assassins.]
[Below: Degrelle being cared for by Spanish comrades.]
[Below: Degrelle with his daughter, Christine Degrelle Hochzeit, on her wedding day, October 13, 1969.]
[Below: Degrelle with his daughter, Christine Degrelle Hochzeit, on her wedding day, October 13, 1969.]
[Below: Degrelle with his daughter.]
[Below: Degrelle, 1976.]
[Below: Degrelle, later in his years, with the original Zorro character, who was a big fan of Degrelle. Degrelle lived the rest of his days in exile in Spain.]
[Below: Degrelle and the legendary Miguel Serrano!]
[Below: The next picture has a story to it, so here is a quote for you:
'On April 20, 1989, Léon Degrelle discreetly celebrated Adolf Hitler's centenary in a small, popular restaurant in Madrid, in the company of some thirty European friends who had the exceptional good fortune to celebrate the event in the company of the man the Führer had chosen as his son.
On Léon Degrelle's right are the German Thies Christophersen (1918-1997), author in 1970 of the famous report The Auschwitz Lie, and Florentine Heubel (1914-2007) who, on December 21, 1940, married Meinoud Rost van Tonningen, leader of her country's National Socialist Movement (who shortly afterwards became President of the Bank of the Netherlands), becoming the first Dutch woman to marry according to SS ceremonial: her runic wedding ring, which she had the opportunity to present to the Führer when he kissed her hand, became her most precious relic.
To the left of the Commander of the Sturmbrigade Wallonien, at the end of the bench, stands the German Ewald Althans (b. 1966), then promoted by Generalmajor Otto Ernst Remer to youth leader of his Deutsche Freiheitsbewegung (German Freedom Movement)...
Seated to the left of Léon Degrelle, Phalangist Alberto Torresano (1934-2023) is probably the "only Spaniard who was there" referred to by Juan Guerrero Zorrilla.
It was to him, a perfect French speaker, that Léon Degrelle dedicated this historic photo, symbolically dated April 20, 1989. A close friend of Léon Degrelle, Alberto Torresano was one of the last people to visit him in hospital in Malaga, where he died.']
[Below: Degrelle with Otto Skorzeny]
[Below: Circa 1991.]
[Below: Another shot of Degrelle's signature (not so rushed as that above)]
