Lesson plan

DeVlag

The Deutsch-Vlämische Arbeitsgemeinschaft ( , "German-Flemish Working Group"; ), better known as DeVlag, was a small radical pro-Nazi organization active in Flanders during the German occupation of Belgium. It was founded in 1936 by academics Jef Van de Wiele and Rolf Wilkening as a cultural association to strengthen the exchange of students and professors between the universities of Leuven and Cologne. Its membership reached hundreds by the late 1930s. In May 1941, after the German invasion, DeVlag started receiving financial backing from the SS, and was reorganized into a Nazi organization. This was first done in secrecy. German SS-Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger was later appointed as DeVlag's president, and the bond between the two organizations was thus made official. DeVlag's orientation towards the SS brought it into a conflict with the Flemish National League (Vlaams Nationaal Verbond, VNV), the primary collaborationist organization in German-occupied Flanders, which had initially supported the "cultural" activities of DeVlag. The VNV was a Flemish nationalist movement, which envisioned an independent Flanders, or perhaps Dietsland, in a German-dominated Europe, while Van de Wiele considered Dutch merely a German dialect and the Flemish people a part of the German race.…

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Article summary

The Deutsch-Vlämische Arbeitsgemeinschaft ( , "German-Flemish Working Group"; ), better known as DeVlag, was a small radical pro-Nazi organization active in Flanders during the German occupation of Belgium. It was founded in 1936 by academics Jef Van de Wiele and Rolf Wilkening as a cultural association to strengthen the exchange of students and professors between the universities of Leuven and Cologne. Its membership reached hundreds by the late 1930s. In May 1941, after the German invasion, DeVlag started receiving financial backing from the SS, and was reorganized into a Nazi organization. This was first done in secrecy. German SS-Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger was later appointed as DeVlag's president, and the bond between the two organizations was thus made official. DeVlag's orientation towards the SS brought it into a conflict with the Flemish National League (Vlaams Nationaal Verbond, VNV), the primary collaborationist organization in German-occupied Flanders, which had initially supported the "cultural" activities of DeVlag. The VNV was a Flemish nationalist movement, which envisioned an independent Flanders, or perhaps Dietsland, in a German-dominated Europe, while Van de Wiele considered Dutch merely a German dialect and the Flemish people a part of the German race.…

Key claims

  1. date of establishment: 1941 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. date of foundation: 1936 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  3. members: 50,000 members — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of establishment is "1941". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the date of foundation is "1936". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. The record states that the members is "50,000 members". What evidence would count against this claim?
  5. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  6. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1349637201

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.