Julien-Victor Lahaut (6 September 1884 – 18 August 1950) was a Belgian politician and communist activist was president of the Communist Party of Belgium from 1945 to 1950. An important figure during the German occupation of 1940–44, he became a vocal advocate for the abolition of the Belgian monarchy during the post-war Royal Question. His assassination in August 1950, at the height of the crisis, has often been attributed to Belgian royalists but remains officially unsolved.
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During the German occupation of Belgium (1940–44), as the head of the Communist Party, Lahaut led the Strike of the 100,000 in May 1941 and was arrested. After failing to escape from captivity in the Citadel of Huy, he was deported to Mauthausen concentration camp. Although suffering considerable health effects, he was still alive when the camp was liberated by the Allies in 1945.
Royal Question and assassination
The aftermath of the Liberation of Belgium saw a prolonged period of political crisis, known as the Royal Question, over whether King Leopold III, who was living in exile due to his decision to surrender to Nazi Germany in 1940, could return to his position as monarch. The crisis came to a head in 1950, when Leopold returned to Belgium, but quickly had to let his son Baudouin assume royal duties. (He would abdicate in Baudouin’s favour a year later.)
On 11 August 1950, Baudouin took the constitutional oath as regent before a joint session of both chambers of Parliament. During the proceedings, one of the communist deputies present shouted “Vive la république!” (“Long Live the republic!”). Lahaut was reported to have been the deputy responsible, though in the confusion of the moment this remains unconfirmed. A week later, on 18 August 1950, Lahaut was assassinated by two unknown gunmen outside his home in Seraing.
Coming at the end of the constitutional crisis, Lahaut's death caused widespread outrage, especially in left-wing circles. Strikes were organized all over the country, while 300,000 people attended his funeral. The Communist Party newspaper Le Drapeau rouge carried the headline: “A monstrous crime! Our dear comrade Julien Lahaut, leader of the Communist Party, was assassinated last night by the Leo-Rexists".[note 1][2]
Monument to Julien Lahaut
François Goossens, a Belgian royalist, was later identified as one of the murderers, although it is uncertain whether he fired the actual shots.[3]
A similar incident happened in 1993 when Baudouin’s brother and successor Albert II took the oath: libertarian Jean-Pierre Van Rossem shouted “Vive la république d'Europe, vive Julien Lahaut!” (“Long live the republic of Europe, long live Julien Lahaut!”).
On 19 July 2012, the Senate agreed to consider a legal proposal to extend funding for a historical study on the assassination.[4][5] On 17 August 2012, the minister Paul Magnette announced a federal contribution of €320,000 to the study.[6][7][8]
In popular culture
In 1951 editorial cartoonist André Jacquemotte drew a biographical comic strip about Julien Lahaut's life, which ran in the magazine Jeunesse Belgique.[9]
The left-wing playwright Jean Louvet authored a play about Lahaut's assassination entitled L'homme qui avait le soleil dans sa poche (lit.'The Man who had the Sun in his Pocket') which was published in 1982.
"Leo-Rexists" is a hybrid of "Leopoldist" (supporter of Leopold III) and "Rexist" (member of a pro-Nazi collaborationist party in Belgium during World War II)
August Thiry & Dirk Van Cleemput (2015), King Albert's Heroes – Hoe 400 jonge Belgen vochten in Rusland en de VS veroverden, Antwerpen, Houtekiet, 428 p & 100 p photo's
Rudy Van Doorslaer & Etienne Verhoeyen, L'assassinat de Julien Lahaut, EPO, Bruxelles, 1987.
Gerard, Emmanuel (2016). "The Murder of Julien Lahaut (1950)and the Anti-Communist Campaign in Belgium". Dutch Crossing. 40 (1): 54–67. doi:10.1080/03096564.2016.1129193. S2CID155868594.
Steinberg, Maxime (1976). "Julien-Victor Lahaut". Biographie nationale. Vol.39. Brussels: Académie royale des sciences des lettres et des beaux arts de Belgique. pp.569–84. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
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