Belgian prisoners of war in World War II

Belgian prisoners of war in World War II primarily refers to the Belgian soldiers captured by the Germans during and shortly after the Battle of Belgium in 1940. 225,000 men, approximately 30% of the strength of the Belgian army in 1940, were deported to concentration camps in Germany. Although large repatriations of prisoners of war to occupied Belgium occurred in 1940 and 1941, particularly among Flemish soldiers, 67,000 remained prisoners until 1945 and around 2,000 died in German camps.

Background


Belgian involvement in World War II began when German forces invaded Belgium, which had been following a policy of neutrality, on 10 May 1940. After 18 days of fighting, Belgium surrendered on 28 May and was placed under German occupation. During the fighting, between 600,000 and 650,000 Belgian men (nearly 20% of the country's male population) had served in the military. King Leopold III who had commanded the army in 1940 also surrendered to the Germans on 28 May along and remained a prisoner for the rest of the war. The Belgian government fled first to Bordeaux in France, and then to London in the United Kingdom where it formed an official government in exile in October 1940.

Prisoners of War
After the Belgian defeat, around 225,000 Belgian soldiers (around 30% of the total force mobilised in 1940) who had been made prisoners of war in 1940 were sent to concentration camps in Germany. The majority of those in captivity (145,000) were Flemish, with only 80,000 Walloons. Most had been reservists, rather than professional soldiers, before the outbreak of war and their detention created a large manpower shortage in civilian occupations.

As part of their Flamenpolitik, the Germans began repatriating Flemish prisoners of war in August 1940. By February 1941, 105,833 Flemish soldiers had been repatriated. Gradually, more prisoners were released, but 67,000 Belgian soldiers were still in captivity by 1945. Many prisoners of war were forced to work in quarries or in agriculture and around 2,000 died in captivity.