On 10 May 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium, shattering the country’s neutrality. Within weeks, the Belgian army surrendered, and the nation fell under Nazi occupation.
While many Belgians joined the resistance, others saw opportunity in collaboration. Among them was a young, ambitious man named Louie Kolar, who would rise to become one of the most feared collaborators of the occupation.
Kolar was born on 9 August 1915 in the industrial town of Anne in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. He grew up in the shadow of the First World War, which had left deep scars on the nation.
As he reached adulthood, Belgium was struggling through the Great Depression. Economic crisis and fear of communism drove many toward radical politics.
One such movement was Rex, founded in the early 1930s by Leon Degrelle. Originally a Catholic publishing group, it evolved into a political force combining religious traditionalism, nationalism, and authoritarianism.
Rex called for the moral regeneration of Belgium and the rejection of parliamentary democracy. In 1936, the movement shocked the country by winning more than 11% of the national vote.
Over time, Rex grew increasingly fascist and openly sympathetic to Nazi Germany. For Kolar, the movement offered purpose and ambition.
He joined Rex and worked on propaganda and organizational tasks. His devotion and administrative talent quickly made him stand out.
When the Nazis attacked Belgium in May 1940, the country collapsed within weeks. Under occupation, Degrelle reorganized Rex under Nazi supervision, and Kolar became one of his most trusted men.
Kolar took responsibility for propaganda and internal coordination. He forged close ties with the German security apparatus, including the SD and the Gestapo.
By 1943, Degrelle left for the Eastern Front to fight with the Waffen SS. Kolar effectively took control of the civilian branch of Rex.
From offices in Brussels and Charleroi, he oversaw the movement’s collaboration with the Nazi administration. His organization spread propaganda, recruited informants, and participated in the persecution of Jews and resistance members.
Kolar’s Brigade B, a paramilitary unit within Rex, became notorious for its violence and cooperation with German intelligence.
By 1944, as Allied troops advanced, the resistance intensified its operations inside Belgium. German authorities and collaborators responded with escalating brutality.
One of the darkest episodes of the occupation took place on 17 August 1944. Resistance members ambushed and killed Oswald Englebin, the Rexist mayor of Charleroi, along with his wife and son.
Within hours, Kolar and Victor Matthys, the acting national leader of Rex, ordered revenge. Rexist militiamen rounded up dozens of civilians in the nearby town of Courcelles.
Teachers, shopkeepers, local officials, and even a priest were accused of supporting the resistance. Several people were shot that same evening.
At dawn on 18 August, the remaining prisoners were lined up against a wall and executed by firing squad. In total, 27 people were killed.
Witnesses later testified that Kolar was present and took command of the operation. The massacre became one of the most infamous atrocities of the occupation.
When Allied forces entered Belgium in early September 1944, Rex collapsed. Degrelle fled to Germany, and Kolar and Matthys followed.
After the liberation, Kolar and Matthys moved through Germany toward Switzerland. Denied entry at the Swiss border, they fled to the Austrian Alps.
Matthys was captured soon after, but Kolar managed to escape. He was eventually found in February 1946 in the Austrian city of Innsbruck by Belgian intelligence agents.
By that time, Kolar had already been sentenced to death in absentia. He was wanted as the head of Brigade B and as one of the principal organizers of the Courcelles massacre.
Kolar was also accused of orchestrating several assassinations during the occupation, including those of an industrial leader, a former minister of justice, a prominent politician, and the president of the Brussels Bar Association.
He was returned to Belgium under heavy guard and awaited trial before the Conseil de Guerre war council.
Testimonies from former Rexists revealed the extent of his crimes. One told the court that Kolar had ordered him to gather information on Belgian Freemasonry to identify targets for assassination.
When confronted, Kolar coolly replied that he had collected such information only for documentation purposes. But he later admitted he had taken responsibility for certain reprisals, such as the Courcelles massacre.
On 1 March 1946, he was sentenced to death for his role in the assassination of the politician Julie Yernaux.
A second and much larger trial followed. On 21 May 1946, Belgium opened its biggest war crimes trial in history in Charleroi. 97 defendants were charged with taking part in the Courcelles massacre.
Leading the accused were Victor Matthys and Louie Kolar. Kolar appeared thin and tense, wearing a long coat and steel spectacles. His prisoner number 55 was pinned to his chest.
He adopted an evasive attitude, often rubbing his forehead and claiming to suffer from amnesia. When asked about the events of 17 August 1944, he muttered that it was impossible for him to remember anything.
When confronted with witnesses who saw him carrying petrol and setting houses on fire, he mocked them. He claimed he had only been a secretary following Matthys’s orders.
But after two months of hearings and testimony from 147 witnesses, the verdict was clear. On 3 August 1946, the war council sentenced both Matthys and Kolar to death by firing squad.
While awaiting execution, Kolar attempted suicide but survived. His mental state deteriorated, alternating between arrogance and despair.
At dawn on 10 November 1947, the sentence was carried out in the courtyard of a military barracks in Charleroi. 27 Rexist collaborators were scheduled for execution that morning.
The 32-year-old Kolar was placed in the first group set for 7:30 a.m. Though he begged for mercy, nothing could save him.
After smoking his last cigarette, he appeared pale and exhausted. Guards had to carry him to the post.
Because of his former military status, the ceremony required that he be stripped of rank. The insignia were torn from his coat, and the order was read aloud.
A priest stood beside him, offering final absolution. Kolar wept quietly, praying as the priest made the sign of the cross.
A red cloth was pinned to his chest to mark the target. At exactly 7:36 a.m., the rifles fired.
Kolar slumped forward but did not die immediately. His body trembled, and he was screaming in pain.
The priest stepped closer and gave him final absolution. Then a military officer drew his pistol and fired a single bullet into Kolar’s head.
The coup de grâce ended his life. The man who had helped orchestrate one of the occupation’s bloodiest massacres was finally dead.