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Flandern Legion Veteran testimony

Discussion in 'Honor, Service and Valor' started by Skipper, Jun 12, 2016.

  1. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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    This interiwiew is from 2011 (by Frans Geens) . It is exceptionnal and tells the curiculum of a Vlaanderen SS veteran from his stay on the Ostfront and his fighting the Russians , his capture by the Canadians in May 1945 , his escape and his stay in a German farm until he got captured again by the British and sent to Belgium where he escaped death penalty and was sentenced to prison until the 1950s. The interview is in Flemish , but it's a goldmine of information. sorry for those who dod not understand this, but this interview is rare living history . It was taken at the gate of Fort Eben Mael.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KGcVT2GFYY
     
  2. YugoslavPartisan

    YugoslavPartisan Drug

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    I almost asked you to translate it for us assuming that it's a short video. Then I've seen it is longer than an hour...
     
  3. gtblackwell

    gtblackwell Member Emeritus

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    Would love to hear it translated. Skipper does speaking Dutch make Flemish understandable to you? I imagine it helps but do not know for sure. I guess people on the Netherlands-Flemish border speak both..The language base seems similar. So since you speak French you can negotiate just fine throughout Belgium. More Americans are speaking Spanish but unfortunately I let my French lapse since my last class was 1960 ! I did live in Louisiana for 5 years and a few there speak a dialect of French that the French have trouble with ! The governor occasionally lapsed into a sort of sing-song Cajun French which he explained was Southern French ! Right before he was indicted.

    Sorry about the diversion, just wish I could understand Flemish !

    Gaines
     
  4. LJAd

    LJAd Well-Known Member

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    There is no difference between Flemish and Dutch,Flemish and Dutch are as German and Austrian or as European Spanish and Latin American Spanish
     
  5. LJAd

    LJAd Well-Known Member

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    About the Flemish Legion : as such this was not a part of the WSS;later the Legion was disbanded and incorporated (against the wishes of a lot its members) in the Langemarck unit .
     
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  6. LJAd

    LJAd Well-Known Member

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    " Fine " is an exaggeration : it was so in the "colonial " past, but no more today .
     
  7. gtblackwell

    gtblackwell Member Emeritus

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    Thanks, LJAd, I have been fortunate to have spent some time in Belgium and the Netherlands and as a "Southern speaking Colonialist of English descent, well a fair amount of German too , I could not discern the differences. I have always had a curiosity about languages and their sources
    My 76 year old accent is obvious and when traveling in England on several occasions was mistaken for Australian which stuck me as both funny and bizarre. I appreciate your insights.

    On a more topical note I do think it interesting that the Flemish and Walloons that did join German units seem to have done so in separate groups, Flandern and Wallonie. (sp).
     
  8. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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    Mind you when the Flemish use their collogial slang , the Dutch often have a hard time and some TV shows have actually subtitles when they are played in Holland. I understand the veteran very well, but even then, he sometimes uses French expressions (like vitesse) or suffixes in "eke" , not to mention that when he speaks about German ranks he mixes up syllabes. In theory the Flemish and the Dutch both speak Dutch , but the pronounciation or even the spelling differs a lot: (even or effe vs efkes for instance).
     
  9. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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    This is mentioned in the interview when they were forced to change their legion collar tabs into regular SS ones. Many of the men complained about this.
     
  10. LJAd

    LJAd Well-Known Member

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    It was out of the question that they would have done it jointly .
     
  11. LJAd

    LJAd Well-Known Member

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    I understand some German, but if people of Carinthia are talking to each other, I don't understand any word .

    The spelling of Dutch does not differ,it is the same in Amsterdam as in Antwerp .

    And about the prononciation,a foreigner with some basic Oxford English will have a lot of prblems to understand what the inhabitants of Mississippi and Texas are saying,the same for the English of Northumberland .
     
  12. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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    While the OFFICIAL spelling is the same, the simple fact that the Flemish often use their own words and or terminaisons makes fFlmeish the fato quite difficult to understand and sometimes diffrerent. The Dutch hardly us the words "Ge" or "Gij" vs"je" ( "ye" and "thou" in Englsih ) anymore, whereas the Flemish still use those nowadays. When the Dutch use "tje" or "je" etc.. as teminaisons , the Flmeish will use "eke" (mannetje vs manneke). It's not just two diffrent accents of the same language, they both have their identity and their own words , expressions and spelling.
     

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