Van der Essen I

The last witness during the French prosecution on Germanization in Western Europe and persecution on political , racial and religious grounds was Van der Essen, a history professor from Belgium and a member of the Belgian Commission on War Crimes. On Feb,. 4, 1946 after testifying about the destruction of the library of the University of Louvain by the Germans, he stated that the Germans imposed groups of German collaborators on the country as burgomasters and alderman. On cross examination, Dr. Exner asked about the presence of the British there at the time.

Produced by US Army Signal Corps 1945-1956, housed in National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Digitized and provided by The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive.