00:00When the Nazis attacked Belgium on the 10th of May 1940, the country collapsed within weeks.
00:07Léon de Grel was arrested by Belgian authorities, but later released after the German victory.
00:13Under occupation, de Grel reorganized Rex under Nazi supervision, and Louis Collard became one
00:20of his most trusted men. He soon gained responsibility for propaganda and internal
00:25coordination. In this role, Collard forged close ties with the German security apparatus,
00:32particularly the SD, the Nazi intelligence agency, and the Gestapo, the Nazi secret state police.
00:39His ability to impose order and discipline impressed both the occupiers and de Grel himself.
00:46By 1943, as de Grel left for the Eastern Front to fight with the Waffen-SS, the military wing of
00:53the SS, Collard effectively took control of the civilian branch of Rex.
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