BURGOMASTER MAX

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 17, 20 January 1940, Page 22

BURGOMASTER MAX

STAND BEFORE INVADER

COURAGEOUS RESISTANCE

HIS DEEDS RECALLED

Gallant Burgomaster Max of Brussels is dead, and with his passing comes the memory of the thrills he gave the world a generation ago, writes George Fyfe in the London "Daily Telegraph." He met the blustering generals of the German Army when they seized his city, and by his quiet dignity he put them in their places. It was all done so calmly and with such courage that it seemed almost too astonishing to be true. The news of his doings in the early part of the last war did something more than hearten his hard-pressed citizens; it roused the admiration of people in all the Allied-nations. By his deeds he became an almost legendary figure, and although he was finally arrested by the Germans and sent to a fortress in Upper Silesia for the rest of the war, his great work inspirited everyone in Brussels until the time of liberation came in 1918. Adolphe Max was a lawyer journalist whose great ability attracted the attention of King Leopold 11. Before that monarch died in 1909 he nominated Max as Burgomaster of Brussels. This is an office which carries with it much greater powers than that of a Mayor or Lord Mayor of an English city, and thus it was that at the outbreak of the war its holder became a very important person. , How important he was came to be realised when in the middle of August, 1914, the advance of the German invaders led to the departure of the Belgian Government from Brussels. King Albert "had gone to the front at the very outset, and now the last desperate stand was being made at Antwerp. To Brussels came the news on August 20, that the Germans would reach the city on the following day. Max gave orders that he was to be informed immediately they were approaching the outskirts. Meanwhile he issued a proclamation to the people. "So long as I have \life and liberty," he said, "I will de- ■ fend with all my strength the rights arid dignities of my fellow-citizens. Come what may, heed the voice of your Burgomaster and put your trust in him. He will not betray it. Long' live Belgium, free and independent. Long iiye Brussels." \ Excited citizens began to dig trenches and erect barricades. He ordered them ito desist. In that way, he said, lay disaster; they would be treated as francs-tireurs. The German commander had already sent a message threatening that, the city would be razed to the ground if there was the least show of hostility. Within a few hours Max was on his way to meet the invaders 1 efore they reached the city boundary. With him in;"the car were two Aldermen and the Town Clerk, who was carrying a small white flag. PROTEST AT INVASION. Arrogantly a German officer who ha<f charge of the leading detachment ad* "■ dressed the civilians and der-unded to know their business. Max spoke peremptorily,. He might be of small stature, but he was certainly not to be brow-beaten, and curtly informed the questioner that he wanted to see the general commanding the invading troops. . When he met the general Max gave him a telegram. "I wiant this telegram." he said, "to be dispatched to the Kaisur before you cross the city boundary." In this message Max registered his strong protest against invasion and requested thej.Emperor to forbid it. - % The audacity of the Burgomaster ' was resented. The German Comman der-jn-Chief abruptly, said that Max and his with 100 other persons' would be ' required to act as hostages. . Max was not a bit overawed. He characterised the. demand as impossible. "If you want me," ne said very calmly, "you will find me at the Hotel de Ville, where I intend to return to my, work." He had his way. When later a German officer entered his room and sat down he placed his revolver on the , table rather significantly. Max at once put his pen beside it, and the Germao, noticing the irony, quietly his weapon in ili holster. The Burgomaster, in all his subsequent dealings with the enemy, never failed to maintain his independence. His businesslike and confident methods caused the Germans a certain amount of bewilderment. When the Military Governor took possession of the Burgomaster's room and abruptly ordered six beds to be put in' if for himself and his staff: Max said, at once, "I shall sleep here too; let them' bring a bed for me." ■-■ , ■ All attempts to bring him to heel .'.failed dismally. When a junior officer came to' him with a cigarette in his mouth and flung down some papers Max remarked: "You are an extremely uncouth individual and I am going to put you in your place." Thereupon he reported him to the Military Governor who issued a stern reprimand to the offender. .'■•*. In the weeks that followed the Burgomaster's demeanour gained the respect of the Governor, whose aim was to carry out the occupation of Brussels without disturbance. • But when he submitted for signature a document by which the Burgomaster would hold his office under the Germans Max flatly refused to sign. "It is from the Belgian Government alone," he said, "I hold my mandate." Again he triumphed by his determination, and by virtue of hisy office he issued various regulations. When some German officers declined to leave a cafe at closing time he went ■ there and" ordered them out. "How dare you address German officers in this way?" the leader asked. "When there is no Belgian officer here," was the firm reply to a man who towered head and shoulders above him, "there is no alternative but for a civilian to tell you what you need , telling. Get out." They went.' Can"-it be wondered at that the doings of the Burgomaster were retailed •with delight in Brussels? He shared with the late King of the Belgians the honour of having his picture in every house in the city and on little medallions. DENIAL OF STATEMENTS. With the coming of a new Military Governor, yon Luttwitz, the position altered somewhat, but Max could not be repressed., He issued a proclamation denying the truth of certain German statements. Because of this and other independent actions yon Luttwitz called on Max to report to him immediately. Max was holding a conference of burgomasters and sent a reply to the effect that he would call at the end of it. Furious telephone messages from the Governor followed without avail. Then an tifficef was sent to bring him to the Governor, if necessary by force. Max, anticipating this, had quietly left the meeting and journeyed to the Governor's office as if nothing had happened.

But that incident proved to be the end. The Governor placed him under arrest and he was removed to Germany for the remainder of the war. Many of the stories told of Max's behaviour during the critical weeks before his arrest and internment, make him appear provocative. In that they err. He conducted himself-throughout with dignity and a polished politeness, though he did not hesitate to take drastic action when he felt that he was within his rights. TRIUMPHANT RETURN. Yet never for a moment, despite the warnings and threats of the German military authorities, did he waver in his attitude that an occupied city has certain rights in international law> and that an occupying army should respect those rights. That was a dangerous doctrine, when, in' the early days of the war, the German generals were flushed with conquest and arrogant in their creed of physical force. But Max was in his turn a firm believer in civic power and dignity, and from the outset he did his best to show the German army in what direction it owed respect. His attitude of bland, passive obedience cloaked an indomitable spirit, which during and after the war became a legend about which innumerable stories have been gathered. It was clear that the German authorities had seized the first available pretext for his removal. His posters had often contained discomfiting reflections on the conquerors, and yon Luttwitz angrily declared to the American Ambassador that "that man has never written me a letter in which, there was not concealed some sharppricking point." On his return to Brussels at the end of 1918 the dauntless Belgian was received with an almost delirious joy by the citizens. He at- once resumed his functions as Burgomaster, and during the difficult years that followed he< served, his beloved city faithfully and well. " , .

When he came to England in 1928 he was received with the greatest enthusiasm. Gently he protested over all the adulation. He was a man who hated fuss. As he was wont to say, he did no more than his duty. That might well be his epitaph.