Satirical wartime Le Soir sold at auction

A lot containing two satirical fake versions of Le Soir newspaper has been sold for €1,280 at Arenberg Auctions in Brussels.

During the German occupation of Belgium, all media outlets were closed or placed under Nazi supervision, including Le Soir.

The young owner of the newspaper, Marie-Thérèse Rossel, refused to work under censorship and fled with her family to France. Le Soir was then stolen by the Nazis and became Hitler's propaganda machine in Belgium.

In the autumn of 1943, a few members of the resistance managed to distribute 50,000 copies of a satirical edition of the newspaper throughout the country.

Among other things, it mocked the 25th anniversary of the German defeat in 1918. The advertisements included, for example: "Hearses for sale. Special conditions for traitors and collaborators."

"This was one of the most spectacular coups of the resistance during the second world war," said Henri Godts, an expert at Arenberg Auctions. "In one night, 50,000 copies of the fake Soir were distributed to all the newsstands in Brussels, to the delight of the population.

“Unfortunately, this story, generally considered to be the first case of ‘media hacking’, had a less happy ending. The Gestapo managed to identify the printing press that had been used and nearly 20 people involved in producing the Faux Soir were arrested, five of whom died in concentration camps.”

The resistance act will be the subject of a feature film by Belgian director Michaël R. Roskam, currently in production.

Arenberg Auctions put two original copies of Le Faux Soir on display, one being a rare first edition with the incorrect date of 23 September under an advertisement for a public sale, and the other a copy with that date scratched out. The starting price was set at €250.