Faux Soir Faux Soir was a spoof issue of the Belgian newspaper " Le Soir " published on 9 November 1943 by the " Front de l ' Indépendance " , a Belgian resistance organisation . Employing the weapons of humour and derision against the Nazi occupiers , " Faux Soir " was , besides an act of resistance which cost the lives of some participants , a demonstration of Belgian comedy and of " " , the characteristic humour of Brussels folk . Background . The Belgian newspaper " Le Soir " had ceased to appear on 18 May 1940 , a few days after the German invasion of Belgium . It was relaunched by collaborationist journalists such as Horace Van Offel and Raymond De Becker with the acceptance of the German occupier . The most famous author to publish in " Le Soir " during this time was doubtless Hergé with " The Adventures of Tintin " comic " The Shooting Star " ( " L ' étoile mystérieuse " ) , featuring his famous character Tintin . The paper ' s propagandist transformation led to its nickname " Soir volé " ( " the stolen " Le Soir " " ) . Nonetheless it maintained a comfortable circulation of 300 , 000 ( compared with just over 90 , 000 as of 2009 ) . The Front de l ' Indépendance ( FI ) was a Belgian resistance movement founded in March 1941 by Dr . Albert Marteaux , a communist , Father André Roland , and Fernand Demany , with the aim of uniting Belgian resistance fighters of various opinions and stances . By the end of the war the FI national committee would include representation from a large number of resistance organisations such as the " Armée belge des partisans " ( PA ) , the " Milices Patriotiques " ( MP ) , " Wallonie indépendante " , the " Rassemblement national de la jeunesse " and the country ' s main parties and trade unions . Through these various organisations , the FI ran sabotage operations , escape routes , a false document service , and circulated 250 different underground publications . The " Faux Soir " project . The idea for " Faux Soir " came to Marc Aubrion on 19 October 1943 while he was editing an article planned for 11 November . The following day he shared his idea with René Noël , head of the press department of the FI in Brabant and Hainaut . The idea was to publish and distribute a fake issue of " Le Soir " on 11 November , which would be the 25th anniversary of the German defeat in World War I . Noël was enthusiastic about the idea , and along with Aubrion , he quickly put in place the steps which would allow such a significant operation to be carried out within 21 days . The publication date was fixed for November 9 . The 10th was a Wednesday , the day when " Le Soir " would be published on four pages . The difficulty of printing a single page seemed enough , and the release of " Faux Soir " was put forward by a day . Problems abounded . Firstly , Aubrion and Noël rapidly realised that the project would go well beyond their initial estimate of a few hundred copies . They decided to limit the circulation to 100 copies per newsagent or kiosk , adding a banner to each pack of newspapers which explained that the small number of copies was due to a breakdown of " Le Soir " ' s machinery . Nonetheless even this limited distribution demanded a print run of 50 , 000 copies , assuming 50 kiosks to give Brussels reasonable coverage . Added to the difficulty of printing the fake newspaper , which in particular presupposed obtaining almost non - existent large - format paper and using printing machinery which was all under surveillance , the paper would have to be distributed under the very nose of the occupier as well as short - circuiting the normal distribution channels of the real " Le Soir " . The operation . Although the initial idea was to make " Faux Soir " a counter - propaganda pamphlet , it rapidly evolved into a parody . " Faux Soir " was to become a full expression of Brussels ' " zwanze " humour , aiming to amuse Brussels , Belgium , and all European resistance sympathisers . While the articles were being written and edited , the practical problems were surmounted at a speed which can only be explained by the level of enthusiasm created by the project . Through Théo Mullier , a member of the FI who worked for " Le Soir " , the resistance gained access to a printing template with the paper ' s title letterhead , and to a list of bookstores directly served by the newspaper with the time of day and size of each delivery . Pierre Ballancourt , a linotypist who published newspapers and tracts for the FI , put Aubrion in contact with his former employer , Ferdinand Wellens , a printer who would put his presses at the FI ' s disposal . As luck had it , Wellens was also a resistance sympathiser who already published for the FI . Wellens provided the use not only of the necessary paper , his workshops and linotypists , but also his presses , all for the price of one Franc per copy . At this point the 5 , 000 copies were no longer a dream ; it was decided to print 50 , 000 , of which 5 , 000 would be distributed using standard routes . The others would be sold underground for 10 Francs each with proceeds going towards financing the FI . The most tricky part was to ensure the circulation . One of the reasons that " Le Soir " was chosen was the fact that the paper was distributed in the afternoon at about 4 pm . Often , employees and workmen would have left work and be lining up outside the kiosks at the moment when the " Le Soir " was delivered ; this situation was ideal for making quick sales of " Faux Soir " . The F . I ' s knowledge of distribution times permitted it to drop the 100 copies at about the right time . To allow all the copies to be sold , various plans were made for delaying the distribution of the real " Le Soir " . The British were asked to fly over Brussels on the afternoon of the 9th , which would trigger an air raid warning and delay the printing of " Le Soir " . This would have the additional effect of emphasising the support that the FI received from the British . However , the British did not reply to the request . This led to a plan for sabotaging " Le Soir ' s " delivery vans . By 27 October , the ingredients of the false publication had been assembled : the title flan , the articles , the photos , even the cartoon , announcements and the obituaries , which were all written by enthusiastic participants . On the weekend of 30 October to 1 November , the paper was put together in Wellens ' workshop . Wellens ' linotypist , Julien Oorlinckx , worked throughout the weekend . The following week , the van sabotages were organised : at 3 : 30 pm , a few young partisans would throw incendiary devices into the vans parked in front of the " Le Soir " buildings . Théo Mullier would arrange to confuse the firefighting , and these measures together would delay the distribution of " Le Soir " enough for the operation . On 6 and 7 November the paper was printed by Wellens ' machinery . The copies were carefully cropped to remove indentations which could act as a fingerprint to trace the copies back to their machine of origin . The printing went on through the night of Sunday , and finished at about 3 am on Monday 8 November . The final straight , and the circulation . On 8 November , the 5 , 000 copies set for direct distribution were issued at three distribution centres in Brussels based at cafés . Tens of volunteers left at set times to deliver their 100 copies to kiosks . However the news was not good . London had not responded to the request for overflight , and no - one had managed to contact the partisans who were to organize sabotage of the vans . A second sabotage was improvised , involving some youths who were participating in the distribution . On 9 November at about 3 : 30 pm , some youths tried to set fire to the vans . However a passer - by gave the alert , and the sabotage was foiled . At 4 pm , the distribution of " Faux Soir " began . The bundles of 100 papers , tied with a banner explaining the absence of the usual number of copies , were dropped in the kiosks where the people of Brussels were awaiting their newspaper . The issues sold quickly without event . The customers went away , some of them starting to read their papers and stopping suddenly ; glancing quickly around them , they folded their papers and retreated , astonished and eager to read the rest . In certain trams , to the great joy but also concern of the passengers , bemused readers loudly declaimed extracts from the paper . Everyone rushed to acquire a copy , as the deliveries of the real " Le Soir " arrived at the kiosk to the complete disbelief of the salesmen . Certain outlets were spooked , and stopped selling " Faux Soir " . Others offered their buyers a choice between the real and the fake one . Aftermath . The following day , the 10 November , the British Royal Air Force , a day late , performed the raid requested by Brussels . In the days which followed , the " Faux Soir " , gave great joy throughout Belgium . The 45 , 000 copies printed by the FI " for sale " sold quickly . Some copies went for as much as 1 , 500 or 2 , 500 francs . 10 , 000 copies were distributed throughout Europe thanks to Dr . Marteau , the delegate of the FI in London . The paper was reproduced in facsimile and had a comical effect throughout Europe . The reaction of the Germans and the collaborators was quite the opposite . The inquiry was charged to the Gestapo and ultimately identified the press machinery from which " Faux Soir " had originated . Wellens , Mullier , Oorlinckx and the machine operator Henri Vandevelde were all arrested . Wellens and Mullier never returned from the camp where they were taken . Somewhat later on , Aubrion was arrested ; he was given a death sentence which was commuted to 15 years in prison . In all about 15 people were arrested and sentenced to penalties ranging from four months ( for distribution ) to five years . " Faux Soir " earned the FI recognition not only from the Belgian people but from London , in the form of a budget of 347 , 000 Francs at a time when financial support from London was unusual . If " Faux Soir " had been a good laugh and an example of Brussels " zwanze " it was above all an act of valour and resistance which had earned the death or prison of its participants . Recalling this gag which made the whole of Belgium laugh on 9 November 1943 never fails to evoke a smile . Content of " Faux Soir " . The reader ' s first surprise was on page one , which displayed two photos , while " Soir volé " usually had no more than one . The first photo , in the top left , showed dive - bomber s with the title of " in the middle of action " . A quick inspection revealed the unbelievable : the rosettes of the bombers were stars . In the bottom right , a second photo showed Adolf Hitler with his arms on his waist , and his eyes raised to the heavens , saying " " Das habe ich . . . " " . The mystery of the two photos was clarified in a note which explained : Moreover the titles of the first pages , as in the rest of the paper , seemed bland enough , for example " Effective Strategy " , where the author strove to imitate the convoluted prose of Maurice - George Olivier , a collaborationist journalist who was a mouthpiece of propaganda communications for the people : He goes on to satirize enemy propaganda , poking fun in passing at the military concepts of hedgehog defense and elastic defense : Another first - page article was the " German communiqué " : Finally , under the title " International week " and the subtitle " From picking back to defensive victory " , " Faux Soir " drove the point home by asserting that : From the classified section , to the obituaries and the advertisements , each paragraph was a farce aimed at one or another collaborationist , or hinting at the government in exile or the country ' s liberation . References . Le " faux Soir " , de Marie Istas , Editions J . M . Collet , ISBN 2 - 87367 - 024 - X Gaston Schoukens devoted a film " Un soir de joie " to the " Faux Soir " episode . The film reproduces the atmosphere of a Brussels which is now lost . " Un soir de joie " » was edited for DVD by RTBF .