Committee of Secretaries-General  The Committee of Secretaries-General (, ) was a Belgian technocratic administrative panel created during World War II. The Committee comprised the head civil servants of most government ministries (who each held the title Secretary-General) and formed a part of the German occupation administration of Belgium between 1940 and 1944, being an integral role in the Belgian policy of "lesser evil" collaboration. From August 1940, the Germans began introducing new members, and by 1941 its composition was almost completely different. Among those promoted were pro-Germans like Victor Leemans and Gérard Romsée, who had been involved in Belgian Fascist movements before the war. They helped to facilitate the more radical administrative reforms demanded by the Germans, although the Committee refused to involve itself in the deportation of Belgian Jews. As the visible face of the German administration, the Committee became more and more unpopular as the war progressed. Following the Allied liberation of Belgium in 1944, several members of the Committee were prosecuted for collaboration but several members, including Leemans, went on to political careers in post-war Belgium. The Committee was installed by the Belgian government of Hubert Pierlot on 16 May 1940 as an administrative committee to oversee the basic functioning of the Belgian state in the absence of the official government. While the ministers departed for Bordeaux in France, the Secretaries-General (chief civil servants responsible for each department) of each ministry were ordered to remain in the country, along with all other civil servants, to allow the state to continue functioning. The Committee formed part of the policy of officially sanctioned "lesser evil" collaboration among the civil service and government bureaus left behind. During the German occupation of Belgium in World War I, many Belgian workers had refused to work for the German administration as a form of passive resistance. This had led to large-scale reprisals against civilians as the occupiers had attempted to enforce their policies by armed force. The Committee hoped to avoid the Germans becoming involved in the day-to-day administration of the territory as they had during World War I, while also allowing Belgium to maintain a degree of national autonomy and independence. The Committee also hoped to be able to prevent the implementation of more radical German policies, like forced labor and deportation. The legal basis of the Committee was a law of 7 September 1939, through which in times of crisis, a Secretary-General could exert full control over his own department, but without having the full status of being a minister. After the Belgian surrender on 28 May 1940, the Germans formed a "Militärverwaltung" (Military Administration) in the country; commanded by the German aristocrat and career soldier, General Alexander von Falkenhausen.