Albert Folens

Albert Joseph Marcel Folens (15 October 1916 – 9 September 2003) was a Belgian-born publisher of educational materials. His company, Folens, is a major publisher of educational materials. He was also the author Aiséirí Flóndrais ('The Resurrection of Flanders') a book in Irish discussing the fortunes and rise of Flanders and of the Dutch language vis-à-vis French in Flanders, with references to the situation of the Irish language.

Hidden History: Ireland's Nazis A two-part documentary series shown on RTÉ revealed his alleged collaboration with the Third Reich. (The first part was broadcast on RTÉ 1 on 7 January 2007, the second on 16 January). Juliette Folens, his widow, obtained a temporary High Court injunction to prevent the use of a 1987 interview with her husband on an ex parte basis. The interview had been taken twenty years previously but did not provide information that proved the accusations that he was a member of the Gestapo. Had they been published when Mr. Folens was alive, they would have been considered defamatory.

Under Irish law, one cannot defame a person after their death and Folens was not alive at the time the documentary was released. His family issued a press release denying that he had ever been involved with Nazi war crimes, although he was a member of the Flemish Legion.

Personal life After returning to Brussels in 1942 he met his future wife Juliette in March 1942. They married in April 1942 and would have two daughters and a son.

Post World War II He was captured by British forces in Germany at the end of the war and repatriated to Belgium, where he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for collaboration. His wife was sentenced to imprisonment for two years but was released after six months. After thirty-one months imprisonment Albert escaped imprisonment under unclear circumstances.

Folens arrived in Ireland in October 1948 on a false passport and Juliette joined him afterward. He had his sentence reduced to the three years he had served, had his Belgian passport restored, and was able to travel to Belgium. As his earlier teaching regulations were not recognised in Ireland, he obtained a H.Dip.Ed. from University College Dublin in 1951. Alan Dukes was one of his pupils.

In 1957, he and his wife began printing school notes on a hired Mimeograph. In 1960, he retired from teaching to devote himself to publishing, founding the Folens Educational Publishing Company. The company was based at Scholarstown Road, then Naas Road, then moved to Tallaght.

In 1978, he began to retire. In 1984, the Folens family were held hostage by robbers who demanded a ransom. In 2001, he suffered a stroke and moved to the Dargle Valley Nursing Home, Enniskerry, where he died.