 As the Belgian army clashed with the invading Germans in May 1940 , Hergé and his wife fled by car to France along with tens of thousands of other Belgians , first staying in Paris and then heading south to Puy @-@ de @-@ Dôme , where they remained for six weeks . On 28 May , Belgian King Leopold III officially surrendered the country to the German army to prevent further killing ; a move that Hergé agreed with . Germany placed Belgium under occupation . Hergé followed the king 's request that all civilians who had fled the country return ; he arrived back in Brussels on 30 June . There , he found that an officer of the German army 's Propagandastaffel occupied his house , and he also faced financial trouble , as he owed back taxes yet was unable to access his financial reserves ( his fee due from Casterman eventually arrived ) . All Belgian publications were now under the control of the German occupying force . The Catholic publication Le Vingtième Siècle and its supplement Le Petit Vingtième , where Hergé had always worked serialising The Adventures of Tintin , no longer had permission to continue publication . Land of Black Gold , the story that Hergé had been serialising there , had to be abandoned . Victor Matthys , the Rexist editor of Le Pays Réel , offered Hergé employment as a cartoonist , but Hergé perceived Le Pays Réel as an explicitly political publication and thus declined the position . 
 As the Belgian army clashed with the invading Germans in May 1940 , Hergé and his wife fled by car to France along with tens of thousands of other Belgians , first staying in Paris and then heading south to Puy @-@ de @-@ Dôme , where they remained for six weeks . On 28 May , Belgian King Leopold III officially surrendered the country to the German army to prevent further killing ; a move that Hergé agreed with . Germany placed Belgium under occupation . Hergé followed the king <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>request that all civilians <a href='null_relcl' title='2'><mark>who</mark></a><a href='been_done' title='3'><mark>had</mark></a> fled the country return ; he arrived back in Brussels on 30 June . There , he found that an officer of the German army <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>Propagandastaffel occupied his house , and he also faced financial trouble , as he owed back taxes yet was unable to access his financial reserves ( his fee due from Casterman eventually arrived ) . All Belgian publications <a href='uninflect' title='5'><mark>were</mark></a> now under the control of the German occupying force . The Catholic publication Le Vingtième Siècle and its supplement Le Petit Vingtième , where Hergé <a href='been_done' title='6'><mark>had</mark></a> always worked serialising The Adventures of Tintin , no longer had permission to continue publication . Land of Black Gold , the story <a href='null_relcl' title='7'><mark>that</mark></a>Hergé had been serialising there , had to be abandoned . Victor Matthys , the Rexist editor of Le Pays Réel , offered Hergé employment as a cartoonist , but Hergé perceived Le Pays Réel as an explicitly political publication and thus declined the position . 
As da Belgian army clashed w the invading Germans in May 1940 , Hergé and his wife fled by car to France along with tens of thousands of other Belgians , first staying in Paris and then headin south to Puy @-@ de @-@ Dôme , where they remained fa six weeks . On 28 May , Belgian King Leopold III officially surrendered the country to tdaGerman army to prevent further killin ; a move that Hergé agreed witwitGermany placed Belgium under occupation . Hergé followed the king  request that all civilians done fled the country return ; he arrived bak in Brussels on 30 June . thea , he found that an officer of the German army  Propagandastaffel occupied his house , and he also faced financial trouble , as he owed bbktaxes yet was unable to access his financial reserves ( his fee due from Casterman eventually arrived ) . alll Belgian publications was now under thdaontrol of the German occupying force . Thedatholic publication Le Vingtième Siècle and its supplement Le Petit Vingtième , where Hergé done always worked serialising The Adventures of Tintin , no longer had permission to continue publication . Land of Black Gold , the dary Hergé had been serialising there , had to b abandoned . Victor Matthys , the Rexist editor of Le Pays Réel , offered Hergé employment as a cartoonist , but Hergé perceived Le Pays Réel as an explicitly political publication and thus declined the position .