General Documentation – Marburg collection

Collection description

Collection

Country:: Belgium

Holding institution:: Directorate-General War Victims, Archives and Documentation Department

Holding institution (official language):: Direction Générale Victimes de la Guerre, Service Archives et Documentation

Postal address:: Luchtvaartsquare 31 / Square de l’Aviation 31, 1070 Brussel (Anderlecht)

Phone number:: +32 (0)2 528 91 57

Web address:: http://warvictims.fgov.be/

Email:: archidoc@minsoc.fed.be

Reference number:: DirGenWarVic-Brussels-

Title:: General Documentation – Marburg collection

Title (official language):: Algemene Documentatie – Fonds Marburg

Creator/accumulator:: Directie-Generaal Oorlogsslachtoffers; Direction Générale Victimes de la Guerre

Date(s):: 1940/1949

Language:: German; French; Dutch; Flemish

Extent:: 159 binders, 10 bundles and 2 folders

Scope and content:: This fonds contains (copies of) archival documents produced by the Militärsbefehlshaber in Belgien und Nordfrankreich. The originals are preserved in the Archives Nationales in Paris. The fonds contains French translations of this material, ordered by film and (microfilm) copy number. In this fonds we mainly note material from the Wirtschaftsabteilung – Gruppe VII Arbeitseinsatz und Sozialwesen, related to recruitment and (often forced) employment of Belgians and aliens in Germany and northern France. A number of binders are of particular interest for this guide. R.184/tr.54.051 (1941-1944) concerns i.a. the anti-Jewish measures and ordinances of the Wirtschaftsabteilung and other departments of the Military Administration. In r.184/tr.50077 (1940-1943), totalling 3 binders and containing material from the Verwaltungsabteilung – Gruppe VII Fürsorge, we note i.a. lists of Jews inscribed in the ‘registers of Jews’ of various municipalities in Wallonia and Flanders (August 1941), a list of ‘Jewish businesses’, various notes concerning the implementation of the anti-Jewish ordinances and the report “Das Judentum in Belgien” (known as the “Ehlers report”).

Administrative/biographical history:: The early predecessor of today’s Directie-Generaal Oorlogsslachtoffers / Direction Générale Victimes de la Guerre (DGVG)(Directorate-General War Victims) was the Belgisch Commissariaat voor de Repatriëring, created in late June 1944 with the aim of repatriating the many Belgian prisoners, forced labourers and refugees. In August 1945 the Commissariat (which was being liquidated) was integrated in the Ministry for War Victims, created in February of the same year. This ministry was charged with immediate assistance to Belgian war victims, but it was also responsible for their pensions, medical treatment etc. A number of new services – including a service for medical and pharmaceutical care and the Nationaal Werk voor Oud-Strijders – were added to the ministry in 1945. In April 1946, the duties and services of the Ministry for War Victims and the Ministry for War Damages were transferred to the newly created Ministry of Reconstruction. The Bestuur der Schade aan Personen (‘administration for damage to individuals’) of this ministry took over the competences related to war victims. The evaluation and granting of the status of ‘political prisoner’ was added to its duties. Its division into three main sections (statuses, pensions for civilian victims of the war, documentation) dates back to 1949. From 1946 until 1952 the Bestuur der Schade aan Personen almost continuously formed part of the Ministry of Reconstruction. Afterwards the Bestuursafdeling voor Oorlogsslachtoffers successively became a part of the Ministry of Public Health (1952-1995) and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Public Health and Environment (1995-2001). Since the division of this last ministry (2002), the Directorate-General War Victims belongs to the Federal Public Service (FPS) Social Security. Today, the DGVG has a dual mission. On the one hand, the execution of the law regarding civilian war victims, notably the granting of the various statuses of national recognition (e.g. political prisoner, hidden Jewish child, defaulter (werkweigeraar), fisherman in wartime) and processing of related pension applications. On the other hand, the DGVG manages its archives and documentation service. This voluminous body of documents is mainly the result of the field work of the Service de recherches en Belgique in the immediate post-war period – in particular the work carried out by its liaison officers and missions abroad. The personnel of the service often collaborated with a number of Jewish organisations, including Aide aux Israélites Victimes de la Guerre. (http://warvictims.fgov.be/nl/about/origine.htm; P. Nefors, Inventaris van het Archief van de Dienst voor de Oorlogsslachtoffers – Inventaire des Archives du Service des Victimes de la Guerre, Brussel, 1997.)

Access points: locations:: Belgium; France; Germany

Subject terms:: Antisemitism; Antisemitism--Antisemitic measures; Jewish community records; Nazism; Nazism--Nazi parties and organisations; Trade and commerce; Vital records

Access, restrictions:: The files can be consulted by the concerned individuals and their descendants. Consultation for research purposes is authorised on the basis of a research declaration.

Finding aids:: There is a (partially outdated) inventory: P. Nefors, Inventaris van het Archief van de Dienst voor de Oorlogsslachtoffers – Inventaire des Archives du Service des Victimes de la Guerre, Brussel, 1997. Descriptions of the exact content of each binder can be found in a contemporary inventory (found in the two folders titled “Inventaire archives Marbourg”, Nefors nos. 1092-1093).

Yerusha Network member:: State Archives of Belgium

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