Dienst van het Sekwester (Second World War). Central administration

Collection description

Collection

Country:: Belgium

Holding institution:: National Archives of Belgium

Holding institution (official language):: Archives Générales du Royaume

Postal address:: Ruisbroekstraat 2-6 / Rue de Ruysbroeck 2-6, 1000 Brussel

Phone number:: +32 (0)2 513 76 80

Web address:: http://www.arch.be/

Email:: archives.generales@arch.be

Reference number:: NAB-Brussels-510-1913

Title:: Dienst van het Sekwester (Second World War). Central administration

Title (official language):: Dienst van het Sekwester (Tweede Wereldoorlog). Hoofdbestuur

Creator/accumulator:: Dienst van het Sekwester; Office des Séquestres

Date(s):: 1937/1973

Extent:: 61.2 linear metres

Scope and content:: A number of files from this fonds relate to the looting of Jewish property and possessions by the German administrations, i.a. through the Verwalter. File no. 198 contains correspondence and other documents concerning the post-war investigation of the spoliation of property of Jews, i.a. the so-called Hütteman accounts and the forced sale of real estate and artworks. File no. 208 concerns the Vereniging der Joden in België (and includes i.a. a detailed report on the VJB written by the parket of Brussels). In addition the fonds also contains several series (e.g. series of bookkeeping records) concerning the processing of the sequester of ‘suspects’ and ‘enemies’ (initially including some non-Belgian Jews). We also point out the series of forms from the Krijgsauditoraten indicating whether the sequester should be lifted or maintained, ordered by province and alphabetically by family name. Lastly, we note the series of index cards (nos. 522-559) mentioning the revenues and expenses for each file in the series “verdachten” (suspects; cfr. the fonds “Dienst van het Sekwester (Tweede Wereldoorlog). Reeksen ‘Verdachten’ en ‘Vijanden’” (BE / ARA2-AGR2 / 545-363)).

Administrative/biographical history:: The Dienst van het Sekwester / Office des Séquestres (Sequester Office) was established as a public institution and commenced its operations already in early September 1944. It was responsible for the supervision, custody and management of enemy property. From 1951 it was also authorised to liquidate (German) assets. From 1944 to 1959, a total of 28,496 files on ‘enemies’ and 15,134 files on ‘suspects’ were created. The actual processing of the files was carried out by four directorates. Its general policy was elaborated by the board of administration (including a Dutch and French speaking secretary), a government commissioner and a Council of three commissioners. The central management of the Sequester Office was composed of the president of the board of administration, the four directors and the head of the accounting department. Day-to-day management of the sequestered assets was done via the provincial agencies (in Antwerp, Bruges, Charleroi, Ghent, Namur, Liège and Hasselt). Mandatary-supervisors and mandatary-managers were in charge of the supervision of larger companies; public notaries managed the sequestered private assets. In some cases, separate management and coordination committees were tasked with managing businesses from a particular sector. The Sequester Office reached peak activity in the early post-war years: in 1947 it supervised 318 companies with a total of roughly 30500 employees. However, the office was heavily criticised, eventually leading to the creation of a parliamentary inquiry commission (1955). As its activities were steadily declining, steps were taken to dismantle the office from the mid-1950s. The Sequester Office was only dissolved in 1959, and its remaining rights and competences were transferred on 1 January 1960 to the Administratie van Registratie en Domeinen of the Ministry of Finance. Of particular importance for this guide is the fact that the Sequester Office managed the assets of German and collaborating businesses and organisations, including those that had played a role in the spoliation of the Jewish population of Belgium. Initially, even German and Austrian Jews were sequestered – an untenable situation for which first an unofficial solution and later (1947) a legal solution was found. (Studiecommissie betreffende het lot van de bezittingen van de leden van de Joodse gemeenschap van België, geplunderd of achtergelaten tijdens de oorlog 1940-1945, De bezittingen van de slachtoffers van de Jodenvervolging in België: spoliatie, rechtsherstel, bevindingen van de Studiecommissie., Brussel, Diensten van de Eerste Minister, 2001; J.-M. Yante & P.-A. Tallier (dir.), F. Plisnier, S. Carnel, G. Coppieters & V. Pirlot, Gids van de instellingen van openbaar nut in België. Deel II. Band 1. Notities van de parastatalen onderworpen aan de wet van 16 maart 1954 en van diegene die daarvoor afgeschaft werden (notities 1 tot 159), Guides/Gidsen no. 70, Brussel, ARA-AGR, 2008, pp. 330-333.)

Subject terms:: Financial matters; Holocaust; Plunder; Plunder--Forced closures; Plunder--Looted art; Post-WWII trials; Restitution and compensation

Access, restrictions:: Access requires the authorisation of the Administrateur-Generaal of the Patrimoniumdocumentatie (FPS Finance).

Finding aids:: There is an unpublished deposit list.

Yerusha Network member:: State Archives of Belgium

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