Public functions – Security – Police

Collection description

Collection

Country:: Belgium

Holding institution:: FelixArchief – City archives of Antwerp

Holding institution (official language):: FelixArchief - Stadsarchief Antwerpen

Postal address:: Oude Leeuwenrui 29, 2000 Antwerpen

Phone number:: +32 (0)3 338 94 11

Email:: stadsarchief@stad.antwerpen.be

Reference number:: FelixArCity-Antwerp-Publieke taken – Veiligheid – Politie

Title:: Public functions – Security – Police

Title (official language):: Publieke taken – Veiligheid – Politie

Creator/accumulator:: Stad Antwerpen; Ville d’Anvers; City of Antwerp

Date(s):: 1794/2016

Date note:: Material continues to be added to this collection.

Language:: Dutch; Flemish; French; Yiddish; Hebrew

Scope and content:: The archives of the local police contain many relevant files. We firstly point out the general series such as event registers (gebeurtenisboeken), administrative reports, protocols etc. in which information can be found on individuals or specific events. The series of processen-verbaal of the 7th Quarter for example contain information on (post-war) declarations related to denunciations of Jews during the Occupation (see files MA # 29918 - MA # 29924, MA # 29932 - MA # 29937).

A number of specific files are of interest for our guide. Concerning the persecution of the Jews during the Occupation, we note the files nos. MA # 58080 (“instructions Jews”, 1940-1942), MA # 41726 folder 118 (“Jews – removal from public functions”, 1940), 731 # 698 folder 119 (“Jews – vacant dwellings of Jews”, 1942), 731 # 699 folder 120 (“Jews – Management of Jewish property”, 1941-1944), 731 # 700 folder 121 (“Jews – Jews on the market, incident 30 July 1940”, 1940), MA # 41729 folder 248 (“Synagogues – surveillance”, 1943), 731 # 1283 folders 20 (“Jewish refugees – moving into homes”, 1944), MA # 48741 folder 2 (“Jewish businesses – bars, hotels and restaurants”, 1940-1941), MA # 41728 folder 184 (“Requisitioning of the gendarmerie to maintain order in the Jewish quarter”, 1941) and MA # 42806 (“Requisitions and quartering”, 1940-1946; the file contains i.a. a “list of vacant dwellings of Jews, in the 12th Quarter”). A number of other files likely contain relevant information – see for example MA # 34191 folder 21 (“Verwalter”, 1945), MA # 34191 folder 10 (Volksverwering, 1940-1945), 731 # 861 (“correspondence with the German authorities”, 1940-1943), 731 # 1285 folder 111 (“War crimes”, 1944-1945), 731 # 823 (“Refugees”, 1939), MA # 34183 folder 1 (“German prisons and concentration camps”, 1939-1945) etc.

For the post-war period, we note i.a. MA # 34199 folder 2 (“Report on the Comiteit voor Joodse belangen”, 1944), MA # 31245 (“Jews”, 1967), and MA # 26313 (“Jewish question”, 1967-1971). File MA # 26344 contains 3 relevant subfolders. The folder “Jewish organisations” (1945-1964) mainly consists of police reports, documentation, leaflets, posters etc., concerning many Jewish associations, institutions and political organisations such as B’nai B’rith, Neche Mizrachi, ORT, Mapam-Amis du Hashomer Hatzair et sans parti, Agudath Zion, Histadruth Mizrachi ve Hapoel ha Mizrachi, Maccabi, Joodse socialistische partij and others. The folder “Swastikas, Jews, synagogues” (1960) contains documentation, reports, correspondence, leaflets etc. related to the besmirching of buildings of the Jewish community. In the third subfolder titled “Centraal Beheer van Joodse weldadigheid en hulpbetoon” (1960) we find a voluminous bundle of declarations of Jewish citizens concerning the confiscation of furniture from their homes by the occupier (the so-called Möbelaktion).

Administrative/biographical history:: The municipality is one of the levels of government with which citizens most often come into contact. Its tasks and competences were first established by the decree of 14 December 1789, and by the order of 19 Frimaire year IV [1795-96]. After Belgian independence, the legal framework was provided by the Gemeentewet of 1836 and later the ‘Nieuwe Gemeentewet’ (1988). Since 2002, the organic law regarding municipalities is a competence of the Regions. Until 1980, municipalities were supervised by the provincial and central authorities. Today, there is a division of powers between the federal and regional governments. A municipality is led by a mayor, who is also the head of the local police. He/she is assisted by a college of aldermen, selected from the municipal council. Currently, there are 589 municipalities in Belgium. Before the large-scale fusions in the 1970s – in other words, for a large part of Belgian history – there were 2359 municipalities. The municipality had/has, among others, competences regarding the management of its assets, institutions and staff; municipal revenue and expenditure; Civil Registry; health and safety in public places; urban planning and environment; public works; militia; education; elections etc. This is reflected in the sources held in municipal and city archives. Important general sources include the (sometimes published) minutes of meetings and records of the municipal council and college of aldermen (often indexed by subject). We also refer to all kinds of administrative reports and general correspondence. The series of sources of the Civil Registry (e.g. birth, marriage and death certificates, population registers, registers of arrival and departure) are crucial for historical research on individuals. Relevant for this guide are notably the alien registers (since 1933), and the alien files preserved in some larger cities. Of major importance are also the accounts, correspondence and other material regarding the recognised religions. They contain information on their operation, budgets, assets but also the appointment of ministers, donations to religious communities, various conflicts etc. Building permits and files regarding environmental permits contain information and usually blueprints of buildings. Lastly, in many municipal and city archives there are specific series of sources regarding policy during the First and Second World War. We mention e.g. the various anti-Jewish ordinances, documents regarding the spoliation of the Jews, the so-called Jodenregister (register of Jews), correspondence related to the implementation of the anti-Jewish policies etc. (J. Art & E. Vanhaute (ed.), Inleiding tot de lokale geschiedenis van de 19de en de 20ste eeuw, Gent, Mens & Cultuur, 2003; P. van den Eeckhout, “De gemeenten en de lokale openbare instellingen”, in P. van den Eeckhout & G. Vanthemsche (ed.), Bronnen voor de studie van het hedendaagse België 19e – 21e eeuw. Tweede herziene en uitgebreide uitgave, Brussel, Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis / Commission Royale d’Histoire, 2009, pp. 31-92.)

Access points: locations:: Antwerp

Subject terms:: Antisemitism; Antisemitism--Antisemitic measures; Holocaust; Holocaust--Concentration camps; Jewish Question; Law enforcement; Law enforcement--Gendarmerie; Law enforcement--Police; Nazism; Nazism--Nazi parties and organisations; Plunder; Refugees; Restitution and compensation; Synagogues; War crimes; Zionism

Access, restrictions:: Consultation and reproduction requires the authorisation of the Procureur des Konings of Antwerpen.

Finding aids:: The fonds is described in the database of the Felixarchief. A separate finding aid also exists; it can be accessed via the database of the FelixArchief.

Links to finding aids:: http://zoeken.felixarchief.be

Yerusha Network member:: State Archives of Belgium

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