Algemeen Geneesherenverbond

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-510-152

Title:: Algemeen Geneesherenverbond

Title (official language):: Algemeen Geneesherenverbond

Creator/accumulator:: Algemeen Belgisch Geneesherenverbond; Fédération Médicale Belge

Date(s):: 1898/1964

Extent:: 33.24 linear metres

Scope and content:: In this fonds we point out the following files: “Doctors imprisoned, deported and deceased as a result of acts of war” (no. 2578) and “Doctors – war victims” (no. 2579), respectively dated from 1945-1946, 1948, 1957 and 1940-1945. Both files concern doctors, affiliated with the Algemeen Geneesherenverbond, who were persecuted, deported and/or murdered as a result of the antisemitic policy of the occupier. They consist of post-war correspondence with affiliated federations and associations, for the purpose of gathering information on doctors who died during the war. For the region of Antwerp we find, for example, lists explicitly mentioning the doctors “of Jewish descent”(see file no. 2579).

Administrative/biographical history:: The Fédération Médicale Belge - Algemeen Belgisch Geneesherenverbond (ABGV) was founded in 1864 as the umbrella organisation uniting the various local physicians’ associations. At its creation, 34 organisations had joined the ABGV, representing approximately 600 affiliated physicians. The association was recognised by the State with the law on professional associations of 31 March 31 1898. Le Scalpel, the oldest medical weekly in Belgium, served as its unofficial organ; in addition, a number of irregular publications appeared between 1865 and 1892. From 1903 the ABGV published the Bulletin officiel de la federation médicale belge (renamed to Le Médecin belge in 1933). The ABGV was known to be somewhat of a ‘belgicist’ (Belgian nationalist) organisation. The ‘communitarian’ fault line was a constant in the history of the organisation, including Flemish nationalist splits in 1922 (Algemeen Vlaamsch Geneesheren Verbond) and 1946 (Verbond van Vlaamsche Geneesheren in België, from 1958 Vlaams Geneesherenverbond), and painful episodes of collaboration and purification (épuration) during and after both World Wars. Following the creation of the Orde der Geneesheren in 1941 by the German occupier, the ABGV – until then pursuing a ‘policy of presence’ – was considered undesirable. As of 25 February 1943 the ABGV (and all its affiliates) was formally disbanded by the Germans. The resurrected ABGV would become an important player in the development of the social security system after the Second World War, in particular in the debate regarding the law on compulsory health insurance in 1963. Due to internal divisions and financial difficulties, the ABGV was dissolved in 1964 and liquidated. (A. Notebaert, Inventaire des archives de la Fédération médicale belge, I 209, Brussel, ARA-AGR, 1978; L. Vandeweyer, “Een geneesherenkorps tussen scalpel en Vlaamse Leeuw. De machtsstrijd van de communautair verdeelde artsenverenigingen, 1914-1945”, in Cahiers d’histoire du temps présent-Bijdragen tot de eigentijdse geschiedenis, no. 2, 1997, pp. 199-226.)

Access points: locations:: Belgium

Subject terms:: Health and medical matters; Health and medical matters--Physicians and nurses; Holocaust; Holocaust--Deportation; Vital records

Finding aids:: A. Notebaert, Inventaire des archives de la Fédération médicale belge, I 209, Brussel, ARA-AGR, 1978.

Yerusha Network member:: State Archives of Belgium

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