Fonds AIVG card index

Collection description

Collection

Country:: Belgium

Holding institution:: Jewish Social Service

Holding institution (official language):: Service Social Juif

Postal address:: Avenue Ducpétiaux 68 / Ducpétiauxlaan 68, 1060 Bruxelles (Saint-Gilles)

Phone number:: +32 (0)2 538 81 80

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

Reference number:: JSS-SGilles-Fonds Fichier AIVG

Title:: Fonds AIVG card index

Title (official language):: Fonds Fichier AIVG

Creator/accumulator:: Service Social Juif

Date(s):: 1944/1950

Language:: French; English

Extent:: 10 linear metres

Scope and content:: This fonds consists of a card index composed of individual records, one for each person. The card catalogue was probably created by the AIVG, in the framework of the mission of its Service de Recherches et Rapatriements (tracing and repatriation service). We also find cards for transit migrants passing through Belgium. Spouses and children each have their own card. Certain cards include pre-printed fields, others are blank and contain hand written notes. Therefore the cards vary in type. There are duplicates; some individuals are included several times, notably due to different spellings of his/her name. The number of fields on each card varies wildly. They potentially contain the surname, first name, nationality, place and date of birth, address, family ties, name of the spouse/widow(er)/divorcee, name of the children, date and place of death, date of deportation, date of arrival in Belgium, country of origin, profession, date of deportation from Mechelen, date of return, date of placement, changes in marital status, date/place of departure, languages spoken/written, deported family members, whether the individual was in transit, references to the municipal register or the various books and registers of the AIVG, etc. We note for example several cards from the Joint, written in English, of individuals wishing to go to Belgium. They mention the surname, first name, date and place of birth, country, province, desired destination, last permanent address, current address (in the camp of …), profession, names and addresses of relatives.

Administrative/biographical history:: The organisation Aide aux Israélites Victimes de la Guerre (1944-1961)(AIVG) was created for the purpose of helping Jewish war victims, notably those who were deported or robbed, and facilitating their social and economic rehabilitation. Its statutes were published in the Moniteur belge in October 1944. This association tried to respond to the distress and urgency of the needs of Shoah survivors. The AIVG was composed of several departments: the Service Recherches et Rapatriement (‘tracing and repatriation service’), the Service Enfance (‘childrens department’), the children’s homes, the legal department, the medical service, the social service, the labour service and the Petite caisse de prêts (‘small loans fund’). The AIVG collected information and cared for the survivors of the camps, both those who lived in Belgium before the war and survivors passing through the country. The organisation provided them with relief in the form of goods and money, housing and job assistance, and loans to purchase equipment and start a professional activity. The AIVG contributed to the reconstruction effort, and to the rehabilitation of the survivors of the camps, including by offering them legal support in their efforts to be compensated for spoliation and to defend their rights to compensation. The organisation was in particular dedicated to helping seniors and children whose families had perished during the Shoah. The AIVG ensured the care for these children by means of a dozen homes, opened since April 1945. The association managed the Home de Linkebeek, the Home d’Auderghem, the Home des Poussins, then the Home des Aiglons, the Home des Hirondelles, the Home de Lasne, the Home de Profondsart, the Home de Miravalle, the Home de Ronquières; by 1955, it only operated the Home de Rhode-Saint-Genèse. At first the AIVG was financed by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (Joint). This funding decreased and finally ended in 1972, because the successor of the AIVG, the Service Social Juif, had started receiving subsidies from the Belgian state. After having responded to the most urgent needs in the immediate post-war years, the aid provided by the AIVG evolved and adapted to the situation of the Jews in Belgium. It primarily served the needs of the elderly, of the sick and of individuals needing social or psychological assistance. This evolution was reflected in the name change to Service Social Juif, in March 1961. The available services were also adjusted. A Centre Médico-Psychologique was opened in 1962, as well as Club Amitié for seniors. At present, the SSJ is dedicated to providing assistance to Shoah survivors and people in need. The institution includes several services: the Club Amitié for the elderly; the Centre d’Action Sociale Globale, composed of social workers, has developed a homework support program and an advocacy group for the genocide of Tutsis; a café for the Russian-speaking community; and the Centre Médico-Psychologique, that organised psychological consultations, speech therapy, and social services. The SSJ published a monthly magazine called Carrefour. (D. Dratwa, Libération et Reconstruction. La vie juive en Belgique après la Shoah, Catalogue de l’Exposition 18/08/1994, Bruxelles, Musée Juif de Belgique, 1994 ; C. Massange, Les archives de l’Aide aux Israélites Victimes de la Guerre conservées au Service Social Juif (1944-1960), Bruxelles, Fondation de la Mémoire Contemporaine, 2006 ; C. Massange, Bâtir le lendemain. L’Aide aux Israélites Victimes de la Guerre et le Service Social Juif de 1944 à nos jours, Bruxelles, Didier Devillez, 2002.)

Access points: locations:: Mechelen

Subject terms:: Aid and relief; Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity; Holocaust; Holocaust--Survivors; Migration; Personal records; Refugees; Restitution and compensation; Vital records

System of arrangement:: The index cards are arranged alphabetically by family name. There is one card for each individual. Married women were registered by their maiden name. The card index appears to be incomplete; certain letters are missing.

Access, restrictions:: Consultation requires the authorisation of the president of the Service Social Juif.

Yerusha Network member:: State Archives of Belgium

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