Collection of Archival Material

Collection description

Collection

Country:: Belgium

Holding institution:: Kazerne Dossin - Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on the Holocaust and Human Rights

Holding institution (official language):: Kazerne Dossin - Memoriaal, Museum en Documentatiecentrum over Holocaust en Mensenrechten

Postal address:: Goswin de Stassartstraat 153, 2800 Mechelen

Phone number:: +32 (0)15 29 06 60

Web address:: https://www.kazernedossin.eu

Email:: info@kazernedossin.eu

Reference number:: KazDossin-Mechelen-Collectie 1

Title:: Collection of Archival Material

Title (official language):: Eigen Verzameling Archiefmateriaal

Creator/accumulator:: Kazerne Dossin – Memoriaal, Museum en Documentatiecentrum over Holocaust en Mensenrechten; Kazerne Dossin – Mémorial, Musée et Centre de Documentation sur l’Holocauste et les Droits de l’Homme; Kazerne Dossin - Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on the Holocaust and Human Rights

Date(s):: 1900/1999

Date note:: 20th century

Extent:: ca. 38,000 items

Scope and content:: This collection is composed of several hundred smaller (sub)fonds and (sub)collections. On the one hand we note archives, iconographic material, documentation, periodicals etc. entrusted to Kazerne Dossin by Shoah survivors (or their relatives), former resistance members, descendants of Shoah victims, etc. The collection also contains personal archives (notes, photographs, correspondence) or various collection (press clippings, leaflets, posters) of researchers, former resistance fighters, individuals who held functions in the Jewish communities and organisations, etc. We find for example individual documents or photographs but also entire (sub)collections donated by Maxime Steinberg, Nathan Ramet, Andrée Geulen, Jean Bloch, Maurice Pioro, Sylvain Brachfeld and many others. This collection also contains archives produced by a number of organisations, including the Union des Anciens Résistants Juifs de Belgique. Lastly, we point out the series of copies (photocopies and digital copies) of original archival material and documentation preserved in institutions such as municipal archives (i.a. Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp), provincial archives (including Antwerp), the Directorate-General War Victims, the Nationaal Gedenkteken Fort van Breendonk, USHMM, Yad Vashem, etc. Most of the fonds from which these copies originate are described elsewhere in this archival guide. Please note that at the time of writing this entire collection was thoroughly being reorganised, and we expect major changes in the structure, content etc. of the fonds in the future.

Archival history:: The many (sub)fonds were acquired by donation, deposit or as a result of the institution’s activities.

Administrative/biographical history:: The infamous ‘Kazerne Dossin’ (‘Dossin barracks’) was built in the mid-18th century as an infantry barracks of the Austrian authorities. The complex was named Hof van Habsburg. Until the Second World War it continued to function as an army barracks. From July 1942 until the Liberation in 1944 it served as an SS-Sammellager (transit camp) for Jews and Roma. Jews – men, women and children – who had voluntarily registered or who had been arrested were imprisoned in the barracks awaiting deportation. Daily life in the barracks, the harsh camp regime and the violence of the camp guards have been depicted in many historical and autobiographical works. During the Occupation, 28 transports left Mechelen (including one so-called ‘Z-transport’ of Roma) for Auschwitz-Birkenau, totalling over 25,844 individuals. The vast majority did not return from the camps. Between 1945 and 1975 the buildings were once again used by the Belgian military. In the 1980s, after years of vacancy, the complex (threatened with demolition) was divided into apartments. Spurred by the Vereniging van de Joodse Weggevoerden in België and the Central Jewish Consistory of Belgium and with the support of the Flemish government, the Province of Antwerp and the city of Mechelen, part of the infrastructure was reserved with the intention of accommodating a museum about the sinister function of the barracks during the Occupation. The Joods Museum van Deportatie en Verzet (‘Jewish museum of deportation and resistance’), which also became a documentation centre, opened its doors in 1995. In the early 2000s, plans for a new and expanded museum were approved by the Flemish government. The foundation stone for the renewed museum site was laid in 2010. The updated museum, designed by Flemish architect Bob Van Reeth, was opened to the public in November 2012. Today, the complex is divided into a memorial (housed in the rooms of the old museum), a museum, and a documentation centre. (http://www.kazernedossin.eu)

Access points: locations:: Kazerne Dossin

Access points: persons/families:: Bloch, Jean; Brachfeld; Geulen Andrée; Pioro, Maurice; Ramet, Nathan; Steinberg, Maxime

Subject terms:: Children; Holocaust; Holocaust--Hiding; Holocaust--Rescue and resistance; Holocaust--Righteous Among the Nations; Holocaust--Survivors; Jewish self-defence and resistance; Monuments and memorials; Museums; Personal records

Access, restrictions:: Consultation is only possible upon prior request and requires the authorisation of the archivists.

Finding aids:: There are detailed lists with descriptions at the item level for most of the (sub)fonds from this collection. However, searches are best done in cooperation with the archivists.

Yerusha Network member:: State Archives of Belgium

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