Seligman Beer Bamberger archives

Collection description

Scope and content:: This fonds contains correspondence, identity papers, documents concerning the construction of the Maale synagogue, diplomas, decorations, a text tracing the memories of Bamberger as a teacher in Brussels during and after the Second World War, documents relating to his function as director of the École Israélite de Bruxelles Athenée Maimonide and photographs. (see boxes 171 and 172).

Administrative/biographical history:: Seligman Beer Bamberger, born in Halberstadt in Germany in 1918, found refuge in Belgium where he undertook Talmudic studies. He was heavily involved in the religious reconstruction after the war, i.a. within the Aide aux Israélites Victimes de la Guerre; he directed the Orphelinat israélite de Bruxelles which he transformed into the École Israélite, all the while giving courses of Jewish religion to a dozen schools and athenaeums. He directed the École Israélite which would become the Athenée Maïmonide. The school would later bear his name. Bamber notably intervened on behalf of almost a hundred Polish Jewish families, so that they could stay in Belgium (ca. 1955-1966). Finally, he played a large role in the Communauté israélite Maale of Uccle-Forest and became the honorary president of its synagogue (opened in 1984). (D. Dratwa, "Bamberger, Seligman Beer", in J.-P. Schreiber, Dictionnaire biographique des Juifs de Belgique. Figures du judaïsme belge, XIXe-XXe siècles, Bruxelles, De Boeck, 2002, p. 193.)

Subject terms:: Architecture; Education; Education--Schools and universities; Education--Teachers and professors; Personal records; Photographs; Synagogues; World War II

Access, restrictions:: Access requires the authorisation of the archivist of the Jewish Museum of Belgium.

Finding aids:: There is a preliminary inventory of the Jewish Museum of Belgium.