Jozef Cardijn

Collection description

Scope and content:: In this fonds we find materials related to the hiding of dozens of Jewish children by the Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne (JOC) during the Second World War. See the files no. 40, 48, 432, 480, 495 and 496. We note i.a. files concerning contacts with the press on the occasion of Cardijn’s death (i.a. correspondence with the Belgisch Israëlitisch Weekblad), reports of the Cures pour Adolescents débiles (the centres where Jewish children were hidden), reports on activities of the JOC during the war etc. dating back to the years 1940-1967.

Administrative/biographical history:: Jozef Cardijn (1882-1967) was born in 1882 in a Flemish catholic middle-class family. He studied at the seminaries of Mechelen and was ordained a priest in 1906. Afterwards Cardijn studied at the school for Political and Social Sciences in Leuven. From 1907 to 1912 he was a teacher at the seminary of Neerwaver. From 1912 onwards Cardijn worked as a chaplain in Laken, where he initiated study groups for working girls and boys, out of which the later Christian workers’ movement would originate. In addition, Cardijn was also the Director of Social Work in Brussels (from 1915). For his protest against the deportation of Belgian employees he was imprisoned during the First World War. On the initiative of Cardijn the first steps were taken to found the Kristelijke Arbeiders Jeugd, officially established in 1925. This workers’ movement expanded rapidly in Flanders and Wallonia, and later in more than 25 countries. During the Second World War Cardijn was imprisoned for his resistance against the ‘New Order’. He escaped deportation in 1944. After the war he remained committed to the international Christian workers’ movement. In 1965 Cardijn was appointed cardinal. (“Jozef Cardijn (1882-1967)”, in ODIS - Database Intermediary Structures Flanders (accessible on http://www.odis.be); M. Fievez, Inventaire du Fonds Cardijn, I 234, Brussel, ARA-AGR, 1985.)

Subject terms:: Children; Christianity; Holocaust; Holocaust--Hiding; Jewish-Christian relations; World War II

Access, restrictions:: The fonds can only be consulted on microfilm. Some files will only become accessible in 2020 or later; they are indicated in the inventory.

Finding aids:: M. Fievez, Inventaire du Fonds Cardijn, I 234, Brussel, ARA-AGR, 1985; M. Fievez, Inventaris van het fonds Cardijn, I 235, Brussel, ARA-AGR, 1986.