Claire Martchouk archives

Collection description

Holding institution:: Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society

Holding institution (official language):: Centre d’Études et de Documentation Guerre et Sociétés Contemporaines

Postal address:: Luchtvaartsquare 29 / Square de l’Aviation 29, 1070 Bruxelles (Anderlecht)

Scope and content:: This fonds contains personal documents of Claire Martchouk as well as archival material from the various organisations in which she was involved, notably the Confédération nationale des Prisonniers politiques et Ayants Droit de Belgique, the Amicale des Anciennes de Ravensbrück, FONPAVO and the Onafhankelijkheidsfront. Concerning these associations, we note i.a. minutes of meetings, various reports, correspondence, lists, photos and other iconographic material, texts and publications; for FONPAVO, we find a number of files related to the construction of a home for former political prisoners in Uccle. The personal records of Martchouk consist of similar documents (correspondence, publications, reports and protocols, periodicals, etc.) related to topics such as feminism, the situation of (former) political prisoners after the war, the struggle against racism, neo-Nazism, the granting of amnesty and the rehabilitation of fascism.

Administrative/biographical history:: Chaïe (Claire) Martchouk, born in Bogopol (Ukraine) in 1902 and a physiotherapist by profession, joined the Belgian communist party in 1928. Within the party she held various functions – i.a. secretary of the independent clothing union Nodl Fareyn, publisher of Le Drapeau Rouge – De Rode Vaan, collaborator for Le Jeune Exploité, representative for Belgium with the Profintern in Moscow (1933-1935) and editor of communist leaflets. She was the wife of party cadre Georges Van den Boom. During the Second World War, Martchouk was active in the resistance, in the Onafhankelijkheidsfront. She was arrested in May 1942 and was imprisoned in Ravensbrück and Beendorf. She was liberated in May 1945. After the war Martchouk was involved in associations such as the Amicale des Anciennes de Ravensbrück, the Confédération nationale des Prisonniers politiques et Ayants Droit de Belgique, the Fonds social des Prisonniers politiques, Ascendants, Veuves et Orphelins (FONPAVO) and the Onafhankelijkheidsfront, as well as in the political domain, as an alderman in Anderlecht. In addition she was committed to the feminist cause and combatted the rise of neo-Nazism, racism and the granting of amnesty. Claire Martchouk died in Brussels in 1991. (J.-P. Schreiber, “Martchouk, Chaïe dite Claire”, in J.-P. Schreiber, Dictionnaire biographique des Juifs de Belgique. Figures du judaïsme belge, XIXe-XXe siècles, Brussel, De Boeck, 2002, p. 243.)

Subject terms:: Anti-Fascism; Architecture; Communism; Communism--Communists; Feminism; Feminism--Feminists; Holocaust; Jewish political activity; Neo-Nazism; Personal records; Prisoners

Finding aids:: M. Dujacquier, Archives Claire Martchouk, épouse Georges Van den Boom, Brussel, CEGESOMA, 1997 (list AA 936). The fonds is also described in the database of the CEGESOMA.

Links to finding aids:: http://pallas.cegesoma.be/pls/opac/plsp.getplsdoc?lan=N&htdoc=general/opac.htm