Metadata: Pierre Beeckmans archives
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- 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)
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 556 92 11
- Web address:
- http://www.cegesoma.be/
- Email:
- cegesoma@cegesoma.be
- Reference number:
- CHRDWConS-Brussels-AA 1314/350-500
- Title:
- Pierre Beeckmans archives
- Title (official language):
- Archief Pierre Beeckmans
- Creator/accumulator:
- Auditoraat-Generaal [bij het Militair Gerechtshof]; Auditorat-Général [près la Cour Militaire]
- Date(s):
- 1912/1944
- Language:
- German
- French
- Dutch; Flemish
- English
- Yiddish
- Hebrew
- Polish
- Czech
- Extent:
- 8 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- These nos. 350 to 500 of the fonds “Overtuigingsstukken gevoegd bij de procesbundels betreffende gevallen van collaboratie met de bezettende overheden” – constitute the so-called “Pierre Beeckmans archives”. This complex collection consists of archival material produced as a result of Beeckmans’ professional activities (i.a. his job as publicity agent, and as director of the Landelijke Anti-Joodse Centrale and the Bureau voor Ras- en Sibbekundige Opzoekingen), archives of Jewish organisations and individuals looted by the Sipo-SD, archives produced by the Sipo-SD, personal records of the liberal mayor of Liège Émile Digneffe and archival material from the Imprimerie Reeckmans from Brussels. We present the most relevant and most important parts. The private archives of Beeckmans mainly contain correspondence, notes and sometimes financial documents relating to his military service, the military campaign of May 1940 and his activity as a publicity agent. File no. 360 contains a number of anti-Semitic manuscripts written by Beeckmans, as well as press clippings. Among the documents produced by Beeckmans in his capacity as head of the Volksverwering administration, we mainly note correspondence (with businesses and independents concerning advertisements, with the Sipo-SD, other departments of Volksverwering etc), circulars, typescripts, blank forms, various notes, financial documents and so on. No. 371.4 contains material (1941) related to screenings of the infamous anti-Semitic film Der Ewige Jude. As leader of the Landelijke Anti-Joodse Centrale for Flanders and Wallonia, Beeckmans collected a mass of (albeit incomplete) individual and statistic information on the – supposed – Jewish population in Belgium, presumably largely based on the Jodenregister. We note i.a. declaration forms of ‘Jewish businesses’ requiring inscription in the handelsregister (no. 410-426), statistics on the composition of Jewish families and households (no. 449) and statistics on the origins of the Jewish population (ordered by country and city; nos. 447, 373, 372 and 373bis). File no. 427 contains declaration forms of the town of Elsene, concerning individuals inscribed in the Jodenregister. The nos. 374-409 consist of lists made by the Vereniging der Joden in België, ordered by region, city, and street. These lists mention for each house number the individuals of ‘Jewish’ descent that were present. Another large series contains several hundreds of (small) files assembled by Beeckmans and his Bureau voor Ras- en Sibbekundige Opzoekingen - see nos. 362-368. These files relate to individuals who declared not to be of Jewish descent, and also concern “mixed marriages” between Jews and non-Jews. These files contain, apart from lineage certificates and various German attestations, correspondence, copies of administrative documents (birth and baptism records), etc. The confiscated Jewish archives are incredibly diverse. We firstly mention no. 445 containing files, made by the Sipo-SD, related to house searches and other actions undertaken against Jewish organisations and individuals in Brussels, Lille, Liège, Namur, Charleroi, Antwerp and Ghent. We find correspondence, notes and reports. We also note (no. 445.3) an original copy of the infamous Ehlers-report (“Das Judentum in Belgien”), written on the basis of the looted archives. The archival material mentioned below often contains documents produced by the Sipo-SD, such as summary notes on the respective organisations. In file no. 449ter we find correspondence from Léon Kubowitzki i.a. with the Sûreté Publique and the Ministry of Justice, related to his defence of Jewish refugees (1933-1939). The archives of refugee organisation BELHICEM form an important part of the fonds; they mainly cover the years 1939-1940. Apart from documents of a general nature such as statutes, circulars, mail registration, etc. (nos. 500 and 500bis) we also point out the documents (correspondence, bookkeeping records) of the bookkeeping department (nos. 448 and 499) and especially the often alphabetically ordered correspondence with refugees, (inter)national refugee organisations and various institutions, i.a. concerning emigration to Shanghai (see nos. 437, 428, 438, 435, 430, 439, 447bis, 431, 432, 370, 443, 436, 440, 441, 442, 429, 446 and 450). Notes, working documents, leaflets, blank forms etc. can be found in nos. 447bis, 449bis and 434. Nr. 434bis contains the subfolder Émigration Directe in which we find, apart from notes, overviews of expenses made, blank forms etc., 26 migration files of Austrian Jews. They contain correspondence between the Amts-Direktion der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde Wien and the Association Belge pour l’Émigration des Réfugiés from the period March-April 1940. The Beeckmans archives also contain archival material from the Palästina-Amt (Antwerp) – see no. 433. We firstly note the forms (in Hebrew) and correspondence (i.a. recommendation letters of Belgian and Jewish-Palestinian individuals and organisations) concerning some 170 individuals wishing to emigrate to Palestine in 1934-1935; see no. 433.1. These small files, ordered alphabetically by name, are a real treasure trove of personal information and they often contain passport photographs. In addition we also find documents of a general nature such as a year report, a historical note and a report of the Sipo-SD on the KKL (1939, 1941; see no. 433.1), minutes of the KKL meetings in Antwerp (1935-1938, 1940; no. 433.2) and the correspondence, notes, protocols etc of the youth committee of the KKL (1931, 1939-1940; no. 433.3). In no. 445bis of this fonds we find documents of WIZO, in particular correspondence (1937-1939) related to the periodical L’Avenir juif and the Belgian WIZO leadership. Here too there are documents made by the Sipo-SD on this organisation. Concerning the Beth Zion community, we note (in no. 354) correspondence with the Masonic organisation Ancient Order of Foresters Courts Stad Antwerpen n°9115 (1934-1938). Nr. 445ter contains, apart from Sipo-SD documents, i.a. circulars and an activity report (for 1937-1940) of the Conseil d’Associations juives de Bruxelles. In no. 445quater we note correspondence (1935-1936) of the Office Juif de Presse et de Documentation, as well as a circular and periodical (1937) of the Comité d’Action Économique. Concerning the Société Culturelle Israélite Sépharadite de Bruxelles (SCISB) and the Société Israélite Sépharadite de Bienfaisance (SISB), we find i.a. lists (of members), statutes, notes, minutes of meetings, documents of a financial and legal nature, correspondence, publications and four beautiful drawings of rimmonim (see no. 445quinquies; years 1925-1941). Nr. 445sexies contains SD-reports but especially documents (ca. 1937-1939) technically produced by the Fédération Sioniste de Belgique (FSB), such as correspondence, lists of members, activity reports, lists concerning the revenues of the fundraising campaigns, material concerning the organisation of a bazar etc sent to the FSB by the following organisations: Achduth, Bne Akiba, Brith Hakanaim, Dror, Hanoar Hazioni, Hashomer Hatzair, Hekhalutz, Lapide Hanita, Maccabi Antwerpen, Tikwatenu, Zeirei Mizrahi and Massada. 445septies contains archival material of the Sipo-SD (such as reports on Jewish organisations, reports of house searches and interrogations) and of the following organisations: FSB, KKL, Poale Zion-Zeire Zion, Maccabi Sportclub, Union Sioniste, Comité pour la Défense des Juifs, Antwerpsch Komiteit voor Joodsche Vluchtelingen, Centraal Beheer voor Joodsche Weldadigheid en Maatschappelijk Hulpbetoon, Œuvre de Secours aux Israélites d’Allemagne, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee en Alliance israélite universelle. In some cases these documents were clearly addressed to the FSB and should technically be considered archival material of the FSB. Furthermore, we mention (in nos. 458-494) the 37 card indexes containing addresses (largely ordered alphabetically) of Belgian and foreign Jews living in Greater Brussels, Greater Antwerp, Greater Charleroi, Greater Liège and the rest of the country. Finally, we also note the index cards relating to ‘Jewish firms’ (1940), in nos. 369, 452-457 and 496-498 (totalling 8 boxes and 1 small wooden box).
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Already in the Dutch period, the Krijgsauditoraat (Military Prosecutor’s Office)(1814-2003) operated as the military counterpart of the Openbaar Ministerie (Public Prosecutor’s Office). After the independence of Belgium, the auditeur-generaal continued to represent the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Militair Gerechtshof (‘Military Court’)(as well as at the krijgsraden or court-martials, for a long time). The competences of the Auditoraat-Generaal were therefore similar to those of the civilian prosecutor’s offices, but adapted to military justice: among others, supervision of the general criminal and prosecution policy, supervision of the military prosecutor’s offices and court clerks, … The Auditoraat-Generaal was assisted by a First Advocate-General as well as several Advocates-General and substitutes. The services of the Auditoraat-Generaal comprised, besides a secretariat, library, logistics and personnel services also different sections competent in criminal matters, as well as an efficient documentation service. By virtue of the law of 10 April 2003, the Auditoraat-Generaal was abolished in peacetime. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has taken over its duties. After the Second World War, the Auditoraat-Generaal played an important role notably in identifying and prosecuting collaborators, and in documenting war crimes committed on Belgian territory. (R. Depoortere, La juridiction militaire en Belgique 1796-1998. Compétences et organisation, production et conservation des archives, Miscellanea Archivistica Studia no. 115, Brussel, ARA-AGR, 1999; K. Velle & P. Drossens, “De rechterlijke macht”, in P. van den Eeckhout & G. Vanthemsche (ed.), Bronnen voor de studie van het hedendaagse België 19e – 21e eeuw. Tweede herziene en uitgebreide uitgave, Brussel, Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis / Commission Royale d’Histoire, 2009, pp. 619-650.)
- Access points: persons/families:
- Beeckmans, Pierre
- Digneffe, Émile
- Kubowitzki, Léon
- Subject terms:
- Aid and relief
- Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity
- Aliyah
- American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
- Antisemitism
- Antisemitism--Antisemitic measures
- Antisemitism--Antisemitic propaganda
- Antisemitism--Antisemitic publications
- Correspondence
- Drawings
- Financial matters
- Freemasons
- Holocaust
- Holocaust--Collaboration
- Interfaith marriage
- Jewish community
- Jewish community records
- Jewish political activity
- Jewish press
- Jewish self-defence and resistance
- Legal matters
- Mandatory Palestine
- Migration
- Migration--Emigration
- Military
- Passports and visas
- Personal records
- Plunder
- Refugees
- Sephardi Jews
- Sports
- Trade and commerce
- Vital records
- Zionism
- Zionism--WIZO (Women's International Zionist Organization)
- Zionism--Zionist organisations and parties
- Zionism--Zionist youth movements
- Finding aids:
- There is an (unpublished) inventory, written by L. Saerens.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
