Metadata: Administration of Jewish Real Estate
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Belgium 2 – Joseph Cuvelier Repository
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archives Générales du Royaume 2 – Dépôt Joseph Cuvelier
- Postal address:
- Hopstraat 26-28 / Rue du Houblon 26-28, 1000 Bruxelles
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 274 15 00
- Web address:
- http://www.arch.be/
- Email:
- agr_ar_2@arch.be
- Reference number:
- NAB2-Brussels-545-461
- Title:
- Administration of Jewish Real Estate
- Title (official language):
- Verwaltung des Jüdischen Grundbesitzes
- Creator/accumulator:
- Verwaltung des Jüdischen Grundbesitzes in Belgien
- Date(s):
- 1940/1955
- Date note:
- ca. 1941-1954
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- ca. 28 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- This fonds consists of two series, the series of files of Verwalter Ernst Robert Müller (960 files, totalling 51 boxes) and the series of Verwalter Rudolf Nicolay (721 files, totalling 29 boxes). In both cases, they consist of individual files related to the declaration and management of real estate, mainly owned by Jewish individuals. Only a handful of cases concern ‘Jewish businesses’ or Jewish organisations (namely the Communauté israélite de Bruxelles, the Œuvre Centrale Israélite de Secours, the Refuge pour Vieillards Israélites and the Société israélite d’Assistance Antituberculeux). The files mainly contain administrative documents such as correspondence (between the formers owners and the administrator, with the Sequester, with lawyers, right holders and heirs etc.), various forms, copies of insurance policies and mortgages and so on dating from the war years as well as from the late 1940s to early 1950s. The files often contain very detailed information on the type of real estate, its status (sold or not), cadastral income, mortgage, insurance, taxes, value, whether there are tenants (and the size of the rent), administrative and maintenance expenses etc. While the fonds mainly concerns real estate located in Brussels, we also find information on property of Jews from Liège, Seraing, Knokke, Blankenberge, Diksmuide, Jemappes, Middelkerke, Charleroi, Spa, Arlon, Ghent and other locations.
- Archival history:
- The fonds was transferred to the city archives of Brussels in 1970, probably erroneously. It was transferred to the Belgian National Archives in April 2014.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The activity of the Verwaltung des Jüdischen Grundbesitzes in Belgien (‘administration for Jewish real estate in Belgium’)(VJGB) formed part of the anti-Jewish policy of the German occupier during the Second World War. Jews and ‘Jewish businesses’ were obliged, by the ordinance of 31 May 1941, to declare their real estate (or titles thereof): apartments, dwellings but also undeveloped plots, industrial sites, etc. The operation concerned an estimated 3000 real properties, mostly located in Brussels (ca. 1070) and Antwerp (ca. 1395). Subsequently, the Military Administration and/or the Feldkommandanturen could then assign administrators (Verwalter). In November 1941, Wilhelm Offergeld – who had been the administrator of the Société Immobilière Bernheim (SIB)(the most important ‘Jewish’ real estate agency) since August 1941 – was appointed as Verwalter for the real estate of Jews in Belgium (with the exception of the province and city of Antwerp). The VJGB was under the authority of Gruppe XII of the Economic Department of the German Military Administration; it used the administration, staff, offices and funds of the SIB for its operations. Offergeld was succeeded by Ernst Robert Müller. Rudolf Nicolay also worked as Verwalter for the VJGB. The systematic sale of ‘Jewish real estate’ would ultimately be a failure, notably due to the legal objections and the resistance of the Belgian judiciary. Less than ten percent of the sequestered property was actually sold; the remaining real estate continued to be managed by the institution. After the Liberation, the VJGB was itself sequestered. Its archives were consulted by the Buysse Commission I and II. (Studiecommissie betreffende het lot van de bezittingen van de leden van de Joodse gemeenschap van België, geplunderd of achtergelaten tijdens de oorlog 1940-1945, De bezittingen van de slachtoffers van de Jodenvervolging in België: spoliatie, rechtsherstel, bevindingen van de Studiecommissie., Brussel, Diensten van de Eerste Minister, 2001, pp. 55-74.)
- Access points: persons/families:
- Müller, Ernst Robert
- Nicolay, Rudolf
- Finding aids:
- There exists an (albeit somewhat obsolete) list of files of the Müller series. There is also a concordance list, made by F. Strubbe (2014).
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium