Metadata: Administration of the Sûreté Publique. Department of the Alien Police. General files, second transfer
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Belgium
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archives Générales du Royaume
- Postal address:
- Ruisbroekstraat 2-6 / Rue de Ruysbroeck 2-6, 1000 Brussel
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 513 76 80
- Web address:
- http://www.arch.be/
- Email:
- archives.generales@arch.be
- Reference number:
- NAB-Brussels-510-1645
- Title:
- Administration of the Sûreté Publique. Department of the Alien Police. General files, second transfer
- Title (official language):
- Administration de la Sûreté Publique. Service de la Police des Étrangers. Dossiers généraux, deuxième versement
- Creator/accumulator:
- SPF Justice; FOD Justitie
- Date(s):
- 1930/1960
- Language:
- French
- Dutch; Flemish
- German
- Extent:
- 41 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- This fonds is rich in relevant material and varied. It is divided in six sections: “the administration of the Alien Police”, “ordinances and legislation concerning the Alien Police” (incl. material related to the granting of visas and passports, to the various residence permits, to the inscription of aliens in the population registers, etc.); “statistics”; “entry of aliens on Belgian territory”; “Belgians abroad” and “Sûreté Publique”. Researchers will find information concerning all activities in which aliens were involved, but also concerning foreign companies in Belgium. This fonds contains material that is of great interest for the study of the Jewish refugees from Germany – notably material concerning refugee policy, the Geneva Convention, the situation of Jewish refugee children, interned Jewish refugees (1938-1940) etc. We also note documents related to Jewish refugees in transit through Belgium after the Second World War (1945-1955) and individuals helped by the AIVG, files concerning Ezra (society for protection of Jewish emigrants)(1908-1926), material related to the expulsion of Jewish pedlars (1931-1937), to Polish refugees transiting through Antwerp (including many Jews)(1937-1945) and members of the Bund (1948), documents concerning the Irgun (1948), instructions of the German authorities concerning the deliverance of residence permits to Jews (1941-1952), files related to former resistance members, to border crossings and others. Furthermore, we find archival material concerning the world expositions in Brussels (in which foreigners were involved), numerous files on foreign merchants, documents concerning the (refugee) centres in Marchin (1939-1940) and Merksplas (1919-1958). We point out many documents concerning measures taken against aliens, notably expulsions and repatriations, arranged by country of origin of the concerned aliens. Researchers should also consult files concerning Russians, Poles, Romanians and nationals from the Baltic States, as well as files related to target groups such as students from Central and Eastern Europe. Lastly, we note that this fonds also contains a large collection of press clippings.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Ministry of Justice is subdivided into different directorates. Its structure evolved in the course of the 19th century. It entered a relatively stable phase in 1925; it was then composed of the following five main directorates: recognised religions (cultes / erediensten), donations, bequests and foundations; prisons; Public Safety (Sûreté publique); youth protection; legislation. During the 1930s, the Sûreté publique was transferred several times to the Ministry of the Interior and then re-integrated into the Ministry of Justice. The Legislation Administration is in charge of matters regarding the acquisition or loss of nationality, and it handled naturalisation applications, declarations of nationality and of loss of nationality, name changes and attributions of family name, and residency of foreigners. The ministry of Justice also supervises the recognised religions in Belgium: six religions and one philosophical community. The ministry examines litigations, determines the organisation of the religions, manages religious buildings, fixes and supervises the payment of the salaries of the ministers of worship etc. In 1839, the Sûreté publique / Openbare Veiligheid (Public Safety) was notably charged with the control of aliens in Belgium; the administration was placed under the authority of the Ministry of Justice. Its mission included the expulsion of foreigners considered undesirable, implying the collaboration of notably the municipal administrations, the army and the judiciary. The Police des Étrangers / Vreemdelingenpolitie (Alien Police) was one of the services of the Sûreté publique. It created a sort of exhaustive database of the aliens present in Belgium: an individual file fitted with a unique S.P.-number (“Sûreté publique”) was opened for each alien entering Belgian territory. After the First World War, the Sûreté publique was split into two sections: the first one was charged with monitoring subversive elements in society and gathering intelligence of a political nature; the second section, the Alien Police, dealt with migration and the residence of aliens. In this period, the first rudiments of the status of political refugee were created. However, due to its restrictive definition, thousands of Jewish refugees from Germany were not officially recognised as political refugees. In 1977, the directorate of the Alien Police became the Office des Étrangers / Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken (Immigration Office). Finally, in 1994, the Immigration Office was transferred from the Sûreté Publique to the Ministry of the Interior. (R. Depoortere & N. Saoudi, Inventaire des archives du ministère de la Justice. Direction générale de la Législation civile et des cultes. Archives des services des Cultes, Dons, Legs et Fondations, Versement 2001, T 562, Bruxelles, ARA-AGR, 2002 ; F. Caestecker, F. Strubbe & P.-A. Tallier, Les dossiers individuels des étrangers produits par la Sûreté publique (Police des Etrangers) (1835-1943), Jalons de Recherche/Zoekwijzers n°19, Bruxelles, ARA-AGR, 2009; E. PUT, Het Ministerie van Justitie (1831-1988). Deel 1. Organisatiestructuur van de centrale administratie en de adviesorganen, Miscellanea Archivistica Studia n°6, Bruxelles, ARA-AGR, 1990.)
- Subject terms:
- Aid and relief
- Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity
- Children
- Citizenship
- Education
- Education--Students
- Expulsion
- Jewish political activity
- Law enforcement
- Law enforcement--Police
- Migration
- Migration--Immigration
- Passports and visas
- Refugees
- Resettlement of Jews
- Residency issues of Jews
- Statistics
- Trade and commerce
- Access, restrictions:
- Consultation of documents containing personal information requires the authorisation of the Algemeen Rijksarchivaris or his representative. This authorisation is granted on the basis of a research declaration signed by the researcher.
- Finding aids:
- F. Plisnier & F. Caestecker, Inventaire des archives du Ministère de la Justice. Administration de la Sûreté publique (Police des Étrangers). Dossiers généraux : deuxième versement 1930-1960 [1814-1986], I 417, Bruxelles, ARA-AGR, 2008.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
