Metadata: Administration of the Sûreté Publique. Department of the Alien Police. Individual files opened between 1835 and 1912 (nos. 1-999.999)
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-510-1539
- Title:
- Administration of the Sûreté Publique. Department of the Alien Police. Individual files opened between 1835 and 1912 (nos. 1-999.999)
- Title (official language):
- Administration de la Sûreté Publique. Service de la Police des Étrangers. Dossiers individuels ouverts entre 1835 et 1912 (n°s 1 – 999.999)
- Creator/accumulator:
- SPF Justice; FOD Justitie
- Date(s):
- 1835/1912
- Extent:
- 1,031 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- For every alien entering Belgian territory, the Alien Police opened an individual file. These files generally include the following documents: a declaration of inscription in the municipality, with mention of the family situation, profession, the period during which the alien wants to stay in Belgium, changes of residence etc.; official documents (excerpts) of the Civil Registry (certificates of birth, death, marriage); photographs (rare for the 19th century except in the case of “dangerous” foreigners). Lastly, the cover of the file mentions the surnames, first names and file numbers of relatives and family members. Files of politically active aliens are in the minority, but the size of these files is inversely proportional to their number – they are very rich in material, and we note the files of illustrious figures such as Karl Marx and Victor Hugo. Files were closed after i.a. the death of the concerned person in Belgium, his voluntary departure from Belgium, his expulsion etc.
- Archival history:
- The files in this particular fonds were only fragmentarily preserved. Numerous files of aliens who were transiting or only briefly stayed in Belgium have been destroyed by the Alien Police, who initially preferred to keep the files which could serve as documentation (of legal precedents, case law etc.). To overcome these shortcomings, researchers should consult the local alien files held in the archives of cities and municipalities, in particular in Antwerp and Brussels.
- 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.)
- Access points: locations:
- Belgium
- Access points: persons/families:
- Marx, Karl
- Finding aids:
- There is an alphabetical card index (by name); note that the cards containing the names of men are arranged before the cards containing the (maiden) names of women, starting with the same letter. For the first series (files no. 69-500.00) see the microfilms 2997/1-2997/44 as well as B. Boon & R. Depoortere, Ministère de la Justice. Service de la police des étrangers. Inventaire des microfilms du fichier des dossiers individuels, T 413, Bruxelles, ARA-AGR, 1996. For the second series (files no. 500.000-1.668.399), letters A – Kab, see the microfilms 2998/1-2998/144. For letters Kac – L, the cards are missing, and researchers are required to call upon the reading room staff; for letters M – Z there are microfiches, which need to be requested from the reading room staff. More detail on the fonds can be found in F. Caestecker, F. Strubbe & P.-A. Tallier, Les dossiers individuels des étrangers produits par la Sûreté publique (Police des Étrangers) (1835-1943), Jalons de Recherche/Zoekwijzers n°19, Bruxelles, ARA-AGR, 2009.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
