Metadata: Files of soldiers, non-commissioned officers, officers and chaplains
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History
- Holding institution (official language):
- Musée Royal de l’Armée et d’Histoire Militaire
- Postal address:
- Parc du Cinquantenaire 3 / Jubelpark 3, 1000 Brussel
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 737 78 11
- Web address:
- http://www.klm-mra.be/D7t/en/content/archives
- Email:
- infocom@klm-mra.be
- Reference number:
- RMAF-Brussels-Dossiers soldats, sous-officiers, officiers et aumôniers
- Title:
- Files of soldiers, non-commissioned officers, officers and chaplains
- Title (official language):
- Dossiers soldats, sous-officiers, officiers et aumôniers
- Creator/accumulator:
- Ministerie van Landsverdediging; Ministère de la Défense
- Date(s):
- 1785/1999
- Date note:
- 1785 – 2nd half of the 20th century
- Extent:
- ca. 184,000 files and 1,100 linear metres (the soldiers and non-commissioned officers); ca. 30,700 files and 550 linear metres (officers)
- Scope and content:
- This fonds contains the files of soldiers and non-commissioned officers born between 1875 and 1899, and of officers born between the end of the 18th century and 1899. There are no files dating before 1785. Among these files we note files of military personnel of Jewish origin. Their Jewishness however is not specifically mentioned. The files themselves vary in size; they notably consist of military documents, various forms related to the registration number, documents with details on the career of the individual, a list of obtained decorations, correspondence with the Ministry of Defence, inspection reports, press clippings, etc.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The War Ministry was created following Belgian independence, as one of the five original ministries. Its predecessor was the Comité de la Guerre of the provisional government. Until 1912, the Ministers of Defence were often officers, but this was less and less the case in later years. In addition to the Minister, the King also plays a role (as commander-in-chief of the armed forces) in the military decision-taking process and until the Second World War the sovereigns often actively influenced military policy. In 1920, the department was given its current name of Ministry of Defence. The institutional history of the ministry is marked by many minor and major changes, especially since the First World War (notably in the 1920s and 1950s, in 1963, 1974, 2000-2002). One of the reasons was the entanglement of tasks and competences, and the appointment of both civilian and military personnel – a consequence of the vaguely defined administrative and military functions of the ministry. Following the Copernicus reforms (2000-2002) the ministry was not (yet) transformed into a Federal Public Service, but its structure was thoroughly reshaped in order to avoid overlaps, to limit intermediate command levels, and to reduce personnel. Today, the four armed forces (Land, Air, Marine and Medical) and their respective services form a unified structure. Several general directorates and staff departments are in charge of human resources, legal affairs and mediation, as well as military intelligence and security, strategy, operations and training etc. (J. VAESEN, “Het Ministerie van Defensie en de krijgsmacht”, 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. 388-407.)
- Subject terms:
- Jewish soldiers
- Military
- System of arrangement:
- The files are arranged alphabetically and (partially) by numerical order.
- Access, restrictions:
- The matricule records (the registration number given to each soldier) can be consulted freely. Consultation of the files of officers born between 1890 and 1899 requires the authorisation of the Director-Archivist of the Centre de Documentation historique of the KLM-MRA. The files of officers born before 1890 can be consulted freely.
- Finding aids:
- Paper lists can be consulted in the reading room; a computer database is in progress. It is recommended to know the surname, first name and date of birth of the concerned individual.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
