COREF archives

Collection

Creator/accumulator:: Comité Israélite des Réfugiés Victimes des Lois raciales

Scope and content:: This fonds contains i.a. files concerning the establishment and organisation of COREF, personal files of Hans Schoemann, files concerning the members of COREF and the beneficiaries who received aid, bookkeeping records, documents concerning the Centrale d’œuvres sociales juives in Brussels, correspondence with various associations (such as the Leo Baeck Charitable Trust of London) and files concerning compensation (réparations). (See boxes 1 to 11, 45, 46, 48, 49 to 57)

Administrative/biographical history:: The Comité Israélite des Réfugiés Victimes des Lois raciales (COREF) was founded in Brussels in 1944 by Alexander Philipsborn, Hans Schoemann, Ernst Wertheim, Alfred Witsenhausen and Erich Gompertz. The initial goal of this organisation was to defend the interests of all political refugees in Belgium. At the request of the Comité de Défense des Juifs (CDJ), its activities would specifically be directed towards the Jewish refugees of German and Austrian origin. The organisation counted nearly 2000 members between 1945 and 1957. As a charity, the COREF also proposed grants and loans, offered social work services and organised stays at the Belgian coast. Its principal role was the representation of victims of the Nazi regime during the compensation process. Its membership numbers declined sharply and were eventually reduced to less than a hundred in the late 1950s. (J. Mlsova Chmelikova, “L’expérience d’un réfugié marque pour toute la vie. Trois fonds d’archives du Musée Juif de Belgique”, in MuséOn, 1, April 2009, Bruxelles, pp. 58-67.)

Subject terms:: Aid and relief; Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity; Holocaust; Holocaust--Survivors; Jewish community records; Jewish political activity; Refugees; Restitution and compensation

Access, restrictions:: Access requires the authorisation of the archivist of the Jewish Museum of Belgium.

Finding aids:: There is a preliminary inventory at the Jewish Museum of Belgium. There is a card index, by subject and name (from 2004). An (unpublished) inventory made by J. Mlsova Chmelikova is also available.