Metadata: De Centrale
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- Royal Society for Jewish Welfare ‘De Centrale’
- Holding institution (official language):
- Koninklijke Vereniging voor Joodse Weldadigheid De Centrale
- Postal address:
- Nerviërstraat 14-16, 2018 Antwerpen
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)3 201 52 10
- Web address:
- http://www.centrale.be/
- Email:
- info@centrale.be
- Reference number:
- RSJW-Antwerp-Archief van De Centrale
- Title:
- De Centrale
- Title (official language):
- Archief van De Centrale
- Creator/accumulator:
- Koninklijke Vereniging voor Joodse Weldadigheid De Centrale
- Date(s):
- 1936/2000
- Date note:
- ca. 1938-2000 (mainly 1953-2000)
- Language:
- Dutch; Flemish
- French
- Hebrew
- Yiddish
- Extent:
- ca. 1.5 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- The organisation still keeps, in the conference room of the Board of Administrators, the cabinet containing the original ‘register of Jews’ (Jodenregister) of Antwerp – the card index established to identify the Jewish population of the city. We also note one box with index cards, once serving as a finding aid for the (lost) files created by the occupier in the framework of the Möbelaktion in Antwerp. These index cards mention the names of families as well as their addresses. The fonds also contains bound issues of the periodicals Hatikwah (year 1920) and Centrale (years 1953 – present). Furthermore, we note several beautifully illustrated commemorative and “Golden Books” (Guldenboeken) in which we find overviews of the history of the organisation/individuals, as well as autographs and photos. We point out i.a. a book of the organisation Ezra on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Henri Schulsinger (1936), a “livre de dons inaliénables – boek van eeuwigdurende giften” (from 1929), a book regarding the Jewish retirement home (1956), the “Guldenboek aangeboden ter gelegenheid der heropening van Villa Altol” (1949 – 1950s) and the “Guldenboek Bikur-Cholim Antwerpen” (1937). This last book includes pages with autographs on the occasion of birthdays, anniversaries, visits of dignitaries, etc. from the years 1937 to 1981. The fonds contains three photo albums: one with pictures of the directors and the board of administrators (ca. 1950s-1960s), an album regarding the construction of the Jewish retirement home (1950s) and an (undated) album with pictures of the administrators, activities organised by the Centrale, photos of related organisations (i.a. the HISO holiday camp), etc. Lastly, we point out the 35mm film related to the inauguration of the Jewish retirement home in 1956.
- Archival history:
-
Unfortunately hardly anything remains from the archives of De Centrale. According to our information, they were lost and/or discarded as a result of several relocations in the last decades.
In May 2013, the Ezra book mentioned in the above description was given on permanent loan to the Red Star Line Museum (Antwerp).
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The Koninklijke Vereniging voor Joodse Weldadigheid De Centrale (‘Royal Society for Jewish Welfare The Central’, in short De Centrale, ‘the Central’) was founded in Antwerp in 1920 by Nico Gunzburg, Maurice Tolkowsky and Joseph De Lange, as the Algemene Administratie voor Joodse Weldadigheid. Its goal was first and foremost to restart Jewish charity, disrupted by the First World War, and to stimulate private initiative in this area. In addition the founders also aimed, through centralisation, to achieve greater coordination of the operation of the various charities. The institution maintained a strict political and religious neutrality. The affiliated organisations paid, depending on their revenue and assets, a membership fee to the umbrella organisation De Centrale, and received a grant in return. The organisations themselves remained autonomous. The board of the umbrella organisation was elected by its members. This form of centralisation was, compared to neighbouring countries, quite unique.
At its foundation in 1920, there were seven affiliated organisations: Bikur Cholim (founded in 1906), the Israëlitische Hulpkas (1891), the Israëlitische Leenkas (1919), Ezra (1903), Hachnosas Orchim, Charitas and Arbeitsheim. Over the years many organisations joined De Centrale, as a result of the needs of the Jewish community and the arrival of new groups of immigrants; see for example the Edouard Kirschen Foundation (1925), the Israëlitisch Kledingswerk (Vestiaire Israélite)(1907), the Centrale Keuken (1922), the Jewish orphanage (1922), the Openluchtwerk (Œuvre du Grand Air) with the creation of Villa Altol in 1923, the Foyer, the Ouderlingengesticht Maurice en Mathilde Finkelstein (1931), the Verbond van Poolse Joden (1931), the Verbond voor Economisch Verweer Antwerpen (VEVA), etc.
In addition, De Centrale also developed new initiatives. Until 1940 the institution focused primarily on needy Jewish immigrants and refugees. From 1933, De Centrale was also involved in the accommodation and care for the many Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany and Austria. For this purpose, it cooperated notably with the Comité ter Verdediging der Rechten der Joden.
The quest for financial resources and a healthy balance sheet has been a constant in the history of De Centrale. The organisation was heavily dependent on philanthropy, donations, membership fees, etc. The small donation boxes were omnipresent in Jewish shops and formed an additional source of revenue. The economic crisis of the 1930s combined with the arrival of the refugees created financial difficulties for the institution. Therefore, De Centrale had to be strongly supported by international organisations before the Second World War, particularly by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (“the Joint”) and HICEM. During the Occupation De Centrale was not officially disbanded and continued to function, at least until the roundups of 1942. After that, its assistance was necessarily organised clandestinely. Following the Liberation in 1944 the Comité voor de Verdediging van de Joodse Belangen (CVJB), the new name of the resistance organisation Joods Verdedigingscomité (or Comité de Défense des Juifs), attempted to continue the work of the pre-war Centrale. The CVJB operated as the local Antwerp department within the Aide aux Israélites Victimes de la Guerre, an organisation based in Brussels and recognised by the Joint, and conceived as an umbrella organisation for the Jewish relief organisations. Soon, this Antwerp branch – renamed to Hulp aan Israëlieten Slachtoffers van de Oorlog (HISO) in 1945, a literal translation of AIVG – followed a more independent course, partly out of resentment of the influence of communist resistance fighters within the AIVG. In addition to the AIVG (financed almost 95% by the Joint), funds were also obtained from the Belgian Jewish Representative Committee and the Belgian Jewish Committee, organisations based resp. in New York and London, where a large part of the pre-war board members of De Centrale were still residing.
HISO, initially meant as a temporary structure, lasted until 1952. That year its name was changed to Centraal Beheer voor Joodse Weldadigheid en Sociaal Hulpbetoon (‘Central Administration for Jewish Welfare and Social Assistance’). It quickly operated much the same way as its predecessor before the war. De Centrale played a particularly crucial role in the initial accommodation of returnees from the camps and displaced persons, as well as in the difficult reconstruction of the Jewish communities in Antwerp. Not only did HISO/De Centrale distribute much-needed relief, it also provided information on procedures for compensation (e.g. regarding the United Restitution Organisation, the various Belgian statuses for war victims, German reparations), restarted the children’s holiday camp (Villa Altol), supported ORT, etc. Economic independence was promoted through the Joodse Coöperatieve Leenkas and the so-called ‘small loan fund’ of the Reconstruction Department of De Centrale. In this period the institution was also able to secure financial support from organisations such as the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and government services such as the Commissie voor Openbare Onderstand and the Nationaal Werk voor Kinderwelzijn.
Today, De Centrale still manages Villa Altol (in Koksijde) and the serviced apartments for the elderly known as Residentie Koningin Astrid. Its Social Service notably aims to provide information on compensation programs regarding the Shoah, to distribute kosher meals at home or in hospitals and prisons, providing assistance at home to families and elderly persons, to organise cleaning services etc. The Damescomité (Ladies’ Committee) raises funds and organises activities for i.a. the residents of the serviced apartments and the Club Shalom. Lastly, De Centrale cooperates with many other Jewish organisations in Antwerp, such as Hachnosses Kalle, Rechev, Tikvatenoe, Tomchei Shabbes, Beit Reisel, Cinderella, Shalva, Israel Saba, Soïs Toussis, Shuffra & Puah, Hatzoloh, Ezras Nisouin, Seed, Heart to Heart, etc. Its periodical De Centrale has been published since 1923, initially mainly in French and Dutch, and to a lesser extent in Yiddish.
De Centrale in Antwerp should not be confused with a similar organisation based in Brussels (the Centrale d’Œuvres sociales juives, also called la Centrale or ‘the Central’). (http://www.centrale.be/; M. Frey, Een Joodse solidariteitsbeweging te Antwerpen: De Centrale: 1920-1940, thesis, UGent, 1975; V. Vanden Daelen, Laten we hun lied verder zingen. De heropbouw van de joodse gemeenschap in Antwerpen na de Tweede Wereldoorlog (1944-1960), Amsterdam, Uitgeverij Aksant, 2008.)
- Access points: locations:
- Antwerp
- Access, restrictions:
- Researchers wishing to consult the archives are required to contact Mr. Alexander Zanzer.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
