Metadata: Old archives of l’Heureux Séjour
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- Jewish Nursing Home ‘Heureux Séjour’
- Holding institution (official language):
- Maison de Repos Israélite Heureux Séjour
- Postal address:
- Rue de la Glacière 31-35 / IJskelderstraat 31-35, 1060 Bruxelles (Saint-Gilles)
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 537 76 66
- Email:
- heureuxsejour@skynet.be
- Reference number:
- JNursingH-SGilles-Archives anciennes de l’Heureux Séjour
- Title:
- Old archives of l’Heureux Séjour
- Title (official language):
- Archives anciennes de l’Heureux Séjour
- Creator/accumulator:
- Maison de Repos Israélite Heureux Séjour
- Date(s):
- 1945/1993
- Language:
- French
- English
- Extent:
- 2 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- This fonds contains, among others: a file concerning the Claims Conference (1957-1965) and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (1947-1957) consisting of correspondence and notes from the consultative committee of the Claims Conference, the AIVG, the Joint, the Home itself, as well as minutes of meetings of the board of the Home, documents concerning daily life at the institution, related to funding for the medical equipment, subsidies, the menu of the residents, copies of invoices and documents concerning the distribution of matzoth (unleavened bread) [1 box]; a file concerning the commemoration organised in honour of Henri Richard Kouperman (1989), minutes of meetings of the Home (1993), a file concerning bequests and donations made to the Home, notably from successions (1964-1988), a file containing the excerpts from the Moniteur belge mentioning the statutes and corrections made to the statutes of the asbl Maison de Retraite pour Vieillards (1945-1960) [1 box]; files concerning the construction of the home, including lists of residents (detailing their health, financing, etc.), daily menus of the residents, documents concerning the construction of the home, the budget for this operation, subsidies and financial aid from various organisations, correspondence, statements and notes of purchases and requirements for the new building, a request to the Claims Conference for the construction, an estimation of the costs of work (1958-1959), invoices concerning the construction and other equipment purchased by the home, documents concerning modifications made in the home (including the installation of a laundry, works to the garden, electrical and plumbing works (1960-1976), painting), a file concerning work done to the roof etc.). The fonds also contains three albums with photos taken during the inauguration of the building (1959), the annual dinner of 1996 and the soiree organised by the retirement home on November 15, 1999.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Jewish retirement home was founded in 1875, at the initiative of Chief Rabbi Astruc. It accommodated 18 elderly persons in a rented building located at avenue d’Auderghem 190. In 1878, the institution relocated at rue Bara 47. With the financial support of Franz Philippson, the institution was able to purchase a plot of land in the rue de la Glacière in 1900, where new buildings were constructed and finally inaugurated on 12 May 1901. The institution was legally recognised a non-profit association on 8 February 1923, under the name Maison de retraite pour les vieillards israélites (“retirement home for old Jewish people”). The number of residents steadily increased. The institution intended “to accommodate and support Jews of both sexes of at least sixty years old, who were unable to care for themselves”. It also housed people free of charge. According to Maxime Steinberg, the retirement home of the rue de la Glacière continued to function during the Occupation; its personnel was dependent on the Association des Juifs en Belgique. After the war, the home was run by Paul Philippson and Mrs. I. Ebstein; they were succeeded by Leo Maiersdorf. The home accommodated around thirty boarders at the time. It needed to be renovated and enlarged. For this purpose, the institution obtained financial support of the Joint, the JCA, Mr. Simon and Mrs. Lina Haim, Leo Maiersdorf but also subsidies of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the COREF and the Gustav Furweiler Foundation. JDC subsidies were gradually reduced from the end of 1950 and eventually stopped in June 1951. Construction work for a new building in the rue de la Glacière, where the home is still located, commenced in 1959. The old building was transformed into a clinic. The retirement home changed its name to Home de l’Heureux Séjour on 28 May 1961. The home is affiliated with the Centrale d’Œuvres sociales juives. (Rapports Heureux Séjour (1965-1968). Record Centre (BE / IEJ / Record Centre); Statuts, Annexe au Moniteur belge du 19 janvier 1946, no. 170-186 ; C. Massange, "La création de la Centrale d’œuvres sociales juives ou comment animer une conscience sociale", in Les Cahiers de la Mémoire contemporaine-Bijdragen tot de eigentijdse Herinnering, no. 4, 2002, pp. 177-179.)
- Access points: persons/families:
- Kouperman, Henri Richard
- Access, restrictions:
- Consultation requires the authorisation of the director of the Home.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
