Metadata: Archives of Jesode-Hatora – Beth-Jacob
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- Jesode-Hatora – Beth-Jacob
- Holding institution (official language):
- Jesode-Hatora – Beth-Jacob
- Postal address:
- Lange van Ruusbroecstraat 12, 2018 Antwerpen
- Phone number:
- +32 3 239 25 35
- Web address:
- http://jesode-hatora.be/
- Email:
- info@jhbj.be
- Reference number:
- BethJacob-Antwerp-Archief van Jesode-Hatora – Beth-Jacob
- Title:
- Archives of Jesode-Hatora – Beth-Jacob
- Title (official language):
- Archief van Jesode-Hatora – Beth-Jacob
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jesode-Hatora-Beth-Jacob
- Date(s):
- 1957/2016
- Date note:
- Material continues to be added to this collection.
- Extent:
- ca. 70 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- At the time of writing, the records (semi-current as well as those designated as archives) were located in various rooms in the buildings of the school. There are concrete plans to centralise, order and inventory the archives in the near future. In the room known as “het archief”, we note ca. 40 linear metres of archival material, stored in binders and cardboard boxes. The documents cover ca. the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. We find general documents (i.a. minutes of meetings), archival material produced by principal Wils (files, correspondence), series produced by the secretariat (correspondence, administrative files), files concerning staff management (bookkeeping and salary records), documents regarding the students (individual student records, inscription records, documents concerning absences), series regarding subject matter (year plans, documentation, homework and tests, completed exams), documents related to various types of exemptions, certificates and diplomas regarding the Hebrew courses, registers concerning internships, recent pictures of the school, etc. In the basement room called “boekenfonds” we note ca. 30 linear metres of mainly semi-current archival material from the late 1950s to the present (primarily 1980s-present), stored in metal cabinets. The cabinet “rapporten” contains (school) reports, ordered by school year and alphabetically (ca. 1958-1959 to the present). The various cabinets titled “leerstof” contain blank exams, year plans, curricula, notes of deliberations, etc. (early 1980s-present). The cabinet “boekhouding” mainly contains (recent) bank statements. The cabinet “lonen” consists of i.a. monthly bank statements, documents concerning the payroll (late 1980s), bundled reports (2000s), etc. The cabinet “strabag” contains documents concerning construction works to the school (e.g. plans for construction permits, files related to requests for construction permits, building proposals, etc.). Lastly, the cabinet “allerlei” contains documents concerning school inspections (doorlichtingen), train and bicycle compensations, class schedules, minutes concerning orientation certificates (oriënteringsattesten), various notes, proposals for construction works, as well as inscription registers for each section, dating from the late 1970s to the 1990s. In addition we also point out the 2 filing cabinets mainly containing personnel files and related records. A number of binders with documentation (e.g. press clippings about the schools) and photographs (ca. 1950s-1960s) are located in the offices of the secretariat.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The religious Orthodox Jewish school Jesode Hatora was founded in the early 20th century by Herschel Krengel, a textile merchant who had emigrated to Belgium from Poland, modelled on the German Jewish day schools. A full-time day school did not exist in Antwerp at the time; there was only an auxiliary religious elementary school (heder), since the mid-1880s. Ever since, Jesode Hatora has existed as a full-time day school in which the official secular curriculum is taught in addition to Jewish subjects. The school was first situated in the Korte Kievitstraat, and then (since 1907) in the Lange van Ruusbroecstraat and Steenbokstraat. The school, closed during the First World War due to the internment of the German staff, was reopened in 1919. Jesode Hatora was recognised by the Ministry of Public Education in 1920 and recognised (aangenomen) in 1921 by the Antwerp city administration. The school for girls Beth Jacob, founded in 1936, was recognised in 1937, and by the city administration in 1938. The mixed kindergarten dates from the same period. The number of pupils increased considerably following the arrival of refugees from Nazi Germany. Before the Second World War the school consisted of approximately 832 pupils. Jesode-Hatora-Beth-Jacob (JHBJ) remained open until the roundups of 1942. Fearing mass arrests, the teachers (under the leadership of principal Julius Sanctorum), brought the children to safety. Sanctorum was later recognised as Righteous among the Nations. The school itself was looted and closed. The buildings were leased by the Verwalter to the moving firm Arthur Pierre and used as storage space for furniture and household goods taken from the houses of deported Jews and Jews who had fled, in the context of the so-called Möbelaktion. The school was reopened on 2 May 1945 and counted 17 students. The reconstruction of the school buildings was funded by, among others, the Verenigde Israëlitische Gemeenten (and its Hevra Kadisha), Agudath Israel (London), the Comité Central Israélite and funds raised by rabbi Nusen Lustig. After the Second World War JHBJ continued to grow and expand. A normal school for girls (accredited in 1965) commenced its activities in the school year 1949-1950; the secondary education sections were created in 1951. The school buildings were thoroughly renovated in the 1950s and 1960s, partly thanks to funding from the Claims Conference. By the school year 1964-1965 the number of pupils had risen to 1014. From the school year 1990-1991, the school was split into two full-fledged primary schools, one for boys and one for girls. The primary schools are led by their own principals, for both Jewish and secular education, and are coordinated by a governing body (inrichtende macht). Today the school has about 800 pupils. (S. Brachfeld, “Krengel, Herschel”, in J.-P. Schreiber, Dictionnaire biographique des Juifs de Belgique. Figures du judaïsme belge, XIXe-XXe siècles, Brussel, De Boeck, 2002, p. 202; S. Perl, 100 jaar Jesode-Hatora-Beth-Jacob 1895-1995, Antwerpen/Rotterdam, Uitgeverij C. De Vries-Brouwers, 1995; M. Freilich, Interview met de voorzitter van de inrichtende macht van de Jesode-Hatoraschool, Isi Morsel, on http://joodsactueel.be/2014/02/03/volledige-tekst-interview-isi-morsel-voorzitter-van-de-inrichtende-macht-van-de-jesode-hatoraschool/ (last accessed on February 4, 2014); 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, pp. 315-345.)
- System of arrangement:
- Many series are ordered by school year, by class, or by family name of the student or staff member.
- Access, restrictions:
- Consultation requires the authorisation of the inrichtende macht (board) of the school. Researchers are asked to contact Mr. Henri Widawski.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
