Metadata: Archives of the Communauté israélite de Liège
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- Communauté Israélite de Liège
- Holding institution (official language):
- Communauté israélite de Liège
- Postal address:
- Rue Léon Frédéricq 19, 4020 Liège
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)4 224 4040
- Reference number:
- ComIsr-Liege-Archives de la Communauté israélite de Liège
- Title:
- Archives of the Communauté israélite de Liège
- Title (official language):
- Archives de la Communauté israélite de Liège
- Creator/accumulator:
- Communauté israélite de Liège
- Date(s):
- 1913/2016
- Date note:
- Material continues to be added to this collection.
- Extent:
- ca. 10 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- This fonds contains archival material produced by the Communauté israélite de Liège. We note correspondence, bookkeeping records, numerous photographs and religious objects. The fonds also contains two marriage registers (the first one from 21 March 1933 to 31 July 1963, the second from 23 February 1964 to the present). We find specific files concerning, notably, the restoration of the synagogue after the earthquake of 1983 and the listed monument status of the building. The fonds also contains lists of members, lists of to be invited members, an index of Jews who lived in Liège, regulations of the synagogue (originally dating from 1913), etc. We especially point out the collection assembled by minister Moïse Eskenazi, consisting of invitations and announcements of marriages and bar mitzvoth celebrated in Liège, as well as death announcements (1972-1998). Furthermore we note files regarding events and activities organised by the community, calendars and community agendas. This fonds also contains photo albums depicting Jewish life in Liège and including photos of the ministres officiants, the synagogue in Liège, Zionist demonstrations, fundraisers (notably for equipment of the Haganah in 1948), activities organised in the immediate post-war (e.g. Pesach 1945), the inauguration of the national monument to the resistance, the USSJ, Maccabi, Jean Gol, etc. as well as recent photographs of activities organised within the Jewish community of Liège.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The presence of a Jewish community in Liège dates to the early 19th century. Before that, Jews were not tolerated in the Prince-Bishopric. The Jewish community was dependent on the main synagogue in Maastricht. It came under the authority of the Central Jewish Consistory of Belgium in 1834, encompassing the communities of Limburg. In 1840 there were 23 families, or about 88 people. The community grew over the years, mainly due to the emigration of Jews from the Netherlands and Dutch Limburg, but also from Alsace, Great-Britain and the German Empire. The Communauté Israélite de Liège was officially recognised by royal decree of 7 February 1876. The community did not have a dedicated place of worship at the time; the faithful gathered in private homes. The chapel of the former Saint-Julien hospice was reassigned to become a synagogue. Due to the expansion of the community a new, larger synagogue was built. Located in the rue de la Boverie, this synagogue, designed by architect Joseph Rémont, is still in use today. It was inaugurated in 1899 and became a listed monument in 2005. The Jewish population in Liège significantly increased since the end of the 19th century, reaching 1,000 individuals in 1892, including numerous foreign students at the turn of the 20th century. Many immigrants came to work in the industrial area and notably settled in Seraing, where they established their own community, including a place of worship (oratoire) in the rue du Marais. Furthermore, the ministre officiant of Liège regularly went to Spa for the holidays, Shabbat and other religious services organised for the Jewish vacationers in this health resort. Given the success of this resort destination, he was assigned a particular ministre officiant in 1912. By 1939, the Jewish community of Liège was estimated at almost 2,560 individuals, of which 60% were of Polish origin. 733 Jews of the region lost their lives due to the persecution during the war. There were many who could be hidden and avoid deportation. The community was gradually rebuilt after the Second World War. Its activities resumed. A number of Lebanese and Syrian Jewish families came to Liège, diversifying an almost exclusively Ashkenazi community. A cultural centre was created, the Foyer israélite. In 1984 the Musée de la Communauté Israélite de Liège was founded, also known as the Musée Serge Kruglanski. The community also manages a cemetery in Eijsden (the Netherlands) as well as two Jewish plots in the municipal cemetery of Robermont. (F. Bihain, Étude sur les Juifs dans le Sud du Limbourg hollandais et à Liège (XVIIIe et XIXe siècles), Mémoire de licence en histoire et littérature orientale, ULg, 1989-1990 ; W. Bok, Aspects de la communauté juive de Liège, mémoire de licence, ULg, 1959 ; T. Rozenblum, Une cité si ardente … Les Juifs de Liège sous l’Occupation (1940-1944), Bruxelles, Luc Pire, 2010 ; J.-P. Schreiber, Politique et religion. Le Consistoire central israélite de Belgique au XIXe siècle, Bruxelles, éd. de l’Université de Bruxelles, 1995, pp. 85-91.)
- Access points: locations:
- Liege
- Access points: persons/families:
- Eskenazi, Moïse
- Access, restrictions:
- Researchers are required to make an appointment with the person in charge of the Musée Serge Kruglanski.
- Finding aids:
- There is a summary descriptive list.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
