The original Jewish Register forms were filled out by the Belgian municipalities, in Dutch or French, in 1940-1944, as a result of the German Verordnung (decree) of 28 October 1940. After completion, a copy of the forms was sent to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) in Brussels, which centralised the forms and arranged them alphabetically by municipality. This origins of this version of the Jewish Register of Antwerp, however, are unknown. Today, the forms are part of the archives of the Centraal Beheer voor Joodse Weldadigheid en Maatschappelijk Hulpbetoon [Central Bureau for Jewish Welfare and Social Aid], also known as “Centrale”, in Antwerp. The offices of the Centrale are located at a building in Lange Leemstraat, Antwerp, which was occupied by the Local Antwerp Committee of the Association of Jews in Belgium (AJB) between 1942 and 1944. Therefore, these forms might be a copy used by the AJB during the war. This hypothesis is strengthened by the observation that the forms of the Jewish Register of Antwerp contain less information than the forms of the Jewish Register of Belgium and do not contain any official stamps or signatures. The Jewish Register of Antwerp seems to be a summary of the key information on the much more complete Antwerp forms in the Jewish Register of Belgium. Almost all forms in the Jewish Register of Antwerp are part of the Jewish Register of Belgium too. Correspondence of the Centrale shows that the Jewish Register of Antwerp has been under the care of the Centrale at least as of 1956. In 1999 the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance, predecessor of Kazerne Dossin, obtained permission to clean, catalogue, digitise, index and preserve the individual forms. The project was finalised in 2003 after which the originals were given back to the Centrale in Antwerp.
The German Verordnung (Anti-Jewish measure) of 28 October 1940, published in the Verordnungsblatt on 5 November 1940, ordered the registration of Jews from the age of 15 by the Belgian municipalities. The heads of the Belgian civil service willingly placed the country’s administrative apparatus at the occupier’s disposal to allow the registration of Jews, from Arlon to Ostend. In so doing, civil servants were attacking the Belgian constitution and the The Hague Convention no. IV of 1907. Henceforward, anyone with three Jewish grandparents was considered a “Jew”. Since the Nazis were unable to define the concept of “Jewishness” racially, they turned instead to a religious criterion. A person’s grandparent was Jewish if he or she (had) practiced the Jewish religion. Severe penalties were introduced for those who failed to register. Exact numbers are unavailable, since the exact size of the Jewish community in Belgium before 1940 is unknown, but it is estimated that 5% to 10% of the community did not register. However, the Belgian municipalities actively urged children turning 15 to visit the town hall. This resulted in the registration of Jews in Belgium up until 1943, long after deportations from the Dossin barracks had started.
Centraal Beheer voor Joodse Weldadigheid en Maatschappelijk Hulpbetoon [Central Bureau for Jewish Welfare and Social Aid], Antwerp
Access to the name index, containing the names of all persons older than 15 who registered, is available at the Kazerne Dossin documentation centre.
Digitally stored at Kazerne Dossin
Since the Belgian municipalities kept the original forms while sending copies to the Sicherheitsdienst in Brussels, some of the municipalities still have their original Jewish registers. Kazerne Dossin digitised several of these series (Zonhoven, Diepenbeek, Jette, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean) and added them to its catalogue under a separate call number. The complete Jewish Register of Belgium, consisting of copies of the forms sent to the Sicherheitsdienst in Brussels, is catalogued as KD_00008.
No further accruals are to be expected
Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu
20,058 digitised images (10,029 forms)
Alphabetically by surname
The German decree of 28 October 1940 made it compulsory for all Jews from the age of 15 to register in the Jewish register of the municipality where they officially lived. The names of younger children were added to the forms of the parents (in most cases the copy of the father). Each form has room for the following information : surname, first names, date and place of birth, profession, nationality, religion, date of arrival in Belgium, the country of migration, successive addresses, date and place of registration, and the person’s signature, but also name, date and place of birth and religion of the spouse, the parents, the grandparents and the children. However, in case of the Jewish Register of Antwerp in most cases only surname, first names, date and place of birth, nationality, successive addresses, date of arrival in Belgium and the names of children were filled out.
Jodenregister van Antwerpen. Collection