From the founding meeting of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind on 6 October 1991 onwards the records of the association were kept at the home of administrator David Inowlocki. Inowlocki, in 1986 a founding member of the Amicale des Anciens de Jamoigne, added several files created by the Amicale to the archive of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind after the Amicale ceased to exist in 1991. When opening a secretariat at Avenue Ducpétiaux 68 in Saint-Gilles, Brussels, in 1997, the administration of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind moved to this office where it remained until the closure of the secretariat in 2017. The archive of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind was donated to Kazerne Dossin on 27 March 2017. In 2019, the archive was analysed, organised, structured and wrapped according to archival standards. An inventory was created to make the archive accessible.
The founders of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind held their founding meeting on 6 October 1991. The idea to create this association for Jewish children hidden in Belgium during the war was launched at the first international gathering of hidden children in New York on 26 and 27 May 1991. The existing Amicale des Anciens de Jamoigne, the association for Jewish children hidden at the Château de Jamoigne during the war, subsequently ceased to be an independent organisation and became part of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind. Vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind published its by-laws in the Belgian official Journal (Belgisch Staatsblad - Moniteur belge) on 25 March 1993. The organisation is led from the start by an administrative committee, presided subsequently by Sophie Rechtman-Granos (1991-2002, 2003-2006), Charles Racimora (2002-2003), David Rossler (2006-2009), Jerry Rubin (2009-2012), Regina Suchowolski-Sluszny (2012-2015), Marka Szyfer (2015-2018) en Marcel Frydman (2018-…). The association at its peak represented 1.350 members, who gather yearly during the General Assembly in Brussels. As of 1998 the quarterly ‘EC Infos’ functions as the membership magazine. The main goals of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind are: stimulating solidarity and trauma processing among its members, providing members with historical information on hiding and the Holocaust, honouring Belgian rescuers, stimulating remembrance education and fighting anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and Holocaust denial, working together with other organisations with the same goals, and defending the political and financial rights of formerly hidden children as war victims. Vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind is still an active association, continuing its work.
Kazerne Dossin, Mechelen
STYVEN Dorien, Inventory of the archives of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind and Amicale des Anciens de Jamoigne, Mechelen, 2019.
The archive has been packed according to archival standards. Photos are stored in separate acid-free boxes and covers. Audio and video tapes have been added to the Kazerne Dossin audio-visual collection, books and magazines to the Kazerne Dossin library. Check the inventory for a complete list.
NYSENHOLC Adolphe, L’Enfant Sauvé. De la cache au statut, Brussel, 2018.
Archive of Jacques Funkleder, administrator of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind, fonds donated to Kazerne Dossin in 2017, reference number: KD_00438.
Vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind is a non-liquidated organisation. The administrative committee continues its monthly meetings. General assemblies are organised yearly and membership magazine EC Infos is being published. Files regarding future activities will be added to the archive upon donation by vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind to Kazerne Dossin.
Access to the following files and items is limited due to the presence of sensitive personal data and due to the protection of such data stipulated in the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Membership lists, membership forms, files regarding dissident members, files on court cases, lists of activity participants, historical lists with hidden children and rescuers, lists and request forms to obtain official recognition as a hidden child, lists and request forms to obtain financial compensation for hidden children as war victims (Rente Flahaut) and lists and request forms to obtain financial compensation for Holocaust survivors who fell victim to spoliation. In general, documents which contain sensitive personal data can be consulted if the researcher can provide proof that the researched person has passed away or if he can present permission for consultation signed by the researched person. If one of both elements can’t be presented, the item is non-accessible until 100 years after the birth of the researched person. Further information regarding access to these restricted files and series can be obtained via archives@kazernedossin.eu .
Permission for reproduction of items without personal data can be obtained by sending a written request to archives@kazernedossin.eu . In case of documents containing sensitive personal data of living persons, reproduction of the item is forbidden. Users, if granted access, can only take notes by hand if they can’t provide proof of consent for reproduction signed by the researched person (based on article 207 of the Belgian law on the protection of natural persons regarding the processing of personal data of 30 July 2018).
15 meters, 161 numbers, 88 boxes
As indicated in the inventory
The archive of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind - L'Enfant caché asbl consists of: (1) institutional files and series on the creation of the association, on the administrative committee, on the yearly general assembly and on the membership administration, as well as (2) files and series on the organisation of activities. This second section includes both general files and files on activities organised to reach the goals of the association. The archive of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind - L'Enfant caché asbl also contains several files created by the Amicale des Anciens de Jamoigne, the association of Jewish children hidden at the Château de Jamoigne during the war, on activities organised by the Amicale before the creation of vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind.
vzw Het Ondergedoken Kind, Brussel. Collection