Category Archives: Genealogy

As a Jew living in Antwerp, Belgium, and with an interest in Genealogy, I have some specific interests which are reflected somehow in  my choice of magazine subscriptions. In this article I’d like to discuss the magazines I’m subscribed to (or … Continue reading →

In the article I’d like to post a very quick and short cheat sheet on how to get the alien files from the Archives of Antwerp. Check the end of this article in order to understand more about the districts … Continue reading →

When my father in-law and his sisters recently cleared their mother ´s home in Amsterdam after she has passed away, they came across a paper which seemed to look like a certificate with text in Dutch for land in, what was … Continue reading →

Recently I went through the alien file from my great-grandfather Gerschon Lehrer, whom I am named after, which I found in the Belgian state archives. While analyzing the documents in the file, I came across some letters written between a … Continue reading →

My mother owns an embroidered painting which her mother created as a young girl and which now hangs in my parents’ living room. The painting shows a landscape: a lake with a tower and a bridge in the background. When … Continue reading →

Prof. Hannah Berliner Fischthal requested to post the following request which I am gladly doing. Please contact her for more information (or add your comments below). I am researching Yiddish Antwerp Between the World Wars. I am particularly interested in … Continue reading →

Just as in other countries, Jews also left traces (and still are leaving traces) in Belgium: The oldest trace is a gravestone in the Flemish city Tienen (French: Tirlemont) of a girl who was known as Rebecca, daughter of Mozes. … Continue reading →

I received an invitation from the village of Philippeville which is in the southern part of Belgium to the inauguration of a monument in the memory of 49 Jews who were put into forced labor in quarries in Merlemont (Merlemont … Continue reading →

Is it funny or sad if a group of academics make an error which even the unlearned can easily find out as being a serious mistake on the behalf of these academics? Let me explain what I am referring too: … Continue reading →

In other  articles  I have explained a bit about the Antwerp alien files (immigrant files) and about the indexes through which you could find the file number of your relatives alien file (click here for the complete Table of contents). In this  article  it … Continue reading →