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Tag: Felixarchief

  • Old Jewish posters at the Antwerp Archives

    the 'Felixarchief' – (c) photo by Gershon Lehrer

    The archives of the city of Antwerp (Felixarchief) mentioned in their last monthly e-newsletter the following interesting subject (source):

    Vooroorlogse Joodse affiches duiken op
    Vier jaar geleden ontdekten we in het Modern Archief twee dikke pakken met affiches.

    Het bleek een uiterst interessante verzameling van 144 affiches en pamfletten van Joodse verenigingen uit 1932-1934. De meeste zijn aankondigingen van culturele evenementen: concerten, toneelvoorstellingen maar ook lezingen, bals en feesten uit die periode komen aan bod. Over de herkomst weten we enkel dat een zekere heer Prinz ze al in 1934 aan het stadsarchief schonk.
    Het Joods Museum van Deportatie en Verzet reageerde enthousiast op de ontdekking en stelde meteen voor om de Hebreeuwse en Jiddische opschriften voor het FelixArchief te vertalen. Het leverde een schat aan informatie op.

    De reeks illustreert immers als geen ander het bruisende culturele en politieke leven van de Joodse gemeenschap tijdens het interbellum: het dynamische verenigingsleven, de culturele diversiteit, maar ook het onderbelichte verzet tegen Hitler-Duitsland, de Joodse Socialistische Partij en de immigratie naar Palestina. Een uiterst boeiende momentopname, voer voor verder onderzoek en uniek illustratiemateriaal.

    De affiches zijn nu deskundig beschreven, gereinigd, gevlakt en gedigitaliseerd. U kunt deze affiches hier digitaal bekijken. (Klik hiervoor op het plus-teken.)

    Nieuwsbericht gepubliceerd op 02-03-2012

    Translation:

    Prewar Jewish posters emerge
    Four years ago we discovered in the Modern Archive 2 large packages of posters.

    It was a very interesting collection of 144 posters and pamphlets of Jewish organizations from 1932-1934. Most of these are announcements of cultural events: concerts, theater performances but also lectures, balls and parties held from that period . About the origin, we know only that in 1934 a certain Mr. Prinz donated the posters to the city archives.
    The Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre (Kazerne Dossin) responded enthusiastically to the discovery and immediately suggested to translate the Hebrew and Yiddish inscriptions for the FelixArchief. This yielded a wealth of information.

    The series illustrate like no other indeed the lively cultural and political life of the Jewish community during the interwar period: the dynamic associations, cultural diversity, but also underexposed resistance to Hitler’s Germany, the Socialist Party and the Jewish immigration to Palestine. A very interesting snapshot of further research and unique artwork.

    The posters are now expertly described, cleaned, flattened and digitized. You can view digital posters here. (Click on the plus sign.)

    News published on 03/02/2012

    As mentioned in the e-mail, you can (more…)

  • Old, Older, Oldest Big,Bigger, Biggest at the Archives

    I went recently to the archives from Antwerp where I do collect from time to time files and other information for my family research.

    During my research I usually try to understand and focus on several topics which I do come across and about which I do tend to post from time to time some articles on this website.
    One of the topics I am currently focussing on, and about which I hope to post in the near future, is the district distribution in the city of Antwerp.

    As part of this research I did request to have a look in the file about the reconstruction of the sewers. This interesting file contains a few (more…)

  • The meaning of the acronym A.A.C.B. in the Belgian immigration files

    During my research in the Belgian archives, I came across a few files in which a document had the following acronym “A.A.C.B.”:

    Source: Antwerp Immigration File no.175159 (Dorf Wolf – Kapelna Frieda)

    I, as curious as I am always, was wondering about the meaning of that acronym.

    During genealogy research (and I assume that this is true for each research), each small part, can have a significant meaning with implications for the outcome of research. Therefore I try to understand as much as possible of each small element. Thanks to this approach I do learn quite a lot new things about history, culture, politics, etc.

    To get back on topic; I did receive the explanation from the very helpful employees at the Antwerp archives (www.felixarchief.be).
    They told me that A.A.C.B. stands for “Ambtelijke Afschrijving College Besluit” which roughly translated into English means cancelling the citizenship by official decision of the authorities and the file was closed for the person in question.

    The reason for a A.A.C.B. can be one of the following:

    • Someone left the city without announcing to the authorities. If they later on returned after their file was closed, it became harder to get an approval for a second residence permit.
      Many Jews who fled during the World War, had to have their closed (more…)