Research by Florence Matteazzi on the role of clergy from the Liège diocese in hiding Jews. Collection
Extent and Medium
82 files (1,05 linear meters)
Creator(s)
- Florence Matteazzi
Biographical History
Florence Matteazzi studied history at Université catholique de Louvain (UCL). In 1994-1996 she researched clergymen in the Liège diocese and their attitude towards helping Jews during the Holocaust. Florence Matteazzi submitted her dissertation in 1996 and thus obtained the title of licentiate in contemporary history. After a career in education she worked as an archivist for the La Louvière municipal archive and its OCMW [Public Center for Social Welfare] for 18 years, which she combined with her role as board member of the Cercle royal d'Histoire et d'archéologie of the Zinnik canton and as the voluntary curator of the Musée du Vieux-Cimetière. As of 2022 Florence Matteazzi was enrolled by the National Archives of Belgium - Cegesoma as a scientific collaborator in the POSTWAREX project and to research the role played by the NMBS / SNCB [National Railway Company of Belgium] during the Second World War.
Archival History
When researching clergymen in the Liège diocese and their attitude towards helping Jews during the Holocaust Florence Matteazzi consulted multiple public and private archives and archival collections. She was also in contact with rescuers and rescued persons, as well as with religious orders and institutes in the Liège diocese. She stored the obtained information in general and thematic files, the latter dedicated to specific municipalities, institutes, rescuers and rescued persons. Florence Matteazzi permitted historian Thierry Rozenblum to consult her research files in preparation of his book ‘Une cité si ardente. Les Juifs de Liège sous l'Occupation (1940-1944)’. She subsequently donated her research collection to the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance, predecessor of Kazerne Dossin, in 1997. The 67 audio tapes with recordings of the interviews conducted with rescuers and rescued persons were donated by Florence Matteazzi to the National Archives of Belgium – Cegesoma in 2022.
Acquisition
Florence Matteazzi, 1997
Scope and Content
This collection consists of 82 files created by Florence Matteazzi while researching clergymen in the Liège diocese and their attitude towards helping Jews during the Holocaust. These files include: administrative files with correspondence with private and public archives or archival holders and witnesses, index cards with biographical notes and draft elements of the final dissertation ; bibliographical files with photocopies of literature on oral history, the psychological analyses of testimonies by hidden children, the position of the catholic church during the Second World War, conversion to Christianity, the Holocaust and the rescue of Jews ; files on archival collections at the Ministère de la Santé publique (today National Archives of Belgium – Archives Service War Victims), the CRESGM (today National Archives of Belgium – Cegesoma) and IHOES, and the private collection of Alain Dantoing ; case files on municipalities, including Banneux, Comblain-au-Pont, Herve, Roclenge-sur-Geer, Saint-Roch, Val-Dieu, Verlemont, Verviers and Visé ; case files on catholic institutes such as the Aide aux Abandonnés, the Cercle Ozanam, the colonies in Stoumont, Don Bosco Salesiens, the Grand Seminaire in Liège, the Institut Notre Dame des Anges in Glain, the Jeunesse Ouvrière chrétienne and the Soeurs de Saint-Joseph in Blegny-Trembleur ; lists of Jews and clergymen, and case files on rescuers and rescued persons, including Ita Askenazy-Gliksman, Emile Boufflette, Jean Dethier, Armand Elens, Camille Engelbos, Charles (Chaim) Erlbaum, Eugène Ernotte, Oscar Evrard, Denise Feld, Freddy Genon, Lisa Halpern, David Herszlikowicz, Petro Jaminet, Louis-Joseph Kerkhofs, the Kersten-Gathy family, the Lepchivcher-Curt (Lepkifker) family, Pierre Lewkowicz, Urbain Mauth, the Pataschnick children (Elisa, Samuel and Anna), Joseph Peeters, Simone Pesser, Max-Albert Van den Berg, Soeur Victorinne and Jacques Zureck ; files on themes related to hiding in the Liège diocese, such as the Association of Jews in Belgium, the Clarence network, the Jewish Defence Committee and its Liège staff members, the Judex newspaper, Righteous among the Nations and the Solidarité network.
Accruals
No further accruals are to be expected
System of Arrangement
This collection consists of general files as well as thematic files dedicated to specific municipalities, institutes, rescuers, rescued persons, and themes related to the rescue of Jews by clergymen in the Liège diocese.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
This research collection has not been digitised and can only be accessed in the Kazerne Dossin reading room.
Existence and Location of Originals
Multiple municipal archives, archives of several institutes, private collections, National Archives of Belgium - Archives Service for War Victims, National Archives of Belgium - Cegesoma, Institut d’histoire ouvrière, économique et sociale (IHOES), archives of the archdiocese Mechelen
Subjects
- Rescuers - Network
- Rescuers - Institute
- Rescuers - Individual
- Postwar research
- Jewish organisations
- Hidden children
- Hidden adults
- Conversion to christianity
- Civil resistance