The inventory of the so-called “Moscow Archives” has recently been completed. These Moscow archives are housed in the National Archives 2 - Joseph Cuvelier repository. Starting today, they can be consulted in our reading room.
During the Second World War, the German occupier looted numerous archives (both public and private). These were transported to Berlin and stored in the “Aktensammelstelle West.” Around May 1945, they fell into the hands of the Red Army. These Belgian archives were taken as war trophy to the Soviet Union, where they were kept for decades behind the Iron Curtain, in the Moscow “Osoby” repository.
At the end of the 1980s, Belgian researchers — among them members of what is now the “AMSAB-Institute of Social History” — began searching for these displaced archives. In the decades that followed, the Belgian state obtained their restitution. The archives falling under the historical responsibility of the Ministry of Justice were deposited — as prescribed by the Law on Archives — in the State Archives. It is these archives that are concerned here.
What can I find in them?
Archives from 53 different record creators from the judicial sphere. The majority of these archives belong to the military judiciary. Among other things, they contain information on the investigation and prosecution of war crimes after the First World War, the occupation of the Rhineland and Ruhr by the Belgian army (1918-1930), and the functioning of the military judiciary during the mobilization period and the eighteen-day campaign at the beginning of the Second World War (1939-1940).
How can I consult these files and records?
The archival descriptions can be consulted here. Anyone interested may request the desired inventory numbers by e-mail. These numbers are always preceded by an “M.” Consultation is by appointment (via e-mail) in the reading room of AGR2. The inventory is not yet available in our online search platform AGATHA. An archive guide will also be published soon, which extensively reconstructs and documents the history of these archives.
Note: in the medium term, the various archival fonds will once again be reintegrated into the archives from which they were originally removed. In practice, this means that the archives of, for example, the military prosecutor’s office Antwerp-Limburg or the military courts of East Flanders will eventually be transferred to the State Archives in Beveren and the State Archives in Ghent, respectively. When this is not explicitly mentioned in the inventory, the documents are still located at the National Archives 2.
Are these archives freely accessible?
Documents older than 100 years are freely accessible. For documents less than 100 years old, prior authorization must be obtained from the College of Prosecutors General. More information about consultation procedures can be found here.
