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PART A - ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1. Identity
and Location
2. Legal Information
3. Identification
4. Management
plan
5. Assessment
against the Selection Criteria
6. Consultation
7. Nominator
PART B - SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
8. Assessment
of Risk
9. Preservation
assessment
PART A - ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1.1 Name of documentary heritage
Centre of Communist Archives in Belgium: Centre des Archives communistes
en Belgique (CArCoB-FJJ asbl/ Documentatie en Archiefcentrum van de Communistiche
Beweging (DACOB-IMAVO vzw).
1.2 Country
Kingdom of Belgium.
1.3 State, province or region
CArCoB: Region of Wallonia/French-language community of Belgium/German-language
community of Belgium;
DACOB: Flemish-language community of Belgium.
1.4 Address: Rue de la Caserne/Kazernestraat, 33-35, B-1000
BRUXELLES/BRUSSEL.
2.1 Owner
For records acquired to 1995:
Fondation du Patrimoine historique du Parti communiste de Belgique
asbl - Stichting Historisch Patrimonium van de Kommunistische Partij van
België vzw (PATHISC-HISPATK), avenue de Stalingrad-laan, 21, B-1000
BRUXELLES/BRUSSEL.
For records acquired since 1996, where relevant:
- Parti communiste (PC), rue Rouppe, 4, B-1000 BRUXELLES;
- Fondation Joseph Jacquemotte (FJJ) asbl, rue Rouppe, 4, B-1000 BRUXELLES;
- Kommunistische Partij (KP), Galgenberg, 29-B-9000 GENT;
- Instituut voor Marxistische Vorming (IMAVO) vzw, Stalingradlaan,
21, B-1000 BRUSSEL
2.2 Custodian: No deposits for the moment.
2.3 Legal status
The CArCoB is an autonomous sector of the Fondation Joseph Jacquemotte
(not-for-profit association, artificial person). The Centre is recognized
by the Government of the French-language community of Belgium as a private
archives centre. DACOB is a non-autonomous sector of the Instituut voor
Marxistische Vorming (vereniging zonder winstoogmerk; artificial person).
The Centre is recognized by the Government of the Flemish-language community
as a documentation centre. The archives are accessible to the public after
a period of 30 years (50 years for certain information which might damage
the reputation of natural or artificial persons). PATHISC-HISPATK, CArCoB
- FJJ, DACOB-IMAVO, PC and KP are entitled, where necessary, to exercise
copyright in the case of the reproduction or use of documents of which
they are the owners or depositaries.
2.4 Responsible administration
Management and administration of CArCoB are provided by FJJ asbl. Two
members of the FJJ Management Board are administrators with special responsibility
for CArCoB. One of these administrators is the scientific officer of the
Centre. Day-to-day management is in the hands of an archivist. CArCoB also
has a Scientific Advisory Board.
Management and administration of DACOB are provided by IMAVO vzw. The
Board of Directors of IMAVO is in charge of DACOB. Day-to-day management
is in the hands of an archivist. DACOB also has a Scientific Advisory Board.
The Scientific Advisory Boards of CArCoB and DACOB meet at least once
a year in joint session.
3.1 Description and inventory
Archives of communist organizations in Belgium (PCB-KPB, VKP, PC, KP)
and allied organizations (SRI-IRH, SOI-IAH, JCB-KPB, and others) and archives
of regional and local branches (since 1919). Numerous press collections
(communist, socialist, anarchist, Trotskyist, Maoist, fascist; French,
Dutch, German, English; international, federal, regional, local; daily,
weekly, monthly, bi-monthly). Archives of communist leaders and activists.
Copious documentation on the communist movement in Belgium and abroad and
on the progressive movement in Belgium.
Particular attention is drawn to the following items in the holdings
of CArCoB and DACOB:
Particular attention is being given to the press collections, which are obviously the most vulnerable (paper quality). Discussions are underway with a partner with a view to the integral reproduction of the Belgian communist daily press on microfilm and the elimination in that way of some gaps in the CArCoB and DACOB collections. There is constant monitoring of levels of exposure to heat, cold, and humidity. The press collections are still available at present for direct consultation. Once the collections have all been recorded on microfilm, only the microfilms will be available for consultation. As of now, the press collections may no longer be photocopied.
5. Assessment against the selection criteria
5.1 Assessment against the criteria in Annex 2
The Isabelle Blume archive is an incomparable testimony to the activity
of a women politician (second woman ever to be elected to the Belgian Parliament)
who acquired international standing (1953 Stalin Peace Prize), in particular
for her internationally recognized work in various World Peace Congresses
and then at the head of the World Peace Council.
The Belgian communist daily press holding is also an incomparable and
almost unique testimony to the activities of the communist movement in
Belgium. Even though it was a relatively small communist party, its importance
was on several occasions much greater than its numbers alone. For instance,
in 1923, the PCB was one of the first communist parties to be threatened
with banning by a western government; in 1928 it was the scene of one of
the first mass expulsions of Trotskyist activists (reported later by Charles
Plisnier in his book Faux-passeports, 1937 Prix Goncourt). In 1939,
after the signature of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, it was the
PCB which hosted the western European services of the Comintern, expelled
from France. As early as 1954, two years before the Communist Party of
the USSR, the PCB was a testing ground for de-Stalinization; in 1963 it
was also a counter testing ground for Chinese communists who set up the
first Maoist party in western Europe in Belgium.
The international communist press holding is of such evident interest
for researchers that some foreign publishing companies (including the Feltrinelli
Foundation) have produced partial new facsimile editions, of numbers which
can no longer be found.
We think we are correct in saying that our complete collection of the
newspaper Le Père Duchesne is the only one of its kind in
Belgium.
As for the Congo archives, they are exceptional testimony to the support
provided by Belgian communist circles to pro-independence politicians of
the Congo (Joseph Kasa-Vubu, later the first president of the Republic
of the Congo; Patrice Lumumba, its future Prime Minister; Alphonse Nguvulu,
future minister and many others). We are convinced that some of our collections
of the Congolese press are almost unique (only certain titles, and even
then very partially, are held in Berlin).
5.2 Contextual assessment of the documents
The documents cited are either unique (in the Isabelle Blume and Congo
collections: personal correspondence; Congolese press) or rare (Le Père
Duchesne, Pour une paix durable, pour une démocratie populaire).
5.3 An evaluation of the authenticity
5.4 An assessment of rarity
6.1 Details of consultation: Details may be requested where necessary
from the manager, namely:
Centre des Archives communistes en Belgique (CArCoB)
c/o M. Jules Pirlot
Administrateur-délégué FJJ asbl
Rue de la Caserne 33-35
B-1000 BRUXELLES
Documentatie en Archiefcentrum van de Communistische Beweging (DACOB)
c/o d.H. Robert Crivit
Beheerder IMAVO vzw
Kazernestraat 33-35
BB-1000 BRUSSEL.
7.1 Name: Conseil scientifique près le CArCoB/Wetenschappelike
Commissie van het DACOB.
7.2 Relationship to documentary heritage
The Scientific Advisory Board (Conseil Scientific) of CArCoB is responsible
for giving opinions and proposals concerning all questions relating to
the heritage belonging to the owners and placed under the administration
and management of FJJ asbl and its autonomous Archives department, the
CArCoB.
The Scientific Advisory Board (Wetenschappelike Commissie) of DACOB
plays the same role for the Flemish side.
7.3 Contact person and
7.4 Contact details
Centre des Archives communistes en Belgique (CArCoB)
Conseil Scientifique
c/o M. José Gotovitch
President
Rue de la Caserne 33-35
B-1000 BRUXELLES
Documentatie en Archiefcentrum van de Communistische Beweging (DACOB)
c/o Mevrouw Griet Maréchal
Voorzitter
Kazernestraat 33-35
BB-1000 BRUSSEL.
PART B - SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
8.1 Nature and scope of threats
As for most documentary holdings and archives, the main risks to the
CArCoB and DACOB holdings are the following:
- environment: influence of the particularly damp climate in
Belgium; effect of atmospheric pollution of major urban centres;
- physical conditions: gradual deterioration of paper, particularly
for the newspapers;
- preservation budget: limited nature of resources which might
be allocated by the public authorities to support preservation ctivities
carried out by private archive centres (whose resources are frequently
just as limited);
- use: the press collections, particularly, are of continuing
interest to researchers.
9.1 Present physical state
The personal archives (Isabelle Blume, Congo) are filed in good-quality
archive boxes, stored in metal cupboards. Their state of preservation is,
except for some rare exceptions, good.
The collections of international communist journals from before 1940
were bound at the time and these volumes are still in very good condition.
The same goes for the bound volume of Le Père Duchesne.
The collection of the newspaper Pour une paix durable, pour une
démocratie populaire is not bound. It is stored in large cardboard
folders, stored flat on metal shelves. However, its physical state is poor
since it was kept for years in packages tied with string, the copies being
folded in four. Furthermore, the newspaper was published in Yugoslavia
(1947-1948) and then in Romania (1948-1956) and the quality of the paper
used is far from superior.
The most serious fears are for the Belgian communist daily press collections.
These editions are bound, but frequent use added to an eventful history
has made consultation of the collections more problematic from year to
year.
Thus, during its previous history, the first collection was always
conserved in the PCB-KPB archives in suitable premises. It is therefore
relatively better conserved than the second, which was drawn from the assets
of communist newspapers when they folded. The second collection has been
the subject of minimum conservation, seen solely in terms of documentation
for the use of journalists. Copies were left lying around in newspaper
offices, private offices and even in cellars.
The bindings of the second collection are also less well-made than
the first collection's bindings. It must also be remembered that the quality
of the paper used to publish daily newspapers was often far from ideal.
Hence, the papers issued during the Liberation (1944-1945) are in greater
danger of disintegration than some of the older ones. Lastly, for many
years, there was no restriction on photocopying them.
9.2 Person responsible for preservation
- CArCoB archivist: Mr Milou (Emile) Rikir
- DACOB Archivaris: d.H. Alain Meynen
- DACOB Archivaris-adjunct: d.H. Werner Vandenabeele.