Four new projects for CegeSoma!

Seven projects submitted by the State Archives of Belgium have obtained funding under Belspo's P4S (Policy for Science) program. Three of these will be carried out at CegeSoma over a two-year period. They are as follows:

REDCAPOS - Belgian 'Red kapos': A Political History of 'Antifascism'

This project, coordinated by Widukind De Ridder, aims to analyze the political dynamics within Nazi Germany's concentration camps and their impact on public memory in Belgium during the Cold War. So-called 'Red Kapos' were predominantly communist political prisoners who served as prisoner functionaries. In the context of the Cold War, their actions were variously framed either as forms of 'antifascist resistance' or as acts of 'collaboration'. Political structures forged in captivity later evolved into post-war concentration camp committees. These committees functioned as transnational political actors and key meeting places during the Cold War, actively shaping public memory of 'antifascism' and, over time, contributing to broader narratives on human rights and crimes against humanity.

BELAMAR-The Belgian labour market in the Second World War through the lens of unemployment

One of the major gaps in the socio-economic history of World War II in Belgium concerns the labor market. There is no comprehensive overview of the evolution of unemployment during the occupation, only partial data whose origin and reliability are not always clear. The aim of the Belamar project, coordinated by Dirk Luyten, is to compile, from all available archival sources in Belgium and abroad, a series of data that is as homogeneous as possible on the evolution of unemployment among men and women at the national level and at the level of employment agency districts in order to map the evolution of the labor market during the Occupation. This research is of fundamental importance. Unemployment and the labor market are key factors in macroeconomic development. Certain fundamental changes, such as the impact of the absence of Walloon prisoners of war from the local labor market for nearly five years and the employment opportunities for women, can now be studied and examined on the basis of empirical data. A reliable overview of unemployment during the Occupation will also make it possible to critically examine the results of Galopin's doctrine on an empirical basis.

RESIST - Expansion and consolidation of a European resistance history network

The RESIST project, directed by Nico Wouters, provides funding for the "Resistance History Network", created by CegeSoma in 2024. The aim is to improve international contacts by organizing an international conference. It also involves continuing to develop the ‘Resistance in Belgium’ database and, in particular, facilitating new research and developments for the general public. This project is closely linked to CegeSoma’s current activities on the resistance. The person hired for this project will work closely with Bart Willems (coordinator of the Resistance History Network) and Fabrice Maerten (coordinator of the “Resistance in Belgium” database).

Exciting news for the Belgian national node of the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, EHRI-BE! The Belgian State Archives/CegeSoma’s proposal for the four-year project TRACE-BE (Training Research Access and Connectivity for EHRI-BE) has been approved for funding through BELSPO’s ESFRI-FED programme, which is designed to support the participation of Belgian Federal Scientific Institutions in ESFRI research infrastructures. TRACE-BE will be coordinated by the CegeSoma with Kazerne Dossin as a partner and it is a natural extension of the work the CegeSoma/State Archives has already carried out on five European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) projects to date. Its overarching aim is to consolidate the State Archives’ position within EHRI by stimulating and facilitating archival-based national and transnational research on the Holocaust and by contributing to the further development of EHRI-BE.