The Study and Documentation Centre for War and Contemporary Society (french: Centre d'Études et de Documentation Guerre et Sociétés contemporaines; nl, Studie- en Documentatiecentrum Oorlog en Hedendaagse Maatschappij), known by its combined French—Dutch acronym Cegesoma or CegeSoma, is a historical

research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...

and archive based in

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

, Brussels in Belgium. It focusses on World War II and the

contemporary history Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is ...

of Belgium. Since 2016 it has formed part of the Belgian State Archives. Its director is Nico Wouters.

History

The centre was founded on 13 December 1967 as the Centre for Research and Historical Study into the Second World War (''Centre de Recherches et d’Etudes historiques de la Seconde Guerre mondiale'', CREHSGM; ''Navorsings- en Studiecentrum van de Geschiedenis van de Tweede Wereldoorlog'', NSGWO) . It was created in response to the legal acquittal of

Robert Jan Verbelen Robert Jan Verbelen (5 April 1911, Herent, Belgium – 28 October 1990, Vienna, Austria) was a Belgian Nazi collaborator. During the last years of World War II, Verbelen was head of the '' De Vlag Veiligheidscorps'', a Nazi SS security force ...

, a Flemish collaborator, in 1965 as a result of insufficient documentary records. From 1969, the institution began to actively collect publications, interviews and archives relating to the Second World War. Subsequently, it began to expand the scope of its research into World War I and other aspects of

. In 1997, it was renamed the Centre for Study and Documentary on War and Contemporary Society. It became an autonomous part of the State Archives of Belgium in 2016.

Major projects

Notable projects run by the Centre include: *Belgian War Press: a

digital archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

of Belgian newspapers published during World War I and II, both "censored" and "clandestine"; *Belgium WWII: an educational resource on aspects of Belgian history during World War II.

Research

The centre has supported a range of

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

s, edited volumes and

peer-reviewed journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

s including the '' Journal of Belgian History''. It is a member of the

European Network for Contemporary History European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

(EURHISTXX).

References

External links

* * Organizations established in 1969 Research institutes in Belgium History institutes Scientific organisations based in Belgium Archives in Belgium Military history of Belgium Science and technology in Belgium Education in Brussels Buildings and structures in Brussels {{Sci-org-stub

History

Major projects

Research

See also

References

Further reading

External links