Language:
French
Year of publication:
2014
Titel der Quelle:
Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique
Angaben zur Quelle:
109,3-4 (2014) 814-856
Keywords:
Catholic Church
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Christian converts from Judaism History 20th century
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Rescue
;
Jewish children in the Holocaust
;
Liège (Belgium)
Abstract:
Traces the rescue of Jewish children by Catholic clergy in Liège in 1942-44 and the various stages of the process of remembering the events after the war. Focuses on the role of the rabbi of Liège at the time, Joseph Lepkifker, and the local bishop, Mgr Kerkhofs. When it comes to the postwar perception of the rescue activities which were undertaken by the Van den Berg network, and concerned ca. 150 children, emphasizes the role of Abbé Jamin, who was in charge of receiving the children in the small town of Banneux. Jamin, who held strong prejudice against the Jews and favored their conversion, as did Kerkhofs, chronicled the events as they unfolded and later edited his account. Unofficial impulses right after the war to honor the rescuers were followed by years of silence. However, since 1960, when the local Jewish community raised the subject officially, and especially in 1977-2010, the rescuers have been commemorated both in stone and in writing, and recognized as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem. The process of commemoration was slowed down and complicated, inter alia, by the question of whether some children were subjected to forced conversion in the Catholic surrounding. Argues that although neither Kerkhofs nor Jamin hid their religious agenda, they refused to convert the children against their parents' consent.
DOI:
10.1484/J.RHE.5.103205
URL:
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