The Jewish population of Belgium has always presented contrasting facets. It has shown constant fertility in the most diverse fields, from economic initiative to scientific research, from social action to intellectual creation or political commitment. It has experienced the most diverse socio-economic situations and has been hit hard by the upheavals of history.
Vigilance
Nazi Germany's desire to annihilate, in the name of a delusional ideology, an entire people not for what it was supposed to have done, but for what it was, has left a lasting stigma on Western civilisation, which requires reflection and vigilance. The Contemporary Memory Foundation intends to contribute to the effort undertaken today to give a voice to those who, better than anyone else, know the price paid for this insanity and to ensure the transmission of their testimony. A lucid understanding of the past is an essential component of democratic vigilance in the present and thus one of the sine qua non conditions for a humane future for all.
Memory
The Contemporary Memory Foundation considers it a duty to perpetuate the memory of what was without allowing the colours to fade or the humanity to be lost. It wishes to give a voice to men and women who generally have no say in history. It is very attentive to the inevitable and fruitful tensions that arise between the processes of memory and the demands of historical method, between the dynamics of memory and the critical reconstruction of the past.
