Fela and Chaim Perelman papers

Document | Accession Number: 2006.432.1

The Fela and Chaim Perelman papers consists of photographs, correspondence, biographical materials, personal narratives, published works, and printed materials, documenting the work of Drs. Fela and Chaim Perelman on behalf of the resistance during World War II, aiding refugees after the war, and in support of the state of Israel as well as their intellectual work in the fields of history and philosophy of law and argument.

Date: inclusive: 1919-2001
Language: French
Polish
English
Hebrew
German
Genre/Form: Photographs.
Extent: 30 boxes
9 oversize boxes
2 oversize folders
2 book enclosures
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Noémi Perelman Mattis

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Document Creator: Fela Perelman
Chaim Perelman
Biography: Fela Perelman (1909-1991) was born Fajga Estera Liwer in Bedzin, Poland and married Chaim Perelman in 1935. She studied history at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and wrote a doctoral thesis on the Belgian Revolution and Poland in 1830. During the war, she welcomed Jewish children who had been excluded from the public schools by German order at the "Nos Petits" kindergarten, and in 1942 she turned those children over to the underground Comité de Défense des Juifs to protect them from deportation. Her book Dans le ventre de la baleine describing her resistance work was published in 1947. After the war she worked with Aide aux Israélites Victimes de la Guerre to house refugees and assist illegal immigration to Palestine. She was on the board of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, which awarded her an honorary doctorate, and she was appointed to the Belgian baronage in December 1983.

Chaim Perelman (1912–1984) was born in Warsaw, Poland. His father was a diamond trader, and his family immigrated to Antwerp, Belgium in 1925. He married Fajga (Fela) Estera Liwer in 1935 and obtained Belgian nationality in 1936. He studied at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, earned two doctorates, and became a full professor by the end of the war, although he was not allowed to lecture during the German occupation. He served with the Association des Juifs en Belgique and helped found the Comité de Défense des Juifs to assist the Jewish underground during the war. After the war he helped found Aide aux Israélites Victimes de la Guerre to aid refugees. He was an ardent supporter of Israel, helped found les Amis Belges de l’Université Hébraïque de Jérusalem to support the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which awarded him an honorary doctorate. He made his career in the field of philosophy of law and argument and was the director of the National Center for Research in Logic at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. In recognition of his academic and civic accomplishments, Perelman was appointed to the Belgian baronage in December 1983.
System of Arrangement: The Fela and Chaim Perelman papers are arranged as eighteen series:

Series 1: Photographs of the Perelmans, circa 1937-1990
Series 2: Chaim and Fela Perelman, prewar, 1919-1981
Series 3: Nos Petits, 1940-1968
Series 4: Wartime, 1940-1982
Series 5: Noémi Perelman Mattis, 1940s, 1990
Series 6: Immediate post-war, 1942-1970
Series 7: Personal correspondence, 1944-1990
Series 8: Postwar correspondence, 1927-1991
Series 9: Books written by the Perelmans, 1934-1979
Series 10: Books and articles written by others, circa 1959-1988
Series 11: Subject files, 1950-1990
Series 12: Les Amis Belges de l’Université Hébraïque de Jérusalem, 1948-1991
Series 13: Post-war honors, 1946-2000
Series 14: Fela Perelman’s personal narratives, 1947-2001
Series 15: Post-war personal items, 1945-1996
Series 16: Newspaper clippings, circa 1948-1971
Series 17: Condolences, 1984-1992
Series 18: Additional correspondence and subject files, 1926-1990
Topical Term: Jews--Belgium--Antwerp.
Jewish children--Belgium.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Belgium.
World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue--Belgium.
Displaced person--Belgium.
Holocaust survivors.
Jewish refugees.
Palestine--Emigration and immigration.
Geographic Name: Antwerp (Belgium)
Personal Name: Perelman, Fela, 1909-1991.
Perelman, Chaim, 1912-1984.
Holder of Originals: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: Dr. Noémi Perelman Mattis donated this collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on Oct. 17, 2006 with the assistance of her daughter, Olivia Mattis.
Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Related Materials: Additional Accession Number: 2016.570
Conditions on Access: There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
Conditions on Use: Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.
: Record last modified: 2023-02-24 14:17:47
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn518607

Also in Fela and Chaim Perelman collection

The collections consists of medals, correspondence, documents, memoirs, newspaper clippings, publications, and videocassettes relating to the experiences of Drs. Fela and Chaim Perelman, before, during, and after the war in Belgium where they were active in the Jewish underground and then in the care of refugees and postwar emigration to Palestine, and later ardent supporters of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The collection also includes oral history interviews with Fela Perelman, which were conducted by Jean-Philippe Schreiber between 1984 and 1989.

Date: 1920-2001

Commemorative key in case

Object

Honorary key in a wooden case presented to Fela Perelman on March 3, 1980 in honor of her work for the cause of Israel and the Jewish people. The key was presented by Dr. Avraham Avi-Hai of Keren Hayessod, and the box includes a short congratulatory note.

Belgian Resistance medal award to a member of the Jewish underground

Object

Belgian Resistance medal, 1940-1945, with black, green, and red ribbon, awarded in 1946 to all members of the armed resistance and members of the intelligence service who operated in occupied areas

Belgian Resistance medal with pin awarded to a member of the Jewish underground

Object

Belgian Resistance medal, 1940-1945, with black, green, and red ribbon, awarded in 1946 to all members of the armed resistance and members of the intelligence service who operated in occupied areas

Belgian war medal awarded to a member of the Jewish underground

Object

One Belgian commemorative medal of the war, issued in 1946 to all who served in the Belgian armed forces from 1940-1945, with yellow, white, and black ribbon.

Order of Leopold and civil resistance medal awarded to a member of the Jewish underground

Object

Two attached medals: one medal of the Order of Leopold, the highest military order of Belgium, granted for extreme bravery in combat or for meritorious service of immense benefit to the Belgian nation, with purple ribbon; one medal for civil resistance, issued in 1951 to recognized members of the civilian resistance, with green, red, and black ribbon.

Belgian Nationalist Movement medal with ribbon awarded to a member of the Jewish underground

Object

Medal issued to those who were members of the wartime Belgian Nationalist Movement (BNB/MNB), with white, black, yellow, and red ribbon

Belgian medal awarded to a Jewish couple for their work in the resistance

Object

One medal, inscribed and presented to Mr. and Mme. Chaim Perelman “pour le mérite dans le travail clandestin le secours mutuel reconnaissant 1940-1944”

Honorary award bestowed on a Jewish couple for their work in the Belgian Jewish resistance

Object

Medal in a presentation box awarded by the Free University of Brussels for resistance activity to Chaim and Fela Perelman.

Plaque honoring a Belgian Jewish woman for her support of a US university

Object

Plaque awarded by the President’s Club of the University of Maryland to Fela Perelman for her outstanding contributions to their ongoing programs.

Two medals with container honoring two Belgian women for their rescue work

Object

Medal cannister containing two medals issued to Mme Jean Capart and Mme Jean Snoeck by Les Enfants Juif for their resistance work, and preserved by Drs. Fela and Chaim Perelman.

Two medals with container honoring two Belgians for their rescue work

Object

Medal cannister containing two medals issued to Melle Nelly Huberti and Mr. Paul Coremans by Les Enfants Juif for their resistance work, and preserved by Drs. Fela and Chaim Perelman.