Welcome to CegeSoma (State Archives)

Who are we? CegeSoma is the fourth operational direction of the State Archives and the Belgian centre of expertise for the history of 20th century conflicts. We conduct fundamental historical research, develop public history projects, conserve archives and documentation and are engaged in societal debate.

Focus

Een Duits officier in een Belgisch kantoor in het station van Bergen. De Wehrmacht Verkehrs Direktion neemt grote delen van het strategisch en operationeel bedrijfsbeheer van de NMBS op agressieve manier over. Bron: privéverzameling Paul Pastiels.

Belgian Railways and deportations in WWII

On 8 December 2023, Nico Wouters presented in the Senate the report on the role of the National Belgian Railways Society (NMBS/SNCB) in deportations carried out during the Second World War in Belgium. CegeSoma conducted this research from January 2022 to November 2023, commissioned by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet and the Senate.

Agenda

Picture no138179, Coll. Colson, copyright CegeSoma/State Archives
Conference

Towards a canonized morality? Historiography, memory and the Resistance during WWII.

What is the social significance of World War II today? And what role can (or can’t) historical research play ? On 15 March in Ghent, Nico Wouters will give a short lecture entitled 'Towards a canonized morality? World War II...Read more

15/03 2024
Study day

Archival Research into the Economic Aspects of the Cold War

Faced with international pressure and pressure from within, countries are trying to define their position around international issues. So it is today and so it was during the Cold War. The FED-tWIN project BELCOWAR examines...Read more

15/03 2024
War Damage 1940-1945. The scale of destruction in five Hainaut cities. An exhibition at the Mons Memorial Museum.
Exhibition

War Damages 1940-1945. The scale of destruction in five Hainaut cities.

From 16 March to 8 September 2024, the Mons Memorial Museum will host an exhibition on the damage caused by World War II in Charleroi, La Louvière, Mons, Saint-Ghislain and Tournai.

This exhibition...Read more

16/03 2024 to 08/09 2024
Conference

How to Win a War? The logistics of modern warfare, from the Second World War to the Russo-Ukraine War

The Ukrainian retreat from Avdiivka this week dramatically illustrates the crucial role of logistics in modern warfare. No army can keep its lines if the ratio of artillery shells is 1-10. History hold no easy lessons for the...Read more

18/03 2024