ABSTRACT
The role played by local, Belgian administrations and elected officials in implementing the first German measures against the Jews of Belgium has historically been underdeveloped in Belgium. While the implementation of the first two anti-Jewish Decrees was delegated by the Germans to the SG as a general matter, the real concrete work of identifying Jews and beginning the process of their legal exclusion was given to local government. The First Order concerning Jews created the general framework for the establishment of the Jewish Register throughout the country. Local governments in all towns and cities with a population of over 5,000 were vested with the responsibility for the registration process, while in smaller places the local police were to create and maintain the Register of Jews (§ 3). The Adam circular of 5 and 6 December 1940 outlined the process embodied in the Decree as well as a clear indication that the exclusion of Jewish civil servants was to be applied and enforced at the local, municipal level as well.1 Municipal governments were at the very core of the implementation of anti-Jewish Orders.
