Communism

José Gotovitch was born in 1940. A Belgian historian, he graduated in history from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) where he later taught contemporary history for many years. His doctoral thesis, which he defended in 1988, focused on the Belgian communists from 1939 to 1944. José Gotovitch joined the Centre for Research and Historical Studies of the Second World War in 1967 (later CegeSoma). He became its director from 1988 to 2005. He was also the scientific director of the Centre des archives communistes de Belgique (CARCOB) for several years.

José Gotovitch worked mainly on communism in Belgium but also on the Communist International in Moscow. He also examined the history of the Second World War from a social and prosopographical perspective. The nearly 400 interviews he conducted from 1970 to the end of the 1990s thus focused largely on communism in Belgium (P.C.B.), but also on resistance networks during the Second World War, as well as collaboration (Rex, flamingantism). Among others, he interviewed many politicians, ministers, Belgian and foreign secretaries general. Following these interviews, he published numerous books and articles, including L’An 1940 ; Du rouge au tricolore ; Du communisme et des communistes en Belgique : approches critiques ; L’Europe des communistes : identités politiques européennes ; La Seconde Guerre mondiale en Belgique : orientation archivistique ; Les occupations allemandes en Belgique, etc.