The Study Commission on Jewish Assets has been created - at the services of the Prime Minister's Office - by Royal Decree of July 6th, 1997, and subsequently by the Act of January 15th, 1999. Its aim was to investigate the fate of the Belgian Jewish Community's assets which were plundered, surrendered or abandoned during the Second World War. The Study Commission studied the ways in which looting took place during the Occupation, as well as the measures taken after the war, by the Government and the private sector, to restore the looted property to its owners or to pay compensation.

The population considered in this research are those who were subject to the anti-Jewish policies adopted by the German occupants in Belgium. The Study Commission has therefore drawn up a database containing information on the victims of those policies, regardless of their nationality.

The Study Commission submitted a full report to the Belgian Government on July 12th, 2001