Pesti Izraelita Hitközség iratai (Segélyprogramok)

In Hungary, anti-Jewish legal discrimination became increasingly severe during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Jewish community responded to the hardship its members experienced by organizing aid programs through various channels. The Jewish community of Pest was by far the largest and wealthiest of the Jewish communities of Hungary and, accordingly, it played a leading role in these initiatives. This collection contains, first of all, documents of the Országos Magyar Zsidó Segítő Akció (the National Hungarian Jewish Aid Action) from the years 1938 to 1945. They include essential documents regarding the aid activity of the Országos Magyar Zsidó Segítő Akció such as its activity and financial reports, the minutes of its meetings held during the years 1941 to 1945 and pieces of its correspondence. Second, the collection contains the documents of the Magyar Izraeliták Pártfogó Irodája (the Office for the Support of Hungarian Israelites) from 1939 to 1943, including its statutes, plan of operation, reports on its aid activity, financial documents, correspondence with other national-level Jewish organizations and local communities as well as the agendas and minutes of its Executive Committee from 1943. The correspondence of the Social Department of the Central Jewish Council from the year 1944 can also be found here (note that the Office for Support of Hungarian Israelites was incorporated into this department alongside other Jewish aid organizations) as well as reports on Jewish social institutions such as orphanages, hospitals and convalescent homes in Budapest penned during the same year. Last but not least, the collection contains miscellaneous documents from the years 1945-1949, including documents of the Országos Zsidó Segítő Bizottság (National Jewish Relief Committee) from 1948 and 1949. There are lists of people receiving support in a host of localities but also applications for support that contain their personal data and brief description of fates during the Holocaust. Last but not least, the collection contains the presidential papers of the Magyar Izraeliták Országos Irodája (National Office of Hungarian Israelites) from 1945, important documents regarding the Zionist movement in Hungary during the 1930s and 1940s and sources on the Munkaszolgálatosok Országos Antifasiszta Szövetsége (the National Antifascist Alliance of Labor Servicemen) from the years 1945 to 1948.