Hitközségi összeírás (Registration of Jewish communities)

Identifier
e
Language of Description
English
Dates
1 Jan 1944 - 31 Dec 1944
Level of Description
Sub-series
Source
EHRI Partner

Biographical History

The Central Council of Hungarian Jews (Jewish Council) was a body of Jewish representatives created by the Nazis and their Hungarian collaborators in 1944 to carry out the restrictive and genocidal measures against the Jews. On paper all Hungarian Jews were supervised by the Jewish Council, but its sphere of competence was actually limited almost exclusively to Budapest. The name and legal status of the Council changed in the course of its existence. Between March 21 and April 22, 1944 it was called the “Central Council of the Hungarian Jews” and it was under the “legal” supervision of the German authorities. Between April 22, 1944 and January 18, 1945 its official name was the “Interim Executive Board of the Association of Jews in Hungary” and was under the official purview of the Hungarian government. The administrative structure of the Council was based on and entwined with that of the Pest Israelite Congregation and the National Office of Hungarian Israelites (the umbrella organization of the Neologue Jewish communities). These two did not cease to exist with the creation of the Council, but carried on with their work, therefore practically three parallel administrations operated – overlapping and complementing each other at the same time. The head of all three was the same person: Samu Stern. As the genocidal steps by the Hungarian and German authorities progressed (disenfranchisement, plunder, ghettoization, deportation), the Council’s various offices and departments were in constant reorganization between March 1944 and January 1945.

Scope and Content

In April 1944, the German authorities ordered the Jewish Council to compile a database on the Hungarian Jewish organizational structure containing the most important information of each community. The Council sent out questionnaires that included a wide array of queries regarding the denominational affiliation, leadership (president and rabbi), number of members (total and taxpaying), organizations and associations of the communities as well as their assets, property, yearly income and expenses. The collection includes more than 700 questionnaires sent back to the Council.

Note(s)

  • The documents were published in Frojimovics, Kinga, and József Schweitzer, eds. Magyarországi zsidó hitközségek 1944 április. A Magyar Zsidók Központi Tanácsának összeírása a német hatóságok rendelkezése nyomán. [Hungarian Jewish Congregations April 1944. Survey of the Central Council of Hungarian Jews upon the Order of the German Authorities] Budapest: MTA Judaisztikai Tanszékcsoport, 1994

  • https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/milev_1944_adattar_Zsido_Adattar/?pg=0&layout=s

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.

Hitközségi összeírás (Registration of Jewish communities)

Identifier
e
Language of Description
Hungarian
Dates
1 Jan 1944 - 31 Dec 1944
Level of Description
Sub-series
Source
EHRI Partner

Biographical History

The Central Council of Hungarian Jews (Jewish Council) was a body of Jewish representatives created by the Nazis and their Hungarian collaborators in 1944 to carry out the restrictive and genocidal measures against the Jews. On paper all Hungarian Jews were supervised by the Jewish Council, but its sphere of competence was actually limited almost exclusively to Budapest. The name and legal status of the Council changed in the course of its existence. Between March 21 and April 22, 1944 it was called the “Central Council of the Hungarian Jews” and it was under the “legal” supervision of the German authorities. Between April 22, 1944 and January 18, 1945 its official name was the “Interim Executive Board of the Association of Jews in Hungary” and was under the official purview of the Hungarian government. The administrative structure of the Council was based on and entwined with that of the Pest Israelite Congregation and the National Office of Hungarian Israelites (the umbrella organization of the Neologue Jewish communities). These two did not cease to exist with the creation of the Council, but carried on with their work, therefore practically three parallel administrations operated – overlapping and complementing each other at the same time. The head of all three was the same person: Samu Stern. As the genocidal steps by the Hungarian and German authorities progressed (disenfranchisement, plunder, ghettoization, deportation), the Council’s various offices and departments were in constant reorganization between March 1944 and January 1945.

Scope and Content

In April 1944, the German authorities ordered the Jewish Council to compile a database on the Hungarian Jewish organizational structure containing the most important information of each community. The Council sent out questionnaires that included a wide array of queries regarding the denominational affiliation, leadership (president and rabbi), number of members (total and taxpaying), organizations and associations of the communities as well as their assets, property, yearly income and expenses. The collection includes more than 700 questionnaires sent back to the Council.

Note(s)

  • The documents were published in Frojimovics, Kinga, and József Schweitzer, eds. Magyarországi zsidó hitközségek 1944 április. A Magyar Zsidók Központi Tanácsának összeírása a német hatóságok rendelkezése nyomán. [Hungarian Jewish Congregations April 1944. Survey of the Central Council of Hungarian Jews upon the Order of the German Authorities] Budapest: MTA Judaisztikai Tanszékcsoport, 1994

  • https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/milev_1944_adattar_Zsido_Adattar/?pg=0&layout=s

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.