Records of the Budapest District of the Royal Hungarian Financial Directorate, 1863-1944

Between 1938 and 1944, financial directorates played a crucial role in the state-controlled campaign to systematically seize the assets of Hungarian Jews. The most relevant part of the collection is the Records of the Presidential Department No I., 1896-1944 (VI.101.c.), which is divided into three major sections (A-C): General Records, Declarations on the assets of citizens considered Jewish, 1944 and Inventories of Jewish property, 1944. Pre-1944 files are of fragmented nature. However, the 1944 records contain detailed information on the state sequestration and inventory of Jewish property. Following the Nazi occupation of Hungary, Prime Minister’s Decree no. 1600/1944 issued in early April on declaration and blocking of Jewish-owned property stipulated that all those defined as Jewish had to deposit their jewellery, bonds and other valuables in a bank belonging to the Centre of Financial Institutions. Besides, they had to report their valuables at the local Financial Directorates. Boxes 11-92 hold a massive collection of special value of these declarations, in the alphabetical order of localities and owners, respectively. Records of specialized departments no. II-VII. (Consumption tax, Financial directorates, Turnover tax, Licensing, Fees, Taxation and Land Release) also contain plenty of information on implementation of the decrees terminating the official permits of Jewish businesses for the sales and purchase of goods and materials monopolized by the state, such as petrol, alcohol, tobacco, sugar, etc., between 1940 and 1944, Supervision and termination of the sales permits for alcohol, tobacco and other state monopolies, petty offences and Various matters concerning land policy and the matters of Jewish landholdings. Furthermore, there are Holocaust-related files in the personnel records of the Financial Directorates’ department (VI.101.e. III.)

The collection is arranged into twelve major parts, numbered VI. 101. a-l, by the eight departments of the Financial Directorates and other provenance groups. The most relevant sections are Records of the Chief, 1863-1944 (VI.101.a.), Classified Records of Mobilization, 1939-1944 (VI.101.b.), Presidential Department no.I., 1896-1944 (VI.101.c.), Records of Departments no. II-VII. (Consumption tax, Financial directorates, Turnover tax, Licensing, Fees, Taxation and Land Release, VI.101.d-i.). Records are arranged chronologically, the numbers of the files re-started each year. Statistics and registries are arranged thematically. The declarations on the assets of Jewish citizens are arranged in the alphabetical order of localities from Alag to Zsámbok, and in the alphabetical order of individuals.