EHRI - Okresný úrad v Žiline

Extent and Medium

82 linear meters, paper documents.

Biographical History

The District Office in Žilina was a state administration body. It was established during the period of 1st Czechoslovak Republic (1918 – 1938) and it existed also during the period of the Slovak state/ Slovak Republic (1939 – 1945). This office was originally enforced by the Law No.126/1920 Coll., which entered into effect on 1 January 1923. The District Office in Žilina, was subordinated to the Považská County (Považská župa), which was seated in Turčiansky sv. Martin in the years 1923 – 1928, and the Ministry of Interior. After the 1928 reform of state administration in Czechoslovakia resulted in the repeal of counties and County Offices, district offices in the Slovak territory were subordinated to the Country Office in Bratislava (Krajinský úrad v Bratislave). Soon after the creation of the Slovak state (March 14, 1939) its state administration was reorganized and the District Office in Žilina was subordinated to the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic (pursuant to the Law No. 190/1939 effective from 1 January 1940). In matters falling within the competence of other ministries, regulations and instructions of these ministries were implemented. Since 1 January 1940, this district was incorporated into the newly established Trenčianska County (Trenčianska župa) with the seat in the city of Trenčín. Main representative of the district was called the District Chief (Okresný náčelník) who was responsible for the state administration in the district. From 1 January 1940 District Chief was subordinated to the respected County Office and the Ministry of Interior. District Offices were superior to the notary offices which were the lowest level bodies of the state administration in Slovakia 1938 ¬– 1945. There were 15 notary offices with 61 municipalities in the competence of the District Office in Žilina. Due to the fact that in the period 1938 – 1945 the majority of anti-Jewish measures in Slovakia was practically realized by the state administration bodies archival documents of District Offices represent some of the most important sources for the research of Holocaust in Slovakia, both on the state and regional levels.

Archival History

Systematic archival processing started in 1959 and the fonds was finally invetarized by Magda Kozlíková in 1963. Files from the presidial and administrative department of the District Office in Žilina are well preserved in contrary to other departments.

Acquisition

No data available.

Scope and Content

Fonds of the District Office in Liptovský Mikuláš, as the state administration body at the regional level, contains the documents concerning political, economic and social situation in this district during the period 1923 – 1945. Fonds contains various partial information about the history of Jews before 1938 and mainly during the period of the Hlinka Slovak People´s Party regime (1938 – 1945) when the anti-Semitic measures came in force and Jewish community was systematically persecuted. District Office in Žilina has created a special Department for Jewish Affairs (Odbor pre židovské záležitosti) which files are preserved in this collection and the inventary, however selective, is very informative and useful for searching the Holocaust-related documents. There are many files referring to the situation of Jews in Žilina district and gradual limitation of their rights such as banning Jewish Party or Jewish associations, reports on the Jewish convertites, withdrawal of the driver licenses and radio sets or banning of publishing newspapers written in Hebrew. Numerous documents are dedicated the process of the so-called Aryanization of the Jewish property and dismissal from the professions and state and public services. Several documents enclose to the lists of Jewish property (enterprises, real estates), home searches in Jewish households in this district. Question of labor service and arrangement to the labor camps, for example in Nováky, is also adequately reflected in the collection. Žilina played a significant role during deportations in 1942, when the Concentration center was created here. Fonds contains many documents pertaining the information about concentration and deportation of the Jews in the period from March to October 1942. Some of the monthly Situation reports, which were regularly informing also about the contemporary situation and acting of the regional Jewish community, written by District Chief and police stations (Žandárske stanice) are also includes. Fonds contains also the list of the members of the Hlinka Guard who were selected to control the realization of the anti-Semitic measures in the Žilina district.

Appraisal

No data available.

Accruals

No accruals expected.

System of Arrangement

The documents are arranged chronologically and numerically, by the department. There was created a special Department for Jewish Affairs (Odbor pre veci židovské 1941 – 1945) and these documents are arranged separately following the chronological and numerical principles.

Conditions Governing Access

Acessible.

Finding Aids

Printed inventory Okresný úrad v Žiline (1923 – 1945), author Magda Kozlíková, 1963.

Rules and Conventions

EHRI Guidelines for Description v.1.0