Pesti Izraelita Hitközség iratai

  • Documents of the Pest Israelite Congregation
Identifier
HU HJA II
Language of Description
English
Dates
1867 - 1950
Level of Description
Fonds
Languages
  • German
  • English
  • French
  • Hebrew
  • Yiddish
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Slovak
  • Hungarian
Scripts
  • Cyrillic
  • Hebrew
  • Latin
Source
EHRI

Extent and Medium

Ca. 50 liner meters

Creator(s)

Biographical History

The Pest Israelite Congregation was traditionally the largest and most affluent Jewish community in Hungary. After the March 1944 German occupation of the country the bureaucracy of the Jewish Council was partially built on the administrative system of the Congregation. The most important unit of the Congregation incorporated into the Council was the Welfare Bureau of Hungarian Israelites that became the Council’s Social Department. Other units were not merged, but attached to the Council’s offices. These included the Cultural and Social Department, the Department of Education and Religious Education, the Liturgical Department – Office of Vital Registries, the Department of Charity, the Department of Hospitals and the Department of Foundations.

Archival History

The documents have been in the possession of the Jewish community since their creation.

Scope and Content

The fond contains the records of the Pest Israelite Congregation. Its elements with relevance to the history of antisemitism and the Holocaust range from 1919 to 1945 and include: records of the Legal Aid Office documenting antisemitic atrocities in 1919-1921; personal papers of President of the Jewish Council Samu Stern; records of aid organizations and campaigns, such as the Welfare Bureau of Hungarian Israelites, the Welfare Bureau of Pest Israelites, the Veteran Committee of the National Israelite Offices and the National Hungarian Jewish Aid Action regarding the aid and relief of Jews suffering from the economic and legal consequences of the anti-Jewish legislation, including Jewish refugees escaping to Hungary from Nazi and Nazi-controlled Europe (reports, correspondence, notes, financial documentation, grey material); and documents regarding the safekeeping of the Pest Jewish Congregation’s archives and liturgical objects (1943). As part of the Jewish Council’s bureaucracy, the administration of the Pest Israelite Congregation created documents regarding the confiscations by the German and Hungarian authorities; supply of various Jewish institutions; aid and support of labor servicemen; and interpretation and implementation of the antisemitic decrees.

System of Arrangement

The fond consists of 13 organic sub-fonds following the basic administrative structure of the Congregation. The sub-fonds are further divided.

Existence and Location of Copies

  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum RG-39.013M

Archivist Note

Description by Zoltán Vagi

Rules and Conventions

EHRI Guidelines for Description v.1.0

II. Pesti Izraelita Hitközség iratai

Identifier
HU HJA II
Language of Description
Hungarian
Dates
1 Jan 1867 - 31 Dec 1960
Level of Description
Fonds
Source
EHRI Partner

Sources

  • Magyar Zsidó Levéltár

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.