Külügyminisztérium Jogi osztály iratai, 1918-1945
- Foreign Ministry Records of the Legal Department, 1918-1945
Extent and Medium
372 fasc., 115 vols., 59,74 linear metres
Creator(s)
- Foreign Ministry Records of the Legal Department
Biographical History
Established by Decree no. 15226 of the Foreign Ministry in 1919, the Legal Department was responsible for cases of international public, criminal and civil law and administrative legal aid. Initially had three departments: International Public Law, International Criminal and Civil Law and International Legal Aid, which later were divided into various sub-departments. Most relevant are the survived records of the Legal and Administrative Aid (7. a and b) and the international administrative (8.) sub-departments.
Archival History
The fragments of the survived records of the departments of the Foreign Ministry were handed over to the Hungarian National Archives in 1947. The material was legally under the auspices of the Ministry until 1950. The material was rearranged at the end of the 1950s and in the 1960s-1970s as well. The first finding aids were published in 1959 and 1964, followed by a revised second edition in 2003.
Scope and Content
The records in the collection from 1919-1923 are organized by date and topics. The most relevant topics from this period include internment, expulsion and passport issues and name change cases. The localization of Jewish-related cases requires item-level investigation. This part of the material also includes a fascicle containing complaints, petitions and reports concerning atrocities committed by the troops and paramilitary forces of Miklós Horthy’s National Army in 1919 (Fasc. 13.) The material from the years 1924-1945 is organized by countries. The most relevant part of the collection is unit [tétel] no. 4 pertaining to Germany and Austria. Fascicles 272-283 and 290 include various reports, accounts and registries pertaining to the persecution and disenfranchisement of Hungarian Jews in Austria and Germany and the confiscation of their property as well as repatriation cases. Units 1-3 (Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania) also contain material pertaining to Jewish citizens, but this part of the collection requires item-level investigation. Unit no. 8 (Bulgaria) includes material on the anti-Jewish laws in Bulgaria. The records of the International Criminal Law and Law Enforcement include reports concerning the internment, arrest and other procedures against Jewish citizens in 1944 as well as the second volume of the collective passport (Schweizer Kollektiv-Pass) issued by the Swiss Embassy in Budapest on July 29, 1944. (Item III.-9. Fasc. 368.)
Finding Aids
Ferenc Nagy, ed. Külügyminisztérium levéltára. Vols 2. Budapest: MOL, 2003.
Publication Note
Ferenc Nagy, ed. Külügyminisztérium levéltára. Vols 2. Budapest: MOL, 2003.
Archivist Note
Description was prepared by László Csősz.
Rules and Conventions
EHRI Guidelines for Description v.1.0
Corporate Bodies
- Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs