Metadata: Records of László Endre, 1911-1945
Collection
- Country:
- Hungary
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Hungary, Pest County Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Pest Megyei Levéltára
- Postal address:
- Pf. 141., H-1450 Budapest, Hungary
- Phone number:
- +36 1 455 9050
- Web address:
- http://mnl.gov.hu/pml/
- Email:
- pml@mnl.gov.hu
- Reference number:
- XIV.2
- Title:
- Records of László Endre, 1911-1945
- Title (official language):
- Endre László iratai, 1911-1944
- Creator/accumulator:
- László Endre; Subprefect’s Office of Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun County
- Date(s):
- 1911/1944
- Language:
- Hungarian
- German
- English
- Extent:
- 8.26 linear metres
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Photographic images
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains the private records of László Endre, one of the most influential extreme right-wing politicians in modern Hungary and one of the key perpetrators of the Holocaust. The most relevant part of the collection is his private correspondence (XIV.2.a.) with several dramatis personae of the interwar and World War II history of Hungary, many of whom played roles in antisemitic and nationalistic policies, Jewish laws and the Holocaust, as well as thousands of persons representing the “Christian conservative” ruling and middle class of Hungary. Writers and recipients of the letters include politicians, MPs, cabinet members, such as prime ministers Gyula Gömbös Kálmán Darányi, Pál Teleki, Miklós Kállay, ministers of religion and education István Antal and Bálint Hóman, defence minister Károly Bartha and many others, MPs, including Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky, László Baky, István Balogh, and military and police officers, civil servants, economic leaders, clerics, teachers, writers, journalists, artists, students and other intellectuals, as well as ordinary people (Boxes 1-27). Box 27 also includes two folders of unidentifiable letters, where only the first name of the sender was included, or the family name is illegible. Box 28 holds letters written in German or English and anonymous letters, as well as a collection of greeting cards, invitations, and other letters of private or complimentary nature. Box 29 contains obituaries. Box 30 holds letters arranged thematically, including correspondence concerning Endre’s election for subprefect in 1937-1938.
The collection also holds Endre’s official correspondence, arranged in two parts:
XIV.2.b.1. official correspondence with associations, political parties and organisations, mostly extreme right wing formations such as the Association of Awakening Hungarians (ÉME), Baross Alliance, Association of Hungarian National Armed Forces (MOVE), Alliance of Social Organisations (TESZ), student fraternities, comrades’ associations and agricultural alliances, as well as various companies, collectives, boards, editorial offices, publishing houses, banks and financial institutions and hotels (Boxes 31-34).
XIV.2.b.2. official correspondence with offices and state institutions, including parliament, ministries and municipal administrative bodies, army, law enforcement, schools and cultural institutions, courts, churches, transportation companies, and many others.(Boxes 35-36).
Another relevant part of the collection is Records of Disciplinary procedures (XIV.2.c.) against László Endre as chief constable in 1937 and as subprefect in 1941 and 1943 (Box 36). XIV.2. d. contains various kinds of reports, statistics, registers, name lists and protocols created by the public administration of Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun County between 1921 and 1944; and XIV.2. e. Miscellaneous records of 1912-1945, which includes letters of denunciations and reports against Jews, list of Jewish doctors in Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun County, speeches, studies, poems, notes and other writings by and private documents of Endre.
Parts of the collection with little relevance include XIV.2. f. Invitations, flyers and other propaganda materials, XIV.2. g. Invoices, bills and various kinds of lists, XIV.2. Envelopes and stamps, and XIV. i. Journals, bulletins, and other periodicals.
- Archival history:
- Upon the liquidation of the subprefect’s office in 1950, the records of the subprefect were taken to the Pest State Archives. The Endre collection was created in the early 1990s and arranged into thematic subgroups in 1995. 15 fascicles of miscellaneous records of 1919-1943 and 19th and 20th century family records, including photographs were added by Zsigmond Endre, the son of László Endre, in the late 1990s.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- László Endre (1895–1946) was a lawyer, prominent civil servant and one of the most influential antisemitic politicians of the Horthy era. As Chief Constable of the Gödöllő district from 1923 to 1937 and subprefect of Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun County from 1938 to 1944, he was the first to initiate anti-Jewish measures and bureaucratic procedures, which preceded and went beyond the existing discriminatory laws, triggering similar antisemitic measures in other counties. As administrative state secretary of the Ministry of the Interior of the pro-Nazi Sztójay government from April 1944, he initiated and directed the deportation of the Hungarian Jews. After the war, he was convicted of war crimes, sentenced to death and executed.
- Access points: locations:
- Bács-Kiskun
- Access points: persons/families:
- Bajcsy-Zsilinszky, Endre
- Darányi, Kálmán
- Endre, László
- Kállay, Miklós
- Teleki, Pál
- System of arrangement:
- The records of László Endre were arranged into 9 provenance subgroups (állag) by the topics of his private correspondence and other records, numbered from XIV.2. a. to XIV.2. i. (6,16 linear metres). Besides, there are 15 fascicles and 1 box of family records added to the collection (limbus) (2,1 linear metres). Correspondence is arranged by the names of senders and addressees, with the exception of XIV. 2. a. 8., which is arranged by thematic groups. Other kinds of records are arranged thematically and chronologically.
- Finding aids:
-
There is a detailed item-level description of the collection in Hungarian.
Ernő Lakatos, ed. A Magyar Állami Levéltárak fondjegyzéke, Vol. III. A Területi Levéltárak fondjegyzékei Part 13. A Pest Megyei Levéltár fondjainak jegyzéke. Budapest: Magyar Országos Levéltár, 1975.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives
- Author of the description:
- László Csősz; Hungarian National Archives; 21-11-2015 (In cooperation with the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure)
