Metadata: Records of the Orphans’ Court of the Town of Cegléd, 1945-1950
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:
- XXII. 4
- Title:
- Records of the Orphans’ Court of the Town of Cegléd, 1945-1950
- Title (official language):
- Cegléd város árvaszékének iratai, 1945-1950
- Creator/accumulator:
- Orphans’ Court of the Town of Cegléd
- Date(s):
- 1945/1950
- Language:
- Hungarian
- Extent:
- 10 linear metres, 95 boxes, 18 vols.
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection holds the records of the Orphans’ Court of the Town of Cegléd, which contain information pertaining to the inheritance of local citizens murdered during the Holocaust. Under the terms of Article 27 of the Treaty of Peace with Hungary signed in Paris on 10 February 1947, Hungary was committed to restore the property, legal rights and interests of all those who suffered persecution based on racial origin or religion, or, if restoration was impossible, make fair compensation. Any property that remained heirless or unclaimed for six months after the coming into force of the Treaty was to be transferred by the Hungarian government to organisations representing the victims. The value of the property was to be used for relief and rehabilitation of survivors in Hungary. (See: https://www.loc.gov/law/help/us-treaties/bevans/m-ust000004-0453.pdf) As a result, the Hungarian state initiated legal procedures in 1947 in order to identify heirless or unclaimed property of people who fell victim to Fascist persecution, overwhelmingly Jews. The Orphans’ Courts were the key administrative bodies in this process.
Relevant records of the Orphans’ Court of the Town of Cegléd from this period include declarations of death (holttá nyilvánítás) established by relatives at the local District Courts (járásbíróság). According to Governmental Decree no. 4700 of 1945, the procedure was announced in the state bulletin Magyar Közlöny and after 60 days the given person was declared legally dead, unless the authorities received evidence that he or she was alive. In cases where the owner returned or legal inheritors were found, the property was given back, and in the absence of the owner or any legal successors the Orphans’s Court initiated a guardianship procedure (gondnokság alá helyezés): the property was declared abandoned and placed under the guardianship of state-appointed individuals. The collection does not include inventories.
- Archival history:
- The records of the Orphans’ Courts were handed over to the Pest County State Archives and its successor in the early 1950s.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Orphans’ Courts were administrative bodies serving as public trustees in the counties and cities in Hungary between 1877 and 1950. According to Act 20 of 1877, Orphans’ Court was declared the public trustee of first instance (elsőfokú gyámhatóság). The Orphans’s Court consisted of a chair, at least two members and a notary as well as the Public Prosecutor (tiszti ügyész), but the latter did not have a right to vote. Act 35 of 1923 modified this system and from this time on one assessor (előadó ülnök) handled the matters of orphans and other clients, under the supervision of the chair. The Orphans’ Court was entitled to appoint guardians and wardens (gyám; gondnok) and to supervise them, to make decisions concerning the wealth of the wards, boarding, and the maintenance and other matters concerning the children of divorced parents, and various other matters.
- Access points: locations:
- Cegléd
- System of arrangement:
-
The records of the Orphans’ Court of the Town of Cegléd were arranged into the following provenance subgroups (állag):
a) Guardianship Records–Gyámügyi iratok), b) Records of the Guardians’ Cashier–Gyámpénztári iratok).
Within these groups, the files are arranged chronologically; the number of files re-started each year. Certain cases are handled separately (boxes 87-95) and arranged in alphabetical order.
- Finding aids:
-
Indexes and registry books are available for the entire collection.
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; 20-11-2015 (In cooperation with the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure)
