Records of the Hungarian Embassy in Ankara, 1924-1945

Collection

Holding institution (official language):: Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltára

Scope and content:: The records of the Hungarian Embassy in Ankara, the capital city of neutral Turkey, contain considerable material concerning Hungarian Jews, especially from the era of anti-Jewish laws and the Holocaust. Relevant parts of the collection include citizenship cases of Jews deprived of German citizenship after the Nazi takeover, visa requests to enter as well as to leave Turkey, including the visa of emigrating Jews, records of extradition, records related to Jews expelled from Hungary, to the granting of diplomatic visas (such as that of Oscar Schindler, fascicle no. 33.).

There are also birth, death, marriage and baptism certificates, documents of employment, of criminality, of social aid, of settling in Turkey and other countries, inheritance-related documents, documents on business relations and medical files. The collection also contains documents of the Embassy that are of a more general nature such as a list of addresses of Hungarian citizens residing in Turkey, the reproduced texts of anti-Jewish decrees, newspaper clippings, the regulation of exemptions from the Jewish laws and circulars on repatriation. There are multiple inquiries sent by Hungarian Jews in Turkey about labour servicemen (esp. fascicles 46-47) but also about relatives who were taken prisoner of war on the Soviet front.

The key person in the collection is Ambassador Zoltán Máriássy (1936-1940).

Archival history:: The fragments of the surviving records of the Hungarian embassies and other diplomatic corps were handed over to the Hungarian National Archives in 1950. The material was rearranged at the end of the 1950s as well as in the 1960s and 1970s. The first finding aids were published in 1959 and 1964, followed by a revised second edition in 2003.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Hungarian diplomatic mission in the Turkish Republic was established in 1924 in Istanbul, with a branch office in Ankara. In 1932, the Embassy was moved to Ankara and a consular department (from 1938, a Consulate) continued to operate in Istanbul. The Embassy was closed down at the beginning of 1945.

Subject terms:: Citizenship; Forced labour (of Jews); Migration; Vital records

Finding aids:: Ferenc Nagy, ed. Külügyminisztérium levéltára. Vols 2. Budapest: MOL, 2003.