Pest Hungarian Commerce Bank, Branch Supervisory Office, 1944

Collection

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

Title (official language):: Pesti Magyar Kereskedelmi Bank, Fiókfelügyelőség, 1944

Scope and content:: The collection holds 4970 copies of bank deposits from Jews who were forced to deposit their jewellery, bonds and other valuables in the local branches of the Pest Hungarian Commerce Bank in April and May 1944. These are the copies of the deposits that were kept by the branch offices, handwritten by ink on copy paper. The quality of these copies is very poor, some of them are hardly legible and many will probably vanish in the future.

Archival history:: Records of the bank deposits containing the valuables of Hungarian Jews were mostly destroyed, but a fragment of the material was spared in provincial branches of financial institutions. The preserved records were later taken to the Hungarian National Archives.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Prime Minister’s Decree no. 1600/1944 on declaration and blocking of Jewish-owned property stipulated that all persons defined as Jewish had to deposit their jewellery, bonds and other valuables in a bank belonging to the Centre of Financial Institutions (Pénzintézeti Központ). Besides, they had to report the valuables at the local Financial Directorates. These lists did not survive, but about 5000 documents of the bank deposits can be found in the collection of the Pest Hungarian Commerce Bank.

System of arrangement:: The collection is arranged alphabetically by the names of owners, and also includes the name of the branch office, where the valuables were deposited.