Metadata: The judicial bureau and the URO bureau for legal aid
Collection
- Country:
- Sweden
- Holding institution:
- Swedish National Archives in Täby
- Holding institution (official language):
- Riksarkivet Täby
- Postal address:
- Box 12541, 102 29 Stockholm
- Phone number:
- 010-476 70 00
- Web address:
- https://riksarkivet.se/startpage
- Email:
- riksarkivet@riksarkivet.se
- Reference number:
- SE/RA/730128/03/10; SE/RA/730128/03/11
- Title:
- The judicial bureau and the URO bureau for legal aid
- Title (official language):
- Juridiska byrån och URO-byrån för rättshjälp
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jewish community of Stockholm
- Date(s):
- 1947/1975
- Language:
- Swedish
- German
- French
- English
- Polish
- Extent:
- 56.3 m
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains the archives of two legal aid organisations in Stockholm, the Judicial bueau (Juridiska byrån) and the URO bureau (URO-byrån).
The first comprises three shelf metres of documents from several organisations (Avdelningen för restitutionsanspråk i Polen, Byrån för juridisk information and Byrån för ersättningsfrågor) that provided legal aid to Jewish refugees and Holocaust survivors and includes individual files with legal claims for restitutions from Poland (1947-1949) and from Germany and other states form the period 1947 to 1953. There is also an index of the files and correspondence relating both to individual cases and the administration of the legal aid organisations in the collection.
The second archive, that of the URO bureau, contains documents of the Swedish branch of the London-based United Restitution Office (later Organisation), an international Jewish organisation that gave legal aid to individuals who wanted to file claims for restitutions or reparations from Western Germany and other countries for crimes committed to them by the Nazi regime. The Swedish URO bureau was administered and partly funded by the Jewish Community of Stockholm. The archive, which is 53.3 shelf metres in size, consists of a card index of claims files from 1953 to 1975 and more than 630 individual files, organised alphabetically. These includes around 3,000 claims. Since the German laws concerning claims for restitutions changed several times and more categories of crimes were added to those one could apply for reparations for, the same individuals could file different claims for different crimes committed against them. The collection also contains a series of 25 volumes concerning claims from individuals from countries in Eastern Europe, who arrived in Sweden after 1950.
The files include completed standardised forms with personal details about the claimants, such as name, age, sex, religion, place of birth and the details of the crimes they were filing claims for. The files also contain more detailed testimonies about these crimes, written by the claimants themselves. There is also extensive correspondence between the bureau and the claimants, as well as supporting documents that were used in the claims cases, such as certificates and testimonies.
Documents concerning restitutions can also be found in the archive of the Refugee Section of the Jewish Community of Stockholm (see volume Flyktingsektionen, E 15, Korrespondens om skadestånd).
- Archival history:
- This collection was transferred by the Jewish community of Stockholm to the Swedish National Archives in 1979.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The Jewish Community of Stockholm created the Bureu for legal information (Byrån för juridisk information) in early 1948 in order to provide refugees with information on legal issues and to refer them further legal professionals. The bureau mostly assisted refugees who were filing claims for restitutions from Germany and Austria. In May 1947 the Jewish community of Stockholm also created a special department for claims on restitutions in Poland (Avdelning för restitutionsanspråk i Polen). From 1949 the department was co-opted by the Bureau for legal information.
In 1950 the Bureau for issues regarding restitution was created jointly by the Jewish community of Stockholm and the Swedish Section of the World Jewish Congress. It was replaced in 1953 by the URO bureau, which was created to administer claims for restitutions after the new German law on restitution for the victims of crimes committed by the Nazi regime in Germany.
- Access points: locations:
- Stockholm
- Subject terms:
- Aid and relief
- Holocaust
- Refugees
- Restitution and compensation
- Access, restrictions:
- Access to the collection is restricted to researchers. Permission is required and should be obtained in advance. Applications are made to the Swedish National Archives, which reviews them on behalf of the Jewish community of Stockholm, which makes the decision. The form and instructions can be accessed on the homepage of the Jewish Community of Stockholm: https://jfst.se/fler-tjaenster/oevriga-tjaenster/slaekt-och-personforskning/
- Finding aids:
- The archive that this collection is a part of has been indexed by the archivists Lars Hallberg and Mikaela Nybohm of the Swedish National Archives. The index can be found in a folder at the archive and in the archive’s database NAD (Nationell Arkivdatabas).
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Museum in Stockholm