Metadata: Police of the city of Arad
Collection
- Country:
- Romania
- Holding institution:
- Arad County division of the Romanian National Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Arhivele Naţionale Române. Direcţia Judeţeană Arad
- Postal address:
- Arad, Str. Ceaikovski nr. 2-6, cod 310052, judeţul Arad
- Phone number:
- 0257-233818
- Reference number:
- Fond 86
- Title:
- Police of the city of Arad
- Title (official language):
- Chestura Poliţiei Municipiului Arad
- Creator/accumulator:
- Police of the city of Arad
- Date(s):
- 1907/1949
- Language:
- German
- Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan
- Hungarian
- Extent:
- 2,305 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
This fonds comprises the files of the police of the city of Arad from 1907 to 1949. Most of the documents are from the years before the First World War, including police reports concerning the political activity of the Social-Democratic Party, its meetings, rallies and strikes, the activities of other social, cultural and professional associations and of the unions of Arad. The fonds also contains police documents about emigration, especially to America. The files dating from the First World War include orders of superior authorities, documents concerning the difficulties in feeding the population and the status of prisoners of war. After 1920 many of the documents deal with illegal Communist activities, the extreme right legionary movement, registers of nationality and the status of Jews during the Second World War.
The following files contain specific Jewish references: nos. 7-12 - registers of nationality (1924); no. 114 - list of Jews whose nationality rights were withdrawn (1940); no. 147 - reports concerning the state of mind of the population of the city (1941); no. 161 - forced labour of Jews (1943); no. 163 - Jewish properties (1943); no. 182 - status of Jewish refugees from Northern Transylvania (1945).
- Archival history:
- The archive of Arad police was evacuated during the air raids of 1944 and suffered significant damage. After 1989 it was transferred to the Arad County division of the Romanian National Archives, where it was inventoried and made available to researchers.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Before the First World War the organisation of police in cities included the existence of autonomous police institutions headed by a police chief subordinated to the local authorities, with the main task of maintaining public security and order. After the First World War, under the Romanian administration, the police was subordinated to the central state authorities. In Arad, the inauguration of the state police took place on 30 November 1919. Its activities were divided between the administrative police and the judicial police. The former was in charge of documenting the local population as well as any strangers, issuing travel documents, supervising workers and servants and controlling the circulation. The judicial police’s main task was ensuring public security and supervising political, social and cultural activities. The chief of the local police was nominated by the prefect of the county. This system functioned until 1949 when the new Communist regime replaced the traditional police with the so-called Popular Militia subordinated to the Communist Party.
- Access points: locations:
- Arad
- System of arrangement:
- The fonds is organised into thematic files which are arranged in chronological order.
- Finding aids:
- Inventories No. 119, 197, 988, 1354, 1355, held by the Arad County division of the Romanian National Archives.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Romanian Institute for the Research of National Minorities
- Author of the description:
- Attila Gidó (researcher, Institute for Study of National Minorities, Cluj-Napoca), Ladislau Gyémánt (emeritus professor), 2018
