Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 408-1-3

Title

Documentation on Atrocities and Pogroms

Date(s)

1945 - 1956

Description Level

Series

Extent and medium (processed)

1 Archival boxes, 0.12 linear meters

Context

Archival history

Documents in the series were collected by László Varga while doing his research. Originals of documents are preserved in the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ÁBTL), The Archives of Political History and of Trade Unions (PSZL), and occasionally in the Budapest City Archives (BFL).

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Abstract)

The first part of the series consist of the documents of “people’s justice” taking place in 1945 and 1946. Some depicted “class struggle” (case in Gyömrő, and the murder of one time police chief József Lakos in Szentes), and others depicted anti-Semite programs (Kunmadaras, Nyírtass), and in some cases a mixture of the two (Miskolc). In Pócspetri, however, the nationalization of church-schools was met with outrage in 1948 so actions were fuelled by anti-communist sentiments.

Other documents in the series are about those cases of atrocities committed by the Soviet army--partly institutionally, partly by individuals against civilians, in which the Hungarian Communist Party (MKP) tried to intervene.

The last part of the series include documents on internment and relocation, which belonged to the “grey zone” of jurisdiction when victims were deprived of their freedom without proper court procedure, on the order of the political police.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

The series consists of cases processed, or hardly processed or not processed at all. Some of them exclusively appear in party files. Many documents of the political police were destroyed by the organization itself.

Accruals

Not Expected

System of arrangement

Files of atrocities committed in 1945 and 1946 are arranged alphabetically, while documents of internments and relocations are at the end of the series.

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access

The general rules of research in OSA Research Room apply. Digital reproduction in OSA Research Room is allowed for educational and research purposes.

Conditions governing reproduction

A dokumentumok oktatási és kutatási célból digitálisan másolhatók az OSA kutatótermében.

Description Control

Archivist's note

Processed by László Varga, March 2, 2015.