Hungary Places Jewish Property Under State Control; Invalidates Sales to Non-jews

A decree issued today by the Hungarian Government and broadcast over the Budapest radio places Jewish-owned property in Hungary under state security” amounting to confiscation. The decree follows an order issued last week under which all Jews in Hungary were requested to “register” their property with the authorities by the and of this month.

Today’s decree provides that Jewish property worth more than 10,000 pengos, about $2,000, must he registered with the Government. The decree invalidates all dealings in Jewish property made after March 22, with a view to preventing Jews from selling their property to non-Jews and cancelling any such transactions that may have been made after the Germans occupied Hungary.

In addition to taking Jewish property “under security,” the decree orders Jewish businessmen to pay a minimum of 3,000 pengoes into blocked accounts in authorized Hungarian banks. The amount deposited must total “at least five percent of last year’s turn-over.” The previous order blocking all Jewish bank deposits and saving accounts remains in effect.

The Budapest radio also reported today that the Hungarian Commissioner for Jewish affairs, Lazlo Endre, has announced that not only Jews, but also those married to Jews will be affected by the anti-Jewish laws.

The Central Stetiatical Office of the Hungarian Government today reported that there are at present 724,307 persons in Hungary who gave “Jewish” as their religion in a recent census, in addition to those of Jewish ancestry who either do not practice any religion or have become converted to other faiths. The Jews constitute about five percent of the entire population in Hungary, the report said.

In addition to the Zionist Organization which was declared illegal last week by the Hungarian authorities, it was learned here today that the Association of Hungarian Jewish Youth, the Cultural Society of Hungarian Jews and the Society of Hungarian Jews were also banned.