The entire Jewish population of the Hungarian towns of Munkacz and Ungvar – totalling about 24,000 – are to be expelled, it was reported today by the German-controlled Hungarian MTI news agency. The dispatch said that there are 10,000 Jews in Ungvar out of a total population of 25,000, and 14,000 in Munkacz, which has 31,000 inhabitants. The Jewish communities in the two towns date from the early 18th century.
The Budapest radio announced early today that the official gasette of the Nazi puppet government has published a decree barring Jews from employment in “any branch of agriculture or industry.” Subsequent broadcasts, in French and German, indicated that the ban applied only to administrative and clerical positions, and that Jews would still be employed for manual work. The decree contains details of how persons can prove their non-Jewish ancestry through the birth certificates of their parents and themselves as well as baptismal certificates and other documents.
The German Transkontinent news service reports that the decree ordering the confiscation of all Jewish retail establishments in Hungary affects 18,000 shops in Budapest alone. Minister of Commerce Antal Kunder was quoted as declaring that shops taken over from Jews will be leased “to Christians possessing sound knowledge of trade and the necessary capital.”
Premier Doeme Sztojay in an address to members of the former government party, reported in Budapest papers reaching here, ridiculed the charge that the anti-Jewish measures were burdening Hungarian economy. The government, he said, will facilitate the transfer of economic concerns to non-Jewish hands. The puppet government’s plans for the confiscated Jewish property were indicated by Deputy Gyorgy Olah who stated today that “the vast fortunes owned by Jews must be a basis for a thorough economic reconstruction.” Police Chief Sopron, meanwhile, warned the public that persons assisting Jews to conceal or dispose of their assets will be arrested.
Hungarian professional circles are also being purged of Jews at a rapid pace, The Voelkischer Beobachter discloses today that 1,303 Jewish lawyers have already been ousted from the Hungarian Lawyers’ Chamber.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
