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Nazis in Hungary Demand Confiscation of Jewish Capital Through Freezing Accounts

May 20, 1942
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Nazi officers of the German Ministry of Economics who ere now stationed in Budapest under the economic agreement unclouded between Hungary end Germany are pressing the Hungarian authorities to confiscate all Jewish funds in the country by blocking Jewish accounts, it was reported here today following a demand to this effect voiced last week in the Hungarian parliament by the anti-Semitic deputy Reiniss.

Obviously acting under Nazi influence, Reiniss demanded the issuance of a law which would provide that all payments to Jews in Hungary be made through blocked accounts exclusively. This, the anti-Semitic deputy said, would help Hungary to solve its “Jewish problem.”

Premier Nicholas von Kallay, in opposing the demand, declared that “the Jewish problem in Hungary consists of many complex questions” which cannot be solved in such a simple way as suggested by the anti-Semitic deputy. “I prefer to treat the Jewish question along broader lines,” he is reported here to have told Parliament during the discussion.

The opposition of the Hungarian premier to the proposed new anti-Jewish measure is explained by the fact that he fears that the Jewish capital will fall under German control rather than under the control of Hungary. At present most of the banks In Hungary are already under control of German officers to the great dissatisfaction of the Hungarian authorities. Under the pretext of carrying out the Hungarian-German economic agreement, the Nazis have sent into Hungary about 800 German officers who are now occupying practically all leading positions in Hungarian financial, industrial and railroad enterprises. These men are really the masters of Hungary, forcing their orders upon Hungarian officials in the various government departments.

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