PETITIONERS OF JEWISH PROPERTY IN KOŠICE: A CASE STUDY ON THE HOLOCAUST AND LOCAL SOCIETY IN A SLOVAK-HUNGARIAN BORDER REGION

• Authors: Csősz László , Szeghy-Gayer Veronika
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This study aims to provide an insight into the micro-world of a group of witnesses to and participants in the Holocaust in Košice, a town ceded from dismembered Czechoslovakia to Hungary in November 1938. We argue that Košice represents a suitable case study for the examination of Aryanization of Jewish property on the municipality and individual levels in the Slovak-Hungarian border region (Southern Slovakia), which is a hitherto understudied field in Holocaust studies. Our analysis is centred on 253 petitions submitted by local residents to obtain rental rights to apartments previously occupied by Jews and supporting documentation preserved in the Košice City Archives. Our primary research question is who these petitioners for Jewish apartments actually were and how and why they became involved in the process. We explore the petitioners’ social stratification, occupational structure, gender, ethnic origin and other social indicators. Furthermore, we present and interpret their arguments, excuses and motivations. This issue also involves the striking question of how many these ordinary men and women understood they benefited from mass murder.

Keywords

EN

HOLOCAUST; KOŠICE; ARYANIZATION; ANTISEMITISM; JEWISH PROPERTY

• Publisher: Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice
• Journal: Mesto a dejiny
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 75 - 101

Contributors

author

Csősz László

• National Archives of Hungary, Bécsikapu tér 2-4, 1014 Budapest, Hungary

author

Szeghy-Gayer Veronika

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.33542/CAH2021-1-03