REMEMBRANCE IN TIME - Index of

THE ACTIVITY OF THE PEOPLE'S COURT
THROUGH SOME CASES OF
HÓDMEZİVÁSÁRHELY
Csilla GÁL 1
After the end of the Second World War, in the beginning of 1945 the National
Government started the justificatory processes with an order of the Ministry of the
Internal Affairs. This was the 15/1945 order. The primary aim of the order was to create
new administrative elite which supports the newly designed political system and
government. This meant that each and every active or retired but yet working employee
had to go to court to get through the justificatory process. The justificatory process
affected the employees of the faith-based schools, institutions, offices and the industrial
and trade companies supported by the state, social organizations. The number 1146/1945
order was to act in the case of the intellectuals and the ones owning authority certificate
(like traders…). Later further orders were added to these (concerning the attorneys…)
It was examined during the justificatory process whether the public servant’s activities
after the first of September 1939 had been violent to the Hungarian people or not. The
organization of the justificatory committees was declared by the number 1080/1945
order. This contained that a centre had to be created in each and every region. The
committee was formed from the members of the Hungarian National Independent Front
which contained five parties) and from the delegates of the National Trade Unions
Council. In addition to these there were two other delegates in the committee: a citizen
having a profession related to law and a person from the workplace concerned who had
been justified before and they had the right to consult. The head of the committee was
chosen from the delegates by themselves.
Against the verdict of guilty/ condemning decision of the committee one could turn to
the special councils that worked in the centers of jurisdiction regions.
The justificatory councils and processes ended in 1948. The processes were waived by
the 5000/1946 order but the processes started again few months later.
In Hódmezıvásárhely there were three committees, however we can find two letters in
the archives which were addressed to the viceroy (at that time the viceroy was Ferenc
Karácsonyi), in which the Hungarian Railways and the Ministry of Education asked for
the acceleration of the justificatory processes and they even asked for the creation of a
new committee for this reason.
The three committees here in Hódmezıvásárhely started the processes on the 23rd of
February, in 1945. It was not typical here in Hódmezıvásárhely to specialize according to
different professions but the cases of those employees working fot the same employers
were handled at the same time.
1 Emlekpont Museum, Hódmezıvásárhely, Hungary.