Halla Aurél államtitkár iratai

The overwhelming majority of the records of the Ministry of Trade and Transportation were destroyed during the siege of Budapest in 1944-45, when the main building of the ministry was destroyed by bomb attack. Therefore, the records of the ministry survived in other collections have special relevance for the study of the economic anti-Jewish policies in Hungary. State Secretary Aurél Halla was one of the key persons in the Ministry of Trade and Transportation responsible for the planning and implementation anti-Jewish legislation. Halla also worked for various companies, and he was an active member of various right-wing social and professional associations and had a notable publication record. His large collection of documents is also relevant for the study of antisemitic radicalisation in Hungary in general. The collection holds his extensive correspondence concerning the anti-Jewish laws, his proposals made to modify the second anti-Jewish law in 1939, administrative files of the ministry, reports and proposals prepared by departments of the ministry, the five-year program plan of the ministry, letters and requests addressed to Halla, as well as the press articles he copied that reported on the evolution of the anti-Jewish policy in Hungary. Aurél Halla (1880-?) was a judge and economic expert and a member of the Hungarian Parliament (elected in the city of Szombathely in 1935). He was employed at several ministries and was appointed first the administrative and then the political secretary of state at the Ministry of Trade and Infrastructure (1936-1938). Halla was thus involved in developing the Ministry's five-year program of investment that, among others, foresaw the antisemitic reorganization of significant parts of the economy.