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On April
16, after a swift and extensive confiscation campaign against Jewish
property and the issuance of anti-Jewish decrees, the Hungarian
Council of Ministers adopted a far-reaching resolution to oust the
Jews from economic activities such as commerce and the capital
market. Pursuant to the decree, the Jews were given until April 30
to declare, on a form obtained at the nearest branch of the Finance
Ministry, the current value of their property, including objets
d’art, rugs, gold and silver, jewelry, securities, and bank
accounts. Safe-deposit boxes of Jews were blocked. All transfers of
Jewish property to non-Jews concluded after March 22 were nullified,
and the items included in them also had to be declared. Most Jews
obeyed all provisions of these decrees painstakingly.
On April
27, the Minister of Supply gave all Jews until May 1 to provide
government offices in their places of residence with their personal
details. Depicted as a measure to facilitate the issue of new ration
cards and coupons, it was, in fact, a ruse meant to allow the
authorities to double-check and complete a list they had prepared at
the beginning of the month, and to assist the German and Hungarian
units that engaged in rounding up Jews.
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