Selected records of the District People's Courts and the Local People's Courts from the State Archive in Košice

Copyright Holder: Slovakia. Ministerstvo vnútra Trial and investigative records of Slovaks and former Hlinka guard members tried in the District People's Courts (Okresný ľudový súd) and the Local People's Courts (Ľudový súd) in Košice and various surrounding municipalities between 1945 and 1948. Includes the trial records of individual Slovaks accused of denouncing their Jewish neighbors, the trial records of regional Hlinka Guard commanders responsible for the deportation of local Jews, as well as the trial records of political defendants. Features survivor and eyewitness testimonies describing the persecution of Jews and crimes committed against Jews. Following the Second World War trials with Nazi criminals and their collaborators were organized on the territory of restored Czechoslovakia just like in many other European countries of those days. Three-tier retributive justice system was established in the Slovak part of post-war Czechoslovakia by the Regulation of the Slovak National Council no. 33/1945 on the Punishment of Fascist Criminals, Occupants, Traitors and Collaborators and on the Establishment of People’s Judiciary. District People’s Courts (Okresný ľudový súd), which were established at district seats with the jurisdiction over the territory of specific districts represented the second tier within the system of the retributive judiciary in Slovakia. Within their jurisdiction fall all criminal offenses stipulated by the Regulation No. 33/1945 with the exception of cases under the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Court (which tried only the leading officials of former Slovak Republic (1939-1945)). A 5-member Senates of District People´s Courts, consisting of a Senate president and four member decided cases. The Senate president and his deputy had to be professional judges.Once the Regulation on the retributive justice ceased to be valid on 31 December 1948, documents of District People´s Courts together with the documents of their prosecutors were transferred to respective Regional Courts (Krajský súd). Documents of several District People´s Courts were thus concentrated in the Regional Court in Košice. The court had transferred those to the State archive in Košice on 31 October 1961. These documents were however quite unsorted and incomplete and the State archive in Košice started to sort them out in 1961. Documents were then divided into several archival fonds, including the fonds of the District People´s Court in Košice. Printed register of the fonds was created in 1964.[EHRI] Following Second World War trials with Nazi criminals and their collaborators were organized on the territory of restored Czechoslovakia just like in many other European countries of those days. Three-tier retributive justice system was established in the Slovak part of post-war Czechoslovakia by the Regulation of the Slovak National Council no. 33/1945 on the Punishment of Fascist Criminals, Occupants, Traitors and Collaborators and on the Establishment of People’s Judiciary. National Court in Bratislava, District People’s Courts (Okresný ľudový súd) and Local People´s Courts represented the system of the retributive judiciary in Slovakia in 1945 - 1947. These courts ceased to function by 31 December 1947. Unfinished cases were subsequently transferred to jurisdiction of special senates of County courts. However after the Communist coup in 1948 a new law was adopted on 25 March 1948 which renewed the decree on retributive justice in whole Czechoslovak republic and new People´s Courts were established. [Source: EHRI]