Dr. Péter Balázs: Guide to the archives of Hungary (Budapest, 1976)

Bács-Kiskun Megyei Levéltár (Bács-Kiskun County Archives)

rate (from 1878) and the Kecskemét School Inspectorate (from 1899). As to the post-war material of these organs, only a minor part has been taken over, owing to stack-room problems. Among them the Bács-Kiskun County Office for Collecting Surplus Produce and Livestock is the most interesting. The regional organs of jurisdiction are in a more favourable position, though many of them suffered heavy damages. The material preserved at Kalocsa is singularly complete. The records of the Kalocsa Tribunal, the District Court and the Public Prosecution are continuous, from the 1870s on. Also the pre-war material of the Kunszentmiklós District Court and the Kecskemét County command of penitentiaries deserve mention. After the war valuable material has been given to archival custody by the Kecskemét Tribunal, the Kecskemét People's Public Prosecution, the Kunszentmiklós District Court, the Public Prosecutions of Baja, Kalocsa and Kecskemét. We preserve the records of many institutes and institutions. Alas, their overwhelming majority was unable to keep but fragments. Among them the material of the Kecskemét Reformed Academy of Law, the Supervising Directorate of the Kecskemét Community Elementary Schools and the Baja City Hospital may be regarded as complete. Of the pre-war material of the corporations only fragments remained as a rule. Exceptions are the Baja and Surroundings Trade Corporation and the Agricultural Chamber of the region between Danube and Tisza. Especially the latter is of historical value, as it supplies information on the agricultural development of a large part of the country. An irreplaceable loss is the large-scale destruction of the records of political parties, cultural and educational associations and specialized or economic associations on the area of the county. Their manifold activity of old may be deduced only from fragments, proving their existence. There is scarcely an association the former activity of which could be judged by its own papers. Such is the József Katona Circle (Association), one of the chief factors of the spiritual outlook of Kecskemét from the end of the past century. In spite of their fragmentary character the papers produced by a dozen of reading circles give testimony on an important branch of general education. Among so many other organs and institutions also the economic organs shared the fate of others. Of the manifold archival groups the Károly Szilády Pre^s at Kecskemét has left papers valuable for cultural history, and the regularly built-up material of the Kisszállás princely estate (1814-1933) may serve as a base for the description of the development of a large dominion.