Selected records of the State Archive in Prešov, branch Humenné

The District Office in Humenné was a state administration body. It was established during the period of 1st Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) and it existed also during the period of the Slovak state/ Slovak Republic (1939-1945). The office was originally established under Law no. 126/1920 Coll., which entered into effect on 1 January 1923. The District Office in Humenné was subordinated to the County Office in Košice in the years 1923- 1928 and the Ministry of Interior. After the 1928 reform of state administration in Czechoslovakia resulted in the repeal of counties and County Offices, district offices in the Slovak territory were subordinated to the Country Office in Bratislava (Krajinský úrad v Bratislave).
Soon after the creation of the Slovak state (March 14, 1939) its state administration was reorganized and the District Office in Humenné was subordinated to the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic (pursuant to the Law No. 190/1939 effective from 1 January 1940). In matters falling within the competence of other ministries, regulations and instructions of these ministries were implemented. Since 1 January 1940, the Humenné district was also incorporated into the the newly established Šariš-Zemplín County (Šarišsko-zemplínska župa) and was subordinated to the County Office of the Šariš-Zemplín County (Župný úrad Šarišsko-zemplínskej župy) with the seat in Prešov too. The District Chief (Okresný náčelník) was the head of District Office in Humenné with the responsibility for the state administration in the district as well as the work of the District Office. From 1 January 1940 District Chief was subordinated to the respected County Office and the Ministry of Interior.
District Offices were superior to the local notary offices and regional notary offices which were the lowest level bodies of the state administration in Slovakia 1938-1945. Due to the fact that in the period 1938-1945 the vaste majority of anti-Jewish measures in Slovakia were put to life by the state administration bodies archival documents of District Offices represent some of the most important sources for the research of Holocaust in Slovakia. [Source: EHRI]