The Nazi 1933 Civil Service Law and the 1935 Nuremberg Laws are generally considered the first anti-Jewish decrees in Europe. M-a Kov- convincingly argues that Act XXV of 1920 concerning university enrollment in Hungary can instead be considered one of the first pieces of twentieth century anti-Jewish legislation - if not the very first. This act, known as the -numerus clausus law,- specified that members of a single -nationality- or -people-s race- could not be admitted at a higher rate than their share in the total population.
The law especially targeted Jews, who represented 6% of the inhabitants yet, until then, about 25% of university students. The study presents the history of the law, including its amendment in 1928, the re-introduction of the Jewish quota in 1939, and its abolition in 1945. By describing the conditions after the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic, Kov- shows in what ways these events, and espe
