Miklós Horthy: Difference between revisions
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Starting in 1938, under increasing pressure from Hitler, Hungary under the regency of Horthy passed a series of anti-Jewish measures. The first, in 1938, restricted the number of Jews in the professions, the administration, and in commerce to twenty percent, and reduced it to five percent the following year; 250,000 Hungarian Jews lost their jobs as a result. A "Third Jewish Law" prohibited intermarriage and defined Jews racially. However, the laws and their enforcement were not necessarily in line, as most Hungarian authorities and the people disagreed with these laws. |
Starting in 1938, under increasing pressure from Hitler, Hungary under the regency of Horthy passed a series of anti-Jewish measures. The first, in 1938, restricted the number of Jews in the professions, the administration, and in commerce to twenty percent, and reduced it to five percent the following year; 250,000 Hungarian Jews lost their jobs as a result. A "Third Jewish Law" prohibited intermarriage and defined Jews racially. However, the laws and their enforcement were not necessarily in line, as most Hungarian authorities and the people disagreed with these laws. |
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The first massacre of |
The first massacre of Hungarian Jews took place in August 1941. Not having Hungarian citizenship, they were to be relocated in [[Kamianets-Podilskyi]] ([[Ukraine]]). Their number was about 18-20,000. But notwithstanding the relocation plans [[Fridrich Jeckeln]] and his [[SS]] troops killed most of them here. Only 2-3000 of them survived and got back to Hungary. Due to this and the objection of the christian hungarian politicians no refugees were to be deported or relocated from Hungary.<ref name="Holocaust in Hungary. About the Kamianets-Podilskyi nassacre (in hungarian language).">[http://www.holokausztmagyarorszagon.hu/index.php?section=1&type=content&chapter=2_2_3 Holocaust in Hungary. About the Kamianets-Podilskyi nassacre (in hungarian language).]</ref> |
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After the german occupation of Hungary the radical Hungarian governments, mainly the puppet government of [[Döme Sztójay]] participated in the [[Holocaust]]. Though Horthy could remain regent, the power was in fact in [[Edmund Veesenmayer]]'s hands. On April 9, Prime Minister Sztojay and the Germans obligated Hungary to place at the disposal of the Reich 300,000 Jewish laborers. Five days later, on April 14, Endre, Baky, and Eichmann decided to deport all the Jews of Hungary. The Yellow Star and Ghettoization laws, and deportation were accomplished in less than 8 weeks with the enthusiastic help of the new fully germanophile Hungarian government and the authorities, particularly the gendarmerie (csendőrség). In that time, some 500,000 Jews were killed. The deportation of Hungarian Jews to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] began on [[May 15]], [[1944]] and continued at a rate of 12,000 a day until [[July 9]], [[1944]], when Horthy stopped the transports.<ref name=Ilona/> |
After the german occupation of Hungary the radical Hungarian governments, mainly the puppet government of [[Döme Sztójay]] participated in the [[Holocaust]]. Though Horthy could remain regent, the power was in fact in [[Edmund Veesenmayer]]'s hands. On April 9, Prime Minister Sztojay and the Germans obligated Hungary to place at the disposal of the Reich 300,000 Jewish laborers. Five days later, on April 14, Endre, Baky, and Eichmann decided to deport all the Jews of Hungary. The Yellow Star and Ghettoization laws, and deportation were accomplished in less than 8 weeks with the enthusiastic help of the new fully germanophile Hungarian government and the authorities, particularly the gendarmerie (csendőrség). In that time, some 500,000 Jews were killed. The deportation of Hungarian Jews to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] began on [[May 15]], [[1944]] and continued at a rate of 12,000 a day until [[July 9]], [[1944]], when Horthy stopped the transports.<ref name=Ilona/> |
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Revision as of 08:40, 29 February 2008
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Regent of Hungary | |
| In office March 1, 1920 – October 15, 1944 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 18, 1868.svg){kind=small} Kenderes, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | February 9, 1957 (aged 88) Estoril, Portugal |
| Political party | None |
| Spouse | Magdolna Purgly de Jószáshely |
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (Hungarian: Vitéz[1] nagybányai Horthy Miklós; IPA: [vite:z nɒɟba:ɲɒi horti miklo:ʃ], ; Kenderes, June 18, 1868 – Estoril, February 9, 1957) was the Regent of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from March 1, 1920 to October 15, 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" (Ő Főméltósága a Magyar Királyság Kormányzója).
Overview
Admiral Horthy had served as an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and was its commander-in-chief in the last years of First World War.
After Béla Kun's communists seized power in Hungary 1919 and imposed red terror against the enemies of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, the counterrevolutionary government asked Horthy to take command of its forces. With the consent of the Triple Entente, Romanian forces invaded Hungary and overthrew Kun's government. When the Romanians evacuated Budapest in November, 1919, Horthy entered at the head of his forces. The red terror was followed by a white terror. The number of victims was between several hundred [2] and over 1,000[3]. As a consequence the Hungarian Communist Party was banned. In 1920 he was declared Regent and Head of State. The king of Hungary, Charles IV, also known as Emperor Charles I of Austria, had been exiled by the Allied Powers and taken to Madeira on a British warship. Charles died on Madeira in 1922, and from then Horthy found himself effectively regent of a kingdom without a king.
A conservative who was distinctly inclined toward the right of the political spectrum, he carefully[citation needed] guided Hungary through the years between the two world wars. After the suicide (1941) of the premier, Pál Teleki, Hungary entered World War II as an ally of Germany after Germans persuaded Hungary that it would regain its lost lands. Despite Horthy's opposition, German troops occupied Hungary in March, 1944, when it was discovered that Hungary was seeking a separate peace and an exit from the war.
When Russian troops entered Hungary, Horthy sent an armistice commission to Moscow and in October, 1944 announced the surrender of Hungary. The Germans kidnapped Horthy's son as a hostage and forced Horthy to countermand his order and resign. He was placed under arrest and taken to Bavaria, and at the end of the war found himself in the custody of U.S. troops.
After appearing as a witness at the Nuremberg war-crimes trials (1946), he settled (1949) in Portugal, where he died. His memoirs appeared in English in 1956.
Early life and naval career
Miklós Horthy came from an old Calvinist noble family. As a young man Horthy traveled around the world and served as a diplomat for the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Turkey and other countries. From 1908 until 1914 he was an aide-de-camp to Emperor Franz Joseph, for whom he had a great respect. During World War I, Horthy distinguished himself first as a captain and later as an admiral in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. During the war he defeated the Italian Navy several times, and was wounded at the battle of the Otranto Straits. Due to his success on behalf of the Dual Monarchy, he was promoted to Commander in Chief of the Imperial Fleet in March, 1918, and held that position until he was ordered by Emperor Charles to surrender the fleet to the new State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs on October 31.
Dates of rank and assignments
- 1896 Fregattenleutnant (fregatthadnagy - Sub-Lieutenant)
- 1900 Linienschiffleutnant (sorhajóhadnagy - Lieutenant)
- Jan 1901 SMS Sperber (commander)
- 1902 SMS Kranich (commander)
- Jun 1908 SMS Taurus (commander)
- Aug 1908 SMS Kaiser Karl VI (GDO-Gesamtdetailoffizier-First Officer, temporary)
- 1 Jan 1909 Korvettenkapitän (korvettkapitány - Lieutenant-Commander)
- 1 Nov 1909 aide-de-camp to Emperor Franz Josef
- 1 Nov 1911 Fregattenkapitän (fregattkapitány - Commander)
- Dec 1912-Mar 1913 SMS Budapest (commander)
- 20 Jan 1914 Linienschiffskapitän (sorhajókapitány - Captain)
- Aug 1914 SMS Habsburg (commander)
- Dec 1914 SMS Novara (commander)
- 1 Feb 1918 SMS Prinz Eugen (commander)
- 27 Feb 1918 Konteradmiral (ellentengernagy - Rear Admiral)
- 27 Feb 1918 appointed (last) Commander in Chief of the fleet (over 11 admiral and 24 senior linienschiffskapitän) by Emperor Karl I
- 30 Oct 1918 Vizeadmiral (altengernagy - Vice Admiral)
Interwar period, 1919–1939
In the counter-government and the commander of the National Army
The end of the war saw Hungary turned into a landlocked nation, and hence the new government had little need for Horthy's services. Thus, he retired with his family to his private homestead to Kenderes. However, he was still regarded by his people as a war hero, and this status paid off in 1919, when the Communist Béla Kun seized power in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. A counter-government was established on May 30 in the southern city of Szeged, occupied by French forces at the time. There, Gyula Károlyi, whose ideas were opposed to those of his Social Democrat cousin, Mihály Károlyi, asked Horthy to be the Minister of War in the new government. Soon after, because of appeals from the Entente, the cabinet was reformed, and Horthy did not receive any place in the new one. With that, the Admiral decided to place the National Army (Hungarian: Nemzeti Hadsereg) – established by anti-Communist forces a bit earlier – in order, and to seize power with it. On August 6 French-supported Romanian forces entered Budapest, deserted by the Communists three days before. By early August, Horthy moved with his forces to Siófok, next to Lake Balaton in Transdanubia (with Entente approval). During that time, counter-revolutionaries launched the White Terror against communists. These acts were initiated by Pál Prónay, Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek and Iván Héjjas. The Supreme Commander, as Horthy was styled at the time, proclaimed the actions as the judgements of the people, or dismissed them as personal deviations from proper restraint. Nevertheless, he never commanded anybody to execute these acts. The existence of the cruelties in August 1919 are also noted in his memoirs, but he does not deny the necessity of them: „Conflagrations rising from the earth were never suppressed by anyone just by fanning them with angels' wings.” The Romanian army retreated from Budapest on November 14 leaving Horthy to enter the city, where he gave a rousing speech:
"... The nation of the Hungarians loved and carressed Budapest, which became its polluter in the last years. Now I call the Hungarian capital to the ordeal, here at the banks of the Danube. This city denied its thousand-year-old past; this city trampled the crown and the colors of the nation into the mud, and dressed itself in red rags. It imprisoned and chased away the best of the nation, furthermore, it plundered all of our goods. ..." [4]
Following the orders of the Entente, Romanian troops finally evacuated Hungary on February 25 1920.
The Regent
Template:Infobox hungarykstyles On March 1, 1920, the National Assembly of Hungary re-established the Kingdom of Hungary, but elected not to recall Charles IV of Hungary from exile. Instead, they elected Horthy as Regent for an indefinite period of time; he defeated Count Albert Apponyi by a vote of 131 to 7. Bishop Ottokár Prohászka then led a small delegation to meet Horthy, announcing, “Hungary’s Parliament has elected you Regent! Would it please you to accept the office of Regent of Hungary?” To their astonishment, Horthy declined unless his powers were expanded. This they promised to do, and he took the oath of office.[5] The Admiral without a fleet, in a country without a coastline, ruled for the next 24 years as the Regent for a Kingdom without a King.
Charles did try to regain his throne twice; see Conflict between Charles I of Austria and Miklós Horthy for more details.
Horthy decided not to participate in everyday politics after having been elected as regent: he narrated speeches on ceremonies, and had strict protocol functions. His importance rose in 1938, when he marched into (with a ceremonious purpose rather than concrete military aim) the Hungarian cities of the territory that Hungary annexed at the time.
A staunch conservative, Horthy personally disfavoured the Fascist movement of Hungary (more correctly the Hungarist Arrow Cross Party); furthermore, Ferenc Szálasi, later the "Leader of the Hungarian Nation", was imprisoned at Horthy's personal command.
His government was conservative authoritarian and not a fascist one. Eventually, when the Nazi government of Adolf Hitler began to rise to power and put pressure on neighboring states to return territories lost after the war, Hitler became Horthy's patron. In November 1938, the Vienna Arbitrage enabled him to annex nearly one-third of Slovakia, mainly populated by Hungarians. Five months later, when Hitler took over what remained of Czechoslovakia, the Germans allowed Hungary to annex Carpathian Ruthenia as well. Hungary felt this recovery of lands taken from them in 1920 was justified.
World War II
In 1940, there was a considerable tension between Hungary and Romania concerning Transylvania. Hitler intervened on Horthy's behalf and gave Hungary half of the disputed territory without firing a shot. In April 1941, Hungary became a full member of the Axis, participating together with Germany and Bulgaria in the invasion of Yugoslavia. In protest against this, Prime Minister Pál Teleki committed suicide. In 1942 Horthy decided to open negotiations with the Allies. The secret delegation was led by Albert Szent-Györgyi, and they met British diplomats in Istanbul on several occasions. These negotiations were known to the German intelligence services, and even the Allies used the talks with Hungary to distract the Nazis.
In January 1942, by the order of officers lieutenant-general Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeidner, major-general József Grassy, colonel László Deák and gendarmarie-captain Márton Zöldy numerous Serbian and Jewish civilians were murdered in the Bačka region of Vojvodina. Serbian historian Zvonimir Golubović in his book about the raid claimed that Horthy himself was aware of the raid and approved its being carried out. When Horthy later ordered investigation about the raid, the officers who had ordered the raid fled to Nazi Germany and returned only after the German Nazi regime occupied Hungary in 1944. They were executed after the war.
By 1944, the fortunes of war had turned against Germany and its allies, and the Red Army stood at Hungary's borders. The Germans invited Horthy to Klessheim (today in Austria) for negotiations, and they kept him virtually captive, so he could not order resistance. The Wehrmacht occupied Hungary on 19 March to appoint a puppet government in Budapest, which helpfully assisted the Germans in deporting the Jews of Hungary. Horthy stopped the mass deportations in July, after two Jews, Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, escaped from the Auschwitz concentration camp, and brought news to the world of the mass murder that was taking place there. Before this, Horthy imperturbably believed that the Jews were being sent to the camps to work, and that they would be returned to Hungary after the war. [6]
After the Romanians switched to the Allied side, Horthy dismissed the government, began to organise another and started negotiations with the Soviets. Again, the Germans intervened. In Operation Panzerfaust the Germans sent commando leader Otto Skorzeny to Budapest. Skorzeny kidnapped Horthy's son Nicholas on the day he declared an end to the war. Horthy was forced to revoke his declarations and abdicate.
Horthy spent the rest of the war under house arrest in Bavaria, being treated remarkably well in the circumstances, and was arrested by the Americans in May 1945.
Horthy, Hungary and the Holocaust
Starting in 1938, under increasing pressure from Hitler, Hungary under the regency of Horthy passed a series of anti-Jewish measures. The first, in 1938, restricted the number of Jews in the professions, the administration, and in commerce to twenty percent, and reduced it to five percent the following year; 250,000 Hungarian Jews lost their jobs as a result. A "Third Jewish Law" prohibited intermarriage and defined Jews racially. However, the laws and their enforcement were not necessarily in line, as most Hungarian authorities and the people disagreed with these laws.
The first massacre of Hungarian Jews took place in August 1941. Not having Hungarian citizenship, they were to be relocated in Kamianets-Podilskyi (Ukraine). Their number was about 18-20,000. But notwithstanding the relocation plans Fridrich Jeckeln and his SS troops killed most of them here. Only 2-3000 of them survived and got back to Hungary. Due to this and the objection of the christian hungarian politicians no refugees were to be deported or relocated from Hungary.[7]
After the german occupation of Hungary the radical Hungarian governments, mainly the puppet government of Döme Sztójay participated in the Holocaust. Though Horthy could remain regent, the power was in fact in Edmund Veesenmayer's hands. On April 9, Prime Minister Sztojay and the Germans obligated Hungary to place at the disposal of the Reich 300,000 Jewish laborers. Five days later, on April 14, Endre, Baky, and Eichmann decided to deport all the Jews of Hungary. The Yellow Star and Ghettoization laws, and deportation were accomplished in less than 8 weeks with the enthusiastic help of the new fully germanophile Hungarian government and the authorities, particularly the gendarmerie (csendőrség). In that time, some 500,000 Jews were killed. The deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz began on May 15, 1944 and continued at a rate of 12,000 a day until July 9, 1944, when Horthy stopped the transports.[6]
Two Jews who escaped from Auschwitz at the end of April passed details of what was happening inside the camps to officials in Slovakia. Horthy received a translation of their report, called the Vrba-Wetzler report, in late June due to the fact that the hungarian zionists and the jewish council did not inform him in time. According to Budapest-born zionist Ernest Stein, they most probably did so to save the most prominent jews of Hungary, as they had a pact with Adolf Eichmann and they did not want to risk it.[8] Details from the report were broadcast by the BBC on June 15 and The New York Times on June 20. [9] World leaders, including Pope Pius XII (June 25), President Franklin D. Roosevelt (June 26), and King Gustaf V of Sweden (June 30), [10] subsequently appealed to Horthy to stop the deportations. The mass deportations stopped on July 9, after 437,000 Jews had been sent to Auschwitz, most of them to their deaths.[9] Horthy was informed about the number of the deported Jews some days later: "approximately 400,000". [6]
Horthy, under the circumstances, did a great deal more for the Jews than the non-Axis leaders, or the western media. Hungary's application of anti-Jewish Laws under german pressure created a relatively safe atmosphere for the jews until the german occupation.[11] In this period Horthy was not informed about the Vrba-Wetzler report until late June. Therefore he received the Vrba-Wetzler report and the international pressure approximately at the same time to stop the deportations. As the collaborators refused to do so, he needed to wait for the arrival of loyal troops to achieve that (Ferenc Koszorus). The survival of 124,000 [12] Hungarian Jews in Budapest until the arrival of the Soviets could not have been possible without Horthy’s reluctant implementation of German orders. [13] After returning the trainload of Jews to Kistarcsa, [10] on July 15, 1944 the The New York Times had an article praising Hungary as the last refuge of Jews in Europe, and that “Hungarians tried to protect the Jews.” [14]
After he was forced to abdicate and was placed under house arrest by Nazis in October 1944, Hungarian cooperation resumed; out of 825,000 Jews before the war, only 260,000 survived. In the two months between November 1944 and February 1945, members of the Arrow Cross Party shot 10,000 to 15,000 Jews on the banks of the Danube.
Post-war life
Although the new Yugoslavia demanded that Horthy be tried as a war criminal, the Allies refused to do so. This was mainly the result of American influence, but even Stalin agreed, due to Horthy's age.[citation needed] He was released and settled in Estoril, Portugal, where he died in 1957. While in Portugal he wrote his memoirs, Ein Leben für Ungarn (English: A Life for Hungary), published under the name of Nikolaus von Horthy, in which he narrated many personal experiences from his youth until the end of World War II. He claimed that he had distrusted Hitler for much of the time he knew him and tried to perform the best actions and appoint the best officials in his country. He also highlighted Hungary's alleged mistreatment by many other countries since the end of World War I. Horthy was one of the few Axis heads of state to survive the war, and thus be able to write post-war memoirs. (The others being Risto Ryti and Carl Mannerheim, who were both presidents of Finland, and under pressure from Soviet aggression, grudgingly sided with the Axis as a co-belligerent, though they were later forced to change sides, due to the Truce of Moscow that ended the Continuation War.)
Horthy was married once, to Magdolna Purgly de Jószáshely. He had two sons, Miklós Horthy, Jr. and István Horthy, who served as his political assistants; and two daughters, Magda and Paula. Of his four children, only Nicholas outlived him. According to footnotes in his memoirs, Horthy was very distraught about the failure of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. In his will, Horthy asked that his body not be returned to Hungary "until the last Russian soldier has left." His heirs honored the request. In 1993, two years after the Russian occupational troops evacuated their Cold War bases in Hungary, Horthy's body was returned and he was buried in his home town of Kenderes. The reburial in Hungary was the subject of controversy in the country.[citation needed]
Notes
- ^ "Vitéz" refers to a Hungarian knightly order founded by Miklós Horthy ("Vitézi Rend"); literally, "vitéz" means "knight" or "valiant".
- ^ Ignac Romsics:The changes of Horthy's image (Rubicon Történelmi Magazin:Horthy Miklós, kultusz és ellenkultusz/A Horthy-kép változásai/A véreskezű gyilkos 6.oldal.)
- ^ Holocaust in Hungary.The white terror.(in Hungarian)
- ^ 1919 speech of Horthy
- ^ Sakmyster, p. 56
- ^ a b c Ilona Edelsheim-Gyulai, Becsület és kötelesség, part I, page 264. Európa press, Budapest, 2001. ISBN 963-07-6544-6
- ^ Holocaust in Hungary. About the Kamianets-Podilskyi nassacre (in hungarian language).
- ^ Eichmann's List: a pact with the devil
- ^ a b Rees, Laurence. Auschwitz: A New History. Public Affairs, 2005. ISBN 1-58648-357-9
- ^ a b A holokauszt Magyarországon: A deportálások leállítása (in Hungarian; retrieved 11 September 2006)
- ^ John Flournoy Montgomery, Hungary:The Unwilling Satellite.8: A Refuge for One Million Jews]
- ^ Tschuy, Theo. Dangerous Diplomacy: The Story of Carl Lutz. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids/Cambridge, 2000. p11.
- ^ http://www.holokausztmagyarorszagon.hu/index.php?section=2&type=content&chapter=11_2_4
- ^ Mrs. Anne O'Hare McCormick, The New York Times of July 15, 1944. Original context: "It must count in the score of Hungary that until the Germans took control it was the last refuge in Central Europe for the Jews able to escape from Germany, Austria, Poland and Rumania. Now these hopeless people are exposed to the same ruthless policy of deportation and extermination that was carried out in Poland. But as long as they exercised any authority in their own house, the Hungarians tried to protect the Jews. " See: http://historicaltextarchive.com/books.php?op=viewbook&bookid=7&cid=8
See also
- History of Hungary
- Mediterranean naval engagements during World War I
- World War II
- István Horthy
- Miklós Horthy, Jr.
- Magdolna Purgly de Jószáshely
References
- Thomas Sakmyster, Hungary’s Admiral on Horseback. East European Monographs, Boulder, CO 1994. ISBN 0-88033-293-X
- John Flournoy Montgomery, The Unwilling Satellite, New York, The Devin-Adair Company 1947, ISBN-10: 1931313571
External links
- John Flournoy Montgomery, The Unwilling Satellite (e-book version on historicaltextarchive.com
- Miklós Horthy Association
- Miklós Horthy Association's photo archive
- Horthy, Miklós: The Annotated Memoirs (pdf)
- The memoirs of Admiral Miklós Horthy
- Biography of Admiral Miklós Horthy
- First World War.com -Who's Who - Miklos Horthy de Nagybanya
- Montgomery,John,Flournoy: Hungary-The unwilling satellite
- Horthy's visit to Germany in 1938 (color; GoogleVideo)