Who was Ferenc Szalasi and what did he do?

Who was Ferenc Szálasi and what did he do?

Ferenc Szálasi was the leader and all-powerful head of the fascist Arrow Cross movement, the regime that came to power in Hungary with the armed assistance of the Nazi Germany on October 15-16, 1944. After that date, the fate of hundreds of thousands of Jews was in his hands. During his brief rule, Szálasi’s men murdered 10,000–15,000 Jews.

Where was Ferenc Szálasi during the Battle of Budapest?

On 19 November 1944, Szálasi was in the Hungarian capital when Soviet and Romanian forces began encircling it. By the time the city was encircled and the 102-day Siege of Budapest began, he was gone. The “Leader of the Nation” ( Nemzetvezető) fled to Szombathely on 9 December. By March 1945, Szálasi was in Vienna just prior to the Vienna Offensive.

How many Jews were killed by Ferenc Szálasi?

During his brief rule, Szálasi’s men murdered 10,000–15,000 Jews. After the war, he was tried and executed by the Hungarian court for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during World War II.

How did Szálasi become a military officer?

In 1920–21, Szálasi finished non-commissioned officer training school in Hajmáskér; following that, he served in the 13th Infantry Regiment in Miskolc. In 1923, he enrolled to the General Staff officers’ training course at the Ludovica Military Academy. For his outstanding achievements, he was promoted with priority to Captain in 1924.

What happened to Ferenc Szálasi while in prison?

However, even while in prison Szálasi managed to remain a powerful political figure, and was proclaimed leader of the National Socialist Arrow Cross Party (a coalition of several right-wing groups) when it was expanded in 1938.

Who was Ferenc Szálasi’s grandfather?

Szálasi’s grandfather, who participated as a honvéd in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, married a German woman from Vienna, and their son, Ferenc Szálasi, Sr. (born 1866) attended a military cadet school in Kassa and later became an official in the Honvédség. Szálasi’s brothers, Béla, Károly and Rezső also served in the army.