Counter-revolutionary paramilitary commander who led the most brutal officer detachment of the Hungarian White Terror of 1919–1921
Born to an old noble family in Romhány, Nógrád County, the career officer took command of Horthy’s bodyguard in Szeged in 1919 and formed the first officer detachment. Torturing and killing Communists, Social Democrats, peasants and Jews, his unit is considered the most brutal of the Hungarian White Terror. Convicted of extortion in 1921, he lost his command and joined King Charles’s second return attempt; his battalion was dissolved in January 1922. He failed to build a fascist mass movement in the 1930s and in October 1944 again assembled a squad to hunt Jews. Captured by Soviet troops in 1945, he died in the Gulag.
Activities and affiliations
- 1919–1922 Military command · Hungary
Career Timeline
- 1919Heads Horthy’s bodyguard; forms the first officer detachment
- 1919–1921Leads a detachment in the Hungarian White Terror
- 1921Convicted of extortion; joins King Charles’s return attempt
- 1922Battalion dissolved
- 1932Six months for incitement
- 1945Captured by Soviet troops