Commander of the Hungarian Second Army destroyed on the Don in January 1943
Born Gusztáv Hautzinger, he trained at the Ludovika Academy and the Vienna war college and served as a staff officer in the First World War. On entering the Order of Vitéz in 1924 he took his mother’s surname, Jány, and from 1931 to 1936 he headed the Ludovika Academy. He became commander of the Second Army in March 1940 and led it to the Don in 1942. During the Soviet offensive of January 1943 he held to the no-retreat order, and when the army collapsed he issued an order of the day accusing his men of cowardice. Returning home voluntarily after the war, he was sentenced to death by a People’s Court and shot in 1947; the Supreme Court exonerated him in 1993.
Activities and affiliations
- 1940–1943 Military command · Hungary
- 1931–1936 Education · Hungary
Career Timeline
- 1905Graduated from the Ludovika Academy; commissioned
- 1914–1918Staff officer in the First World War
- 1931–1936Head of the Ludovika Academy
- 1940–1943Commander, Second Army; the Don
- 1947Sentenced by a People’s Court and executed