Operation Margarethe
마르가레테 작전
The military occupation of its ally Hungary by Nazi Germany on 19 March 1944. Ordered by Hitler when Hungary sought an armistice with the Allies, it kept Regent Horthy in office while installing the pro-German Sztójay government, opening the way to the mass deportation of Hungary’s Jews.
In depth
After Italy’s armistice in September 1943 Hitler had a plan drawn up for the occupation of Hungary (Margarethe I), and in March 1944 he summoned Horthy to Schloss Klessheim and had him sign a protocol accepting it. When German troops crossed the border on 19 March the Hungarian army did not resist, and the occupation was quick and almost bloodless. Horthy remained regent but had to replace Prime Minister Kállay with Döme Sztójay, the minister in Berlin.
With the occupation Edmund Veesenmayer arrived as Reich plenipotentiary, and thousands of people, including opposition politicians and refugee soldiers, were arrested. Eichmann’s special commando entered the country and, with the Hungarian Interior Ministry and gendarmerie, deported some 437,000 Jews to Auschwitz between May and July.