The horror of Hungary in the second world war

Having suffered heavy casualties fighting the Soviets as part of the Axis alliance, the country was then occupied by the Nazis, which led to wholesale carnage during the siege of Budapest in 1945

Nazi collaborators Ferenc Szalasi, Gabor Vajna and Karoly Beregfy are condemned to death for war crimes and high treason in Budapest in 1946. Szalasi was the leader of the Arrow Cross Party during the Nazi Occupation of Hungary. Pix/Michael Ochs Archive/ Getty Images

issue 18 January 2025

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Tibor Fischer

The horror of Hungary in the second world war
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I suspect Adam LeBor and his publishers must have struggled to come up with the title The Last Days of Budapest: Spies, Nazis, Rescuers and Resistance, 1940-1945. The book certainly does what it says on the cover, but its pages contain other Magyar-themed subjects. We are offered a wide-ranging reflection on Hungary in the first half of the 20th century, from the harsh measures of the 1920 Trianon treaty to the devastating arrival of the Soviet army in Budapest in 1944.