Miklós Horthy

Horthy was the leader of Hungary’s conservative, nationalistic government from 1920–1944.  Hungary under Horthy’s rule enacted anti-Jewish legislation as early as 1920, when a quota limiting Jewish university enrollment was introduced. In the late 1930’s, partially motivated by a desired alignment with Germany and Italy, Horthy’s government enacted a series of “Jewish Laws” limiting Jewish participation in civic, economic, and social life in Hungary. Hungary officially joined the Axis alliance in 1940. Horthy resisted deporting Hungarian Jews despite pressure from his Nazi allies; nevertheless, many Hungarian Jews were subjected to increasingly severe restrictions and forced labor within Hungary. The German defeat at Stalingrad in early 1943 changed the course of the war, and Horthy began to seek a way out of his alliance with Germany. In March 1944 the German army occupied Hungary, sidelining Horthy and installing a pro-Nazi regime. They rapidly began the deportation of Hungary’s Jewish population, and between May-June 1944 c. 437,000 Hungarian Jews were sent to killing centers in Poland, where the majority of them were murdered on arrival. Horthy tried to intervene in July and was able to halt the deportations from Budapest, the last remaining Jewish community in Hungary. When, in October 1944, Horthy tried to negotiate an armistice with the Allies, he was arrested by the Nazis and held in protective custody while a new government under the violently antisemitic fascist Arrow Cross party was put in power for the remainder of the war. After the war, Horthy was detained by the Allies but never tried for war crimes. He died in exile in Portugal in 1957.