From 14 April 1944, based on the third agreement on SS
recruitment in Hungary, signed by Minister Csatay and plenipotentiary
Veesenmayer, the Waffen-SS could freely recruit Hungarian citizens, who
considered themselves as ethnic German, into its ranks from the territory of
occupied Hungary. Those draftees who previously had lost their Hungarian
citizenship now had it restored. The Germans sought the recruitment of up to
80,000 men, hoping to raise several Hungarian SS divisions. Service in
Waffen-SS units, instead of in the Honvédség, became mandatory for all men over
seventeen years of age for Hungarian citizens of German ethnic background – the
so-called Volksdeutsche. Those who did not show up for recruitment were taken
by force by members of the local Volksbund organization. By 25 August, some
42,000 young men had been incorporated into the Waffen-SS. However, this number
was deemed by SS-Obergruppenführer Berger, Chief of the Waffen-SS Main Office,
as inadequate. Therefore, the recruiting drive was intensified, often taking
young men by force. Indeed, many of these ethnic Germans did not wish to serve
under a foreign flag and chose instead to enrol into the Honvédség. Eventually,
only three such Waffen-SS divisions were actually formed – the 18. SS-Panzergrenadierdivision
‘Horst Wessel’, the 22. SS- Kavalleriedivision ‘Ungarn’ (later ‘Maria
Theresia’) and the 31. SS-Grenadierdivision (unnamed). These main units joined
the already existing 8. SS-Kavalleriedivision ‘Florian Greyer’, 2.
SS-Panzerdivision ‘Das Reich’ and 16. SS-Panzergrenadierdivision ‘Reichsführer
SS’, made up also by Hungarian volunteers of various ethnic backgrounds, among
other ethnics. Finally, from 19 February 1945, a newly created 37.
SS-Kavalleriedivision ‘Lützow’ located in the Bratislava area, incorporated the
surviving elements of the 8. and 22. Kavalleriedivisionen. In total,
approximately 122,000 Hungarian citizens of German ethnic origin served in the
Waffen-SS until the war’s end.
Parallel with the recruitment of Volksdeutsche from Hungary
for the Waffen-SS, under the auspices of what the Germans from late 1944 called
Totaler Krieg (Total War), plans were drawn to establish four foreign Waffen-SS
divisions to be manned by ethnic Hungarian soldiers. The manpower would be
drawn primarily from Honvédség troops within the Third Reich, both volunteers
and recruits. These high units were to be equipped exclusively with German
weapons and would be trained by German officers, according to German war
doctrine. The uniforms would also be German, with a distinctive unit patch
being worn on the right sleeve. However, the divisions’ proper names would be
Hungarian, the commanding officers would be also Hungarian and the command
language Hungarian as well.
The first such unit – the 25. Waffen-Grenadierdivision der
SS ‘Hunyadi’ (ung. Nr. 1) (after the great Hungarian medieval commander from
Transylvania, John Hunyadi) – was formed in late October 1944 following an
order signed by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the chief SS leader. It was
followed by the 26. Waffen-Grenadierdivision der SS ‘Hungária’ (ung. Nr. 2),
formed in late December. Honvédség Lieutenant General, SS-Brigadenführer and
Waffen-SS Major General József Grassy (born Grasch) and Honvédség Colonel and
SS-Standartenführer Zoltán Pisky were selected as commanding officers of the
two new SS divisions. To co-ordinate the forming and training of these high SS
units, the XVII. Waffen-Armeekorps der SS was established at Neuhammer, in
Silesia, on 1 January 1945, under the command of Honvédség General,
SS-Obergruppenführer and Waffen-SS General, Ferenc Feketehalmi-Czeydner (born
Zeidner), one of the perpetrators of the Újvidék (Novi Sad) massacre of January
1942, who escaped the death penalty by fleeing to Germany. On 4 February, he
was replaced by Honvédség General, SS-Obergruppenführer and Waffen-SS General
Jenő Ruszkay (born Ranzenberger). On 15 January, Ruszkay was promoted Chief
Inspector of all Hungarian Waffen-SS units. The forming of two other planned
Hungarian Waffen-SS divisions, tentatively called ‘Gömbös’ and ‘Görgey’, did
not actually take place.
The first combat assignment of these Hungarian Waffen-SS
divisions was against Soviet troops advancing into Silesia in March 1945. Their
combat record was mixed: some units fought bravely, while others seemed to be
less motivated.
Besides the ‘Hunyadi’ and ‘Hungária’ SS divisions, there was
another Waffen-SS unit formed by Hungarian volunteers. It was the 61.
SS-Grenadierregiment, led by Honvédség Colonel and SS-Standartenführer László
Deák. Another ad hoc unit was the so-called Ney-Regiment, under the command of
Honvédség Major in Reserve and SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr Károly Ney, a lawyer
in civilian life. Finally, there were two other SS units worthy of mention –
the SS-Schi-Battalion 25 and the 1st Hungarian Assault Battalion, both
subordinated to higher SS units. These units took part in combat against Soviet
units in western Hungary, Silesia and southern Germany until Victory in Europe
(VE) Day. It has to be noted that none of these Hungarian manned Waffen-SS
units were actually part of the Honvédség, their existence and activity being
merely tolerated by the Hungarian government. Therefore, their activity will
not be detailed in this volume.
Apart from the Hungarian SS units, there were two obscure
and minor right-wing military organizations formed close to the war’s end and
active until VE Day and beyond. The first one was the so-called Hungaristic
Legion (Hungarista Légió), while the second the Kopjás Movement, the latter
being formed as a Hungarian version of the subversive German ‘Werewolf ’
guerrilla bands, with the task of harassing the occupying Soviet forces.
Neither formation saw any notable activity, however.
The Last Months of the War
The territory taken over by the Soviet Army and the
so-called Ideiglenes Nemzeti Kormány (INK, Interim National Government), was
formed on 22 December in Debrecen, eastern Hungary. The members of the new
pro-Soviet government were chosen from leftist politicians, high-ranking
officers who had earlier defected to the Soviet side or had been sent by Horthy
to negotiate the failed armistice, as well as respected local personalities who
were willing to deal with the Soviets. Initially, the communists – some in
exile in Moscow for many years – received only second-ranking portfolios.
However, they had the real power behind the scenes. General Béla Miklós became
the prime minister, General János Vörös the Minister of Defence with Colonel
Kálmán Kéri the Chief of Staff, General Gábor Faragho the Minister of Public
Affairs, and Ferenc Erdei the Minister of the Interior. In its first public
declaration, the INK ascertained legal continuity with Horthy’s deposed old
government. The next major step was to declare war on Germany. This bold
declaration – most probably made under Soviet pressure – was, in fact, hollow,
as the INK did not possess any troops. Moreover, even the so-called ‘democratic
Hungary’ was technically still in a state of war with the Allies for a short
while, as the official armistice between Moscow and Debrecen was signed only on
20 January 1945. The actual forming of the envisaged new Hungarian armed force,
officially known as Magyar Honvédség (thus devoid of the royal appellation) –
what the left-wing press called ‘Democratic Honvédség’ – could thus only be
started after the armistice became official.
Building, training, arming and then engaging in combat, the
new army took high priority for the Interim National Government. The Hungarians
hoped that by taking an active part in the closing stages of the anti-German
war they could obtain favours from the Soviets, and could thus influence the
final outcome of the Hungary’s post-war status – particularly her borders. However,
Stalin was not interested in a rapid building of a ‘democratic’ Hungarian Army,
so the efforts by members of the INK were in vain. Unaware of the Soviet
dictator’s intentions, the Hungarian delegations signed the armistice, which
stipulated, among other things, the forming of eight heavily equipped infantry
divisions. However, this was quite unrealistic, as the chance of enlisting
approximately 150,000 men in a war-ravaged country – half of which was still in
Axis hands – was virtually impossible. Nevertheless, Vörös, Kéri and other
high-ranking officers in charge started fervently to raise the first two
divisions (the 1st and the 6th) in early February 1945. Both new divisions were
formed at Jászberény, some 120 kilometres west of Debrecen and 70 kilometres
east of Budapest. The 1st Infantry Division was placed under command of Colonel
Tibor Szalay, while the 6th Infantry Division was commanded by Colonel László
Székely. The soldiers came from various prisoner of war camps and local
volunteers. Soon, more than 50,000 men had been assembled under the flag of the
new Magyar Honvédség. Therefore, the INK started to form two additional
divisions. The main problem now was not the manpower, but the armament,
supposed to be delivered exclusively by the Red Army. However, deliveries did
not arrive, being delayed for various reasons. When some armament finally
arrived in March, with further time necessary for training, the first
combat-ready units started to deploy to the front, already located in Austria,
only in mid-April. By the time the Hungarian soldiers arrived in the actual
front zone, the war was over. Therefore, they saw no combat, and thus could not
achieve any war merits on behalf of the new ‘democratic’ Hungary.
Parallel to the forming of the new ‘democratic’ Honvédség,
the old Royal Honvédség still held under its control the western part of
Hungary and kept fighting the intruders. Of the three armies, only two existed
in mid-February: the First Army under the command of General Dezső László,
deployed in the area north of Danube, in the Felvidék region, and the Third
Army, under the command of General József Heszlényi, controlling parts of the
Transdanubia (western Hungary). At this stage, the total manpower of the
Honvédség stood at less than 210,000 men, down from the over one million
soldiers available prior to Horthy’s proclamation of armistice.
Following the fall of Budapest, the increasingly irrelevant
Hungarian Parliament sought refuge in Sopron, the last major city in western
Hungary, located just a few kilometres from the Third Reich’s borders. The
office of the prime minister and the Ministry of Defence relocated to Kőszeg,
while the Ministries of the Interior, External Affairs and Finance moved to
Szombathely, also close to the German borders. Szálasi set up his quarters at a
villa close to Velem village. From there, he regularly toured the remaining
areas of Hungary still under Axis control, trying to persuade the soldiers and
civilians for continued resistance to the ‘Soviet menace’. Despite these
desperate measures, defections among the rank and file were commonplace. Many
soldiers, mostly from the First Army, tired of the war, believed the Soviet
propaganda and crossed the frontline, in hope of a quick return to their homes.
However, despite the Soviets’ promise, most found themselves in closed railway
cattle cars on the way to the USSR as prisoners of war.
In the meantime, Hitler decided on a last stand in
south-western Hungary in early March. The Axis counter-attack between Lake
Velence and Lake Balaton, known as ‘Operation Spring Awakening’, was to be the
last large Axis offensive and the last major tank battle of the war. The goal
was to secure the vital oilfields in Zala County and cut the Soviet frontline
in two. A total of 140,000 German and Hungarian soldiers, supported by an
impressive one thousand tanks and assault guns, 3,200 guns and mortars, as well
as around 850 aircraft, were amassed for Hitler’s last large-scale offensive.
The attack, launched on 6 March, initially surprised the Red Army. However,
after a promising start for the Axis, the operation proved to be a failure in
less than two weeks. Although an armoured spearhead did reach River Danube at
Dunapentele, one of the offensive’s main goals, it could not keep this achievement
due to lack of sizeable supporting infantry. After only eleven days, the
Germans were driven back to the positions they held initially.
The failed offensive was followed by a hasty retreat beyond the Reich’s borders, into Austria (Ostmark). Hungary’s second largest city, Győr, fell on 28 March. A day earlier, the last Crown Council was held on Hungarian soil. The Minister of Home Defence, Beregfy, was still optimistic, although his troops controlled only a fraction of the country. Next day, Szálasi and his government abandoned the headquarters and moved it into German-held Austria. On 12 April 1945, the last shots were fired in Hungary proper. Hungary was completely overrun by the Red Army.
