Count Fidél Pálffy ab Erdőd (6 May 1895

Svätý Jur Svätý Jur (; german: Sankt Georgen; he, Yergen; hu, Szentgyörgy; formerly ''Jur pri Bratislave'') is a small historical town northeast of Bratislava, located in the Bratislava Region. The city is situated on the slopes of Little Carpathians m ...

– 2 March 1946

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

) was a Hungarian nobleman who emerged as a leading supporter of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Early life

After service in the First World War he lived on an estate in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

before returning to Hungary, where he was left

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

by the

Great Depression of 1929 The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *'' Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pr ...

, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the ...

'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 287

Pro-Nazi activity

He founded a group called the

Hungarian National Socialist Party The Hungarian National Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Szocialista Párt) was a political epithet adopted by a number of minor Nazi parties in Hungary before the Second World War. Early Nazi groups From its early origins up to the eventual f ...

in 1933 and later merged it with two similar groups under Sándor Festetics and

Zoltán Meskó Zoltán Meskó de Széplak (12 March 1883, Baja – 10 June 1959, Nagybaracska) was a leading Hungarian Nazi during the 1930s. He led his own Nazi movement during the early 1930s but faded from the political scene when Hungary became a member ...

. By 1935 Pálffy had assumed control of this group, although it failed to prosper as support drifted to

Gyula Gömbös Gyula Gömbös de Jákfa (26 December 1886 – 6 October 1936) was a Hungarian military officer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1 October 1932 to his death. Background Gömbös was born in Murga, Tolna County, Kingdo ...

. Devoid of influence, Pálffy turned to Germany and became an agent of the

RSHA The Reich Security Main Office (german: Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and ''Reichsführer-SS'', the head of the Nazi ...

. Seeking to regain the initiative he worked variously with

László Baky László Baky (13 September 1898 in Budapest – 29 March 1946) was a leading member of the Hungarian Nazi movement that flourished before and during World War II. A military academy graduate, he came to prominence in Szeged in 1919 for his ...

and

Ferenc Szálasi Ferenc Szálasi (; 6 January 1897 – 12 March 1946), the leader of the Arrow Cross Party – Hungarist Movement, became the "Leader of the Nation" (''Nemzetvezető'') as head of state and simultaneously prime minister of the Kingdom of Hungary' ...

in an attempt to launch a pro-German party. He finally achieved this goal in 1941 by relaunching the

with Baky, although the party was not considered conservative when compared to the

Arrow Cross Party The Arrow Cross Party ( hu, Nyilaskeresztes Párt – Hungarista Mozgalom, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Hungary they named the Government of National ...

World War II activism and execution

Pálffy was considered by the SS to be a suitable candidate to lead Hungary, although ultimately the choice was not approved. He also became an important contact for

Wilhelm Höttl Wilhelm Höttl or Hoettl (19 March 1915 – 27 June 1999) was an Austrian Nazi Party member, and SS member who rose to the rank of SS-''Sturmbannführer''. He served in the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (Security Service; SD), and by 1944 was acting head o ...

during his work on behalf of the SS in

. Ultimately, as Minister of Agriculture during the period of Nazi dominance, Pálffy was held to be guilty of

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

and was hanged for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

in March 1946. His execution did prove somewhat controversial however because, beyond his pro-Nazi writings and his membership in Szálasi's government, there was little evidence of any crimes he had committed. Nonetheless, Pálffy was one of the first members of the government to face trial. The novelty of the case, as well as his status as a member of one of the country's leading noble families, counted against him and he was sent to the gallows.Istvan Deak, Jan Tomasz Gross & Tony Judt, ''The Politics of Retribution in Europe: World War II and Its Aftermath'', Princeton University Press, 2000, p. 243

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palffy, Fidel 1895 births 1946 deaths People from Svätý Jur People from the Kingdom of Hungary Hungarian nobility Hungarian Nazis Arrow Cross Party politicians Agriculture ministers of Hungary Executed politicians Executed Hungarian collaborators with Nazi Germany People executed by Hungary by hanging 20th-century executions by Hungary