Gábor Vajna (4 November 1891 – 12 March 1946) was a Hungarian politician, who served as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 1944 to 1945.

Early life

Vajna was born into a Transylvanian Calvinist family in Kézdivásárhely (today

Târgu Secuiesc Târgu Secuiesc (; hu, Kézdivásárhely, ; german: Szekler Neumarkt; la, Neoforum Siculorum) is a municipiu, city in Covasna County, Transylvania, Romania. It administers one village, Lunga (''Nyujtód''). History The town was first mentione ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

), then part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

on 4 November 1891. He participated in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as an officer in the 29th Feldjäger Battalion of the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

and received many honors during his forty-three months of military service. Following the war, Vajna took service in the Hungarian Embassy at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and later worked for the Ministry of Defence. He retired from the

Royal Hungarian Army The Royal Hungarian Army ( hu, Magyar Királyi Honvédség, german: Königlich Ungarische Armee) was the name given to the land forces of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary in the period from 1922 to 1945. Its name was inher ...

as a Major in 1924. After that he was appointed director of the gunpowder factory in

Balatonfűzfő Balatonfűzfő is a town at the northeast corner of Lake Balaton in Hungary. History The earliest settlements in the area were founded by the Celts, Avars and Romans. Material findings dating from the Middle Ages In the history of ...

. When his far-right sympathy was revealed, Vajna was dismissed from that position.

Political career

Vajna was a confidant of Prime Minister

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' ...

, the Hungarian fascist party leader and founder of the extreme right "

Party of National Will The Arrow Cross Party ( hu, Nyilaskeresztes Párt – Hungarista Mozgalom, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian nationalism, Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Kingdom of Hungary (1920- ...

", which later became 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 ...

. Vajna was elected Member of Parliament from the regional list of

Veszprém County Veszprém ( hu, Veszprém megye, ; german: Komitat Wesprim (Weißbrunn)) is an administrative county (''megye'') in Hungary. Veszprém is also the name of the capital city of Veszprém county. Veszprém county Veszprém county lies in western ...

during the 1939 parliamentary election. After the German occupation of Hungary in March 1944, he maintained a good relationship between the Hungarian authorities and the arriving

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

and

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...

officials. He helped to overcoming the resistance fighters and prevent sabotage activities. Following the Arrow Cross Party's coup, Vajna took office as Interior Minister in October 1944 and served until March 1945. While responsible for internal affairs, Vajna took a number of actions against Hungarian Jews. In cooperation with requests from German officials such as SS officer

Edmund Veesenmayer Edmund Veesenmayer (12 November 1904 – 24 December 1977) was a high-ranking German SS functionary and Holocaust-perpetrator during the Nazi era. He significantly contributed to the Holocaust in Hungary and in the Independent State of Croati ...

, Vajna moved quickly to deport Jews in areas under Hungarian control to the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, where they were used as slaves and many were ultimately killed. As many as 76,000 Jews were delivered into Nazi hands through the end of 1944. During his ministership, the

Budapest Ghetto The Budapest Ghetto was a Nazi ghetto set up in Budapest, Hungary, where Jews were forced to relocate by a decree of the Government of National Unity led by the fascist Arrow cross party during the final stages of World War II. The ghetto existed f ...

was established on 29 November 1944 which lasted for less than three months.Decree On the Establishment of the Budapest Ghetto at th
Jewish Virtual Library
Following the fall of Budapest, Vajna attempted to escape to

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

but was captured by units of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

along with other members of the government. He was later tried in Budapest by a so-called people's tribunal and sentenced to death for war crimes,

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

and treason. He was hanged in 1946 in Budapest on the same day as Ferenc Szálasi,

Károly Beregfy Károly Beregfy (12 February 1888 – 12 March 1946) was a Hungarian military officer and politician, who served as Minister of Defence in the 1944–45 Arrow Cross Party government. He was born as Károly Berger in Cservenka (Crvenka). He ...

and

József Gera József Gera (24 October 1896 – 12 March 1946) was a Hungarian physician and politician of the Arrow Cross Party. He fought in the First World War and he was honoured. After the war he practised as a paediatrician in Makó. He had been a me ...

References

Sources

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vajna, Gabor 1891 births 1946 deaths People from Târgu Secuiesc People from the Kingdom of Hungary Hungarian Calvinist and Reformed Christians Christian fascists Arrow Cross Party politicians Hungarian Interior Ministers Hungarian Nazis Hungarian people convicted of war crimes Executed Hungarian collaborators with Nazi Germany People executed by Hungary by hanging Holocaust perpetrators in Hungary People executed for war crimes People executed for crimes against humanity