László Ferenczy (9 March 1898 – 31 May 1946) was a lieutenant colonel in the Hungarian Royal Gendarmerie and member of its "central dejewification unit" during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Background

Born in Felsővisó,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, Ferenczy served from March 1940 to July 1942 with a unit that searched for Jews who had fled to Hungary from Slovakia. After

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

's invasion of Hungary in March 1944, he was appointed—on 25 March—as liaison between the Hungarian Royal Gendarmerie and the German

security police Security police usually describes a law enforcement agency which focuses primarily on providing security and law enforcement services to particular areas or specific properties. They may be employed by governmental, public, or private institutio ...

, which meant he worked closely with SS officer

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 19 March 1906 – 1 Ju ...

Randolph Braham Randolph Lewis Braham (December 20, 1922 – November 25, 2018) was an American historian and political scientist, born in Romania, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the City College and The Graduate Center of the City Uni ...

writes that Ferenczy's office was on the second floor of the Lomnic Hotel in the Svábhegy district of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, near Eichmann's office in the Majestic Hotel. During the Holocaust in Hungary in the spring and summer of 1944, Ferenczy helped to organize the deportation of over 434,000 of Hungary's Jews to the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

in occupied Poland, where most were gassed on arrival."László Ferenczy"
Yad Vashem. When

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who was the Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary Hungary between the World Wars, during the ...

, the Hungarian regent, ordered an end to the deportations in July, Ferenczy appeared to switch sides and in August made contact with the Budapest

Aid and Rescue Committee The Aid and Rescue Committee, or ''Va'adat Ha-Ezrah ve-ha-Hatzalah be-Budapesht'' (''Vaada'' for short; name in ) was a small committee of Zionists in Budapest, Hungary, in 1944–1945, who helped Hungarian Jews escape the Holocaust during the Ge ...

, which was trying to make deals with Eichmann to halt the deportations. In October, when

Ferenc Szálasi Ferenc Szálasi (; 6 January 1897 – 12 March 1946) was a Hungarian military officer, politician, Nazi sympathizer and founder of the far-right Arrow Cross Party who List of prime ministers of Hungary, headed the government of Hungary duri ...

, head of the pro-Nazi

Arrow Cross Party The Arrow Cross Party (, , 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 Unity. They were in power from 15 October 1944 to ...

, became prime minister, Ferenczy was once again placed in charge of rounding up and deporting Jews.

Execution

After the war, Ferenczy stood trial during the Hungarian People's Tribunals and was hanged on 31 May 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferenczy, Laszlo 1898 births 1946 deaths Blood for goods Executed mass murderers Holocaust perpetrators in Hungary Hungarian mass murderers Hungarian military personnel of World War II Hungarian Nazis executed for war crimes People from Vișeu de Sus People executed by Hungary by hanging