Lóránd Utassy de Uljak (18 April 1897,

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 ...

– 3 June 1974, Budapest) was a Hungarian general. Utassy graduated from the Ludovica Academy. He took part in the

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 ...

in the units of artillery. Between 1921 and 1928 he served at the Hungarian consulate in

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. Later, he worked for the Ministry of Defence. From 1937 to 1942 he was military attaché in

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Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and

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, as well. In 1942, he was promoted

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

. In October 1943, Utassy succeeded Zoltán Baló as the head of the Ministry 21st Department for Prisoners of War and Internees, being in charge of thousands of Polish soldiers who were interned in Hungary at that time. Despite the fact that Baló was dismissed under pressure of the German ambassador who was accusing him of transfersing Polish soldiers to Western Europe, Utassy continued his policy to secure Polish soldiers. In March 1944, when the Germans began occupation of Hungary, he denied the

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 orga ...

access to the internment camps and refused to surrender Polish soldiers. He also aimed to establish the

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as the representation of Poles in Hungary. On 16 October 1944, Utassy was arrested by the Hungarian fascists, and deported to

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. After the end of the war, in 1945 he returned to Hungary and was nominated to general. Though, he retired following year. In 1951, the Communist regime designated him as “enemy of the people” — he was demoted and had part of his family property confiscated and sent for two years to the labour camp in

Hortobágy Hortobágy is a village in Hajdú-Bihar County in eastern Hungary. It lies on the banks of the river, which is crossed at Hortobágy by the Nine-arched Bridge, one of the principal man-made monuments of the Hortobágy National Park. The park c ...

. Utassy died in 1974, aged 77. Buried at the

Farkasréti Cemetery Farkasréti Cemetery or Farkasrét Cemetery ( hu, Farkasréti temető) is one of the most famous cemeteries in Budapest. It opened in 1894 and is noted for its extensive views of the city (several people wanted it more to be a resort area than a c ...

. In 1990 he was rehabilitated and promoted to the rank of general. On 19 June 2019, Utassy was awarded with

Virtus et Fraternitas Medal The Virtus et Fraternitas Medal (Polish name: ''Medal Virtus et Fraternitas''; Latin for "Courage and Brotherhood") is a Polish state decoration established on 9 November 2017. It is awarded by the President of Poland on recommendation of the d ...

which from

president of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Pola ...

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and th ...

on his behalf received his grandson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Utassy, Lóránd 1897 births 1974 deaths Burials at Farkasréti Cemetery Diplomats from Budapest Hungarian generals Hungarian military personnel of World War II Hungarian people of World War I Military attachés Military personnel from Budapest Recipients of the Virtus et Fraternitas Medal