Béla Frankl (23 April 1896 – 11 June 1937), known by the name Máté Zalka, was a Hungarian writer, soldier, and revolutionary. He fought in the Royal Hungarian Army during the

First World War 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 ...

and was captured by the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

. Subsequently, while a Russian prisoner of war, he came under the influence of Bolshevism and fought during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

. After participating in various other conflicts for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Zalka moved to Spain and fought in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

as a general for the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

. He was killed June 22, 1937, near Huesca when his car was hit by artillery fire. His remains were brought back to

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 ...

, where he was buried in the Kerepesi Cemetery in

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 ...

Biography

Early life

Máté Zalka was born on April 23, 1896, in Tunyogmatolcs,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, into a family of Hungarian Jews. He attended Polgári Iskola, a high school in

Mátészalka Mátészalka is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. It is on the Kraszna River, 52 kilometers from the city of Nyiregyhaza. Geography It covers an area of and has a population of 17,01 ...

, where he would later take his new name.

Hungary in World War I

Zalka lied about his age to volunteer in the Royal Hungarian Army at the age of 18 and fought in Italy and on the Russian front during World War I. Subsequently, he came under the influence of Bolshevism and fought during the Russian Civil War.

Russian Civil War

Zalka formed an international group of Red Guards in

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

in February 1918 during the

and fought against the

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

formations in Siberia. At the end of

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 ...

, Zalka chose to stay in Russia instead of returning to Hungary, where he met his future wife, Vera. They had one daughter, who later died due to complications from the

Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...

GPU operational activities

Zalka fought in the Battle of Kyiv against Poland in 1920 and was the commander of a cavalry regiment of the VCK GPU from 1921 to 1923. Because these atamans were widely supported by their local people, many of the actions resulted in punitive operations against civilians.Zaleski KA: "Stalin's Empire. Biographical encyclopaedic dictionary" Moscow. Veche. 2000 At some point, he fought in the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

under the assumed name of Lukács Tábornok (General Lukács). While he was a prisoner of war, he organized the prisoners´ theater. He was director of the "

Theatre of Revolution Mayakovsky Theater (russian: Театр Маяковского; Московский академический театр имени Вл. Маяковского) is a theater in Moscow, Russia, founded in 1920, first as ''Terevsat'' (Theater of R ...

" (now called the "

Mayakovsky Theatre Mayakovsky Theater (russian: Театр Маяковского; Московский академический театр имени Вл. Маяковского) is a theater in Moscow, Russia, founded in 1920, first as ''Terevsat'' (Theater of R ...

") in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

(1925–1928).

Spanish Civil War

Zalka moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1936 and joined the

to fight in the

in November of that year. Under the assumed name of Pál Lukács and with the rank of General, he initially commanded the XII International Brigade and later the 45th Division. In 1937, he was killed near Huesca when his car was hit by artillery fire. Zalka is mentioned in a number of works by Hemingway.

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

, "Under the ridge". Hearst Magazines Inc. 1939 His remains were originally buried in the south of Spain. However, decades after his death, Zalka's nephew (who also fought in the Spanish Civil War) was invited by the

Spanish royal family The Spanish royal family consists of King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, their children (Leonor, Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía of Spain), and Felipe's parents, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía. The royal family lives at Zarzuela Palace i ...

to a ceremony celebrating the end of the civil war. At this point, he was able to carry Zalka's remains to Hungary, where they were buried in the Kerepesi Cemetery in

along with other high-ranking Hungarian military officers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zalka, Mate 1896 births 1937 deaths Burials at Kerepesi Cemetery 20th-century Hungarian people Hungarian soldiers Jewish Hungarian writers Jewish refugees Jewish socialists Hungarian Jews Hungarian refugees Hungarian people of the Spanish Civil War Hungarian expatriates in Spain People from Mátészalka People from Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Military personnel killed in the Spanish Civil War International Brigades personnel Soviet Jews in the military Soviet people of the Spanish Civil War Hungarian emigrants to the Soviet Union