Count Sándor Ágost Dénes Festetics de Tolna (31 May 1882 – 12 September 1956) was a Hungarian nobleman and cabinet minister who later became an advocate 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 ...

Background

Coming from one of Hungary's leading families (his father was

Andor Festetics Count Andor Festetics de Tolna (17 January 1843 – 16 August 1930) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Agriculture between 1894 and 1895. He was married to Lenke Pejacsevich de Verőcze. One of his three sons was Sándor Fe ...

), Count Festetics was amongst those chosen to serve in the cabinet of

Mihály Károlyi Count Mihály Ádám György Miklós Károlyi de Nagykároly ( hu, gróf nagykárolyi Károlyi Mihály Ádám György Miklós; archaically English: Michael Adam George Nicholas Károlyi, or in short simple form: Michael Károlyi; 4 March 1875 � ...

, being appointed Minister of Defence in 1918. Although this was to prove ill-fated, Festetics remained committed to parliamentary politics, becoming a supporter of

István Bethlen Count István Bethlen de Bethlen (8 October 1874, Gernyeszeg – 5 October 1946, Moscow) was a Hungarian aristocrat and statesman and served as prime minister from 1921 to 1931. Early life The scion of an old Bethlen de Bethlen noble fam ...

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. 125

Politics and embrace of Nazism

After a spell away from politics, Festetics, who had become convinced of Nazism, took charge of the tiny Hungarian National Socialist Peoples Party in 1933, using the fortune he had inherited from his uncle Prince Tasziló to seek to expand the group. This party was effectively a copy of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

, taking over most of its 25 point programme. By 1934, he had come together with

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 ...

and

Fidél Pálffy Count Fidél Pálffy ab Erdőd (6 May 1895 Svätý Jur – 2 March 1946 Budapest) was a Hungarian nobleman who emerged as a leading supporter of Nazism in Hungary. Early life After service in the First World War he lived on an estate in Czechos ...

to form an alliance of their movements. Before long, however, he was expelled as his commitment to

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

was seen to be weak; Festetics had continued to employ Jews on his estates. He then became associated with minor movements led by István Balogh and

Kálmán Hubay Kálmán is an ancient Germanic origin Hungarian people, Hungarian surname and male given name. Outside Hungary, the name occurs sometimes in the form Kalman. It was derived from the Germanic name: Koloman, Coloman or Kolman. The Germanic name C ...

, sitting in

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from 1935 until his retirement in 1939 under various labels. In keeping with some of his contemporaries who preached against the influence of the Jews, Festetics was attracted to the idea of

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

as a solution to what he saw as the Jewish problem in Europe. Indeed, in a 1934 session of Parliament, he announced that the Zionists should be encouraged because all people, including the Jews, had a right to live in their own land, and revealed that he had even allowed a Zionist organisation to use his land for an agricultural training programme for a group of Jewish youths who were preparing to migrate to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

Retirement from politics

Festetics brought an end to his political career in 1939.C.P. Blamires, ''World Fascism – A Historical Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, 2006, p. 233 He took no active part in politics during the Second World War, and died a private citizen at his home near

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...

in 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Festetics, Sandor Graf 1882 births 1956 deaths People from Fejér County Hungarian fascists Hungarian Nazis Hungarian Roman Catholics Defence ministers of Hungary Sandor