László Endre (January 1, 1895,

Abony Abony (german: Wabing) is a town in Pest County, Hungary. Geography Abony is a town in the south-east of , between the Danube and Tisza rivers. It is from Cegléd and from Budapest, at an elevation of . The area is on the River Tisza's wide ...

– March 29, 1946) was a Hungarian right-wing politician and collaborator with the

Nazis 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 N ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Early years

Born into a wealthy

family, Endre obtained a degree in political science after service in 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 became a leading local government officer in Pest county.

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 Pres ...

, ''

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 r ...

'', Simon & Schuster, 1990 p. 114 He became involved in the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

society Magyar Országos Véderő Egyesület (MOVE) during which he became noted for his extreme cruelty, which may have been a result of syphilis. He also became a member of various incarnations of the

Hungarian National Socialist Party The Hungarian National Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Szocialista Párt) was a political epithet adopted by a number of minor Nazi parties in Hungary before the Second World War. Early Nazi groups From its early origins up to the eventual f ...

and even led his own minor movements on occasion. In 1938, he joined the governing party of Béla Imrédy and became noted for his

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 ...

. Endre argued that the Hungarian government's anti-Jewish laws were not harsh enough, and on his own initiative he imposed further restrictions on Jewish life, such as banning Jews from beaches and spas, and excluding Jewish vendors from fairs. These restrictions were later reversed by the Interior Ministry.

Ministry of the Interior

Endre did not rise to national prominence until 1944, when Hitler, impatient with Hungary's reluctance to commit fully to German war effort, ordered the invasion and occupation of Hungary. The Nazi occupiers dissolved the tolerant government of Prime Minister Miklós Kállay, and forced the Hungarian regent

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya ( hu, Vitéz nagybányai Horthy Miklós; ; English: Nicholas Horthy; german: Nikolaus Horthy Ritter von Nagybánya; 18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957), was a Hungarian admiral and dictator who served as the regent ...

to replace Kállay with the Nazi sympathizer

Döme Sztójay Döme Sztójay ( sr-cyr, Димитрије Стојаковић, 5 January 1883 – 22 August 1946) was a Hungarian soldier and diplomat of Serb origin, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary in 1944, during World War II. Biography Born i ...

. A top priority for the country's new Nazi rulers was the annihilation of Hungary's Jewish population, which despite repression and economic hardships had survived the first years of the war largely intact. Endre, who in anti-Semitic circles was considered a "Jewish expert," was appointed state secretary in the Ministry of the Interior in the Nazi-controlled government under Interior Minister

Andor Jaross Andor Jaross (23 May 1896 – 11 April 1946) was an ethnic Hungarian politician most active in interwar Czechoslovakia and later in Hungary during World War II. He also notably collaborated with the Nazis. Born in Komáromcsehi, in the Ko ...

. He was given far-reaching powers to ghettoize and

deport Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportatio ...

the country's Jewish population. Along with László Baky, Endre and Jaross eagerly helped Adolf Eichmann amass and deport more than 400,000 Hungarian Jews between May and July 1944. Most of them were taken directly to Auschwitz concentration camp, where they were quickly murdered in the gas chambers, and cremated. Hungarian Jews murdered at Auschwitz in the spring of 1944 account for almost one half of all Jews killed in the camp; it was with those deaths that Auschwitz-Birkenau took its place at the head of the grim list of Nazi killing centres.

Removal and return

Endre's excesses attracted the attention of regent Miklós Horthy, who as early as June called for his removal from the Interior Ministry; in July, Horthy finally succeeded in bringing the deportations to a halt. Endre was removed from power in September of the same year; but he returned to government within a month when the Nazis deposed and arrested Horthy, and placed

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' ...

's ultra-fascist

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 ...

in power; Endre served as Commissioner of Civil Administration. In March 1945, after Budapest fell to the Red Army, he fled to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, but was captured and returned to his homeland.

Trial and execution

In December 1945 Endre, Baky and Jaross (now known as "the deportation trio") were tried in Budapest and found guilty of the murder of Jews, and of acting against the national interests of Hungary. All three were executed (as were no fewer than four of Hungary's wartime prime ministers, including Béla Imrédy and

). Endre was hanged by way of the Austro-Hungarian pole method on March 29, 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Endre, Laszlo 1895 births 1946 deaths People from Abony Executed Hungarian collaborators with Nazi Germany Hungarian fascists Hungarian Nazis Hungarian people of World War II Hungarian politicians Executed Hungarian people Hungarian people convicted of war crimes People executed by Hungary by hanging Holocaust perpetrators in Hungary People executed for war crimes