Ferenc Szálasi

Hungarian politician

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

Ferenc Szálasi (born January 6, 1897, Kassa, Hungary, Austria-Hungary—died March 12, 1946, Budapest) was a soldier and politician who was the fascist leader of Hungary during the last days of World War II.

Following family traditions, Szálasi entered the army and became a captain on the general staff in 1925. He joined a secret organization with a racist program in 1930 and, after early retirement from the army in 1935, founded the Party of National Will. Though his party was completely unsuccessful at the polls, Szálasi continued his radical, nationalistic agitations, later helped by German support. His program was based on chauvinism and antisemitism.

Szálasi was repeatedly jailed by the conservative Hungarian government, but, as the war was drawing to a close and as Nazi troops moved in, Szálasi, as head of the fascist Arrow Cross Party, was made nominal leader of the country (October 15, 1944). He cooperated completely with the Germans and employed his Arrow Cross thugs against Jews, leftists, and deserters until the Germans left Hungary in April 1945. Captured by U.S. troops in Germany, Szálasi was returned to Hungary, where he was sentenced to death by the People’s Tribunal and executed.