Thank You, Regent! – Nicolas Horthy from the Perspective of Hungarian Jewry
- v. Balázs Róbert
- Jun 13
- 8 min read
The Horthy era remains the subject of considerable debate in both public discourse and historical memory to this day. From time to time, political and social controversies arise concerning the interpretation of the period’s symbols, including the person of Miklós Horthy and the monuments erected in his honour. Such debates often give rise to differing interpretations, which do not always take full account of contemporary sources or the broader historical context in which events unfolded.
The purpose of the following compilation is to present a more nuanced perspective on certain events and relationships of the period through a selection of documented historical facts and contemporary sources. It is intended for those who continue to direct criticism towards Miklós Horthy, Regent of Hungary and a figure regarded by many as a national hero, as well as for those who may still harbour doubts regarding the assessment of his historical legacy.
The Pest Israelite Congregation Supported Horthy’s Regency (1920)
The leaders of the Budapest Jewish religious community sent a delegation to Horthy and offered him a significant foundation sum. The leading Jewish newspaper of the time, Egyenlőség, wrote with confidence and hope about his election as Regent.
(source: zsido.com)
Contemporary Jewish Press and Community Leaders (1920)
Following his election as Regent, the leaders of the Budapest Jewish community paid a courtesy visit to Horthy, during which they assured him of their loyalty. In the period, several Jewish newspapers welcomed with hope the consolidation that followed the fall of the communist dictatorship.
(source: Wikipedia)
Decoration of American Banker Felix Moritz Warburg
In late summer 1924, Felix Warburg (1871–1937), one of the most influential figures in the United States, received the following official letter:
“Dear Sir, I have the honour to inform you that His Serene Highness, Miklós Horthy of Nagybánya, Regent of Hungary, has awarded you the decorated Cross of the Hungarian Red Cross in recognition of your services in alleviating hardship in Hungary. I would be most pleased if, on Friday the 29th of this month, in accordance with the arrangement made with my representative, I could personally present you with the insignia of the honour and the associated regulations. Yours faithfully,Lajos Alexy, Consul General.”
Honours Awarded to Sportspeople and Public Figures of Jewish Origin
In 1928, Horthy personally decorated several Jewish Olympic champions and national team athletes, including Ödön von Petschauer and Ferenc Mező.
(source: Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Admission of Jewish Refugees from Poland
In the early years of the war, several thousand Jewish refugees arrived in Hungary from Poland and other countries, where they were granted temporary refuge. After 1939, with Horthy’s support, thousands of Polish Jewish refugees found temporary shelter in Hungary.
(source: Holocaust Encyclopedia)
Samu Stern and the Leadership of the Budapest Jewish Community
Samu Stern maintained direct contact with Horthy during the interwar period. In his memoirs, he wrote that Jewish leaders hoped they could influence the Regent through personal connections in order to secure protection for the community.
After the halt of the deportations, Stern and several other Jewish leaders also remained in contact with members of Horthy’s circle, and according to their later testimonies, they regarded Horthy’s role in the survival of the Budapest Jewish population as significant.
Kiss Arnold – Mirjam, 1942 edition A prayer book written for Jewish women
On page 543, a text is included in which the rabbis called upon Jewish girls to pray for Miklós Horthy of Nagybánya, the Regent of Hungary. (This prayer was first recited on 26 May 1939 during the Friday evening supplicatory service in all Jewish synagogues throughout Hungary.)
“May God bless the Regent of Hungary, a leader of noble spirit, that with his wisdom and his burning heart he may steer the ship of our homeland towards the harbour of our aspirations. Oh, may all the inhabitants of this dear land serve our country with selfless work and fraternal understanding. Instead of hatred, send us love; instead of misunderstanding, understanding; instead of division, unity; instead of suffering, prosperity, O our God…”
"יברך אלוהים את עוצר הממלכה של הונגריה, אשר רוחו מלאת תהילה, למען יוכל בחכמתו ובלבו הבוער לנווט את ספינת מולדתנו אל חוף משאלותינו. הו, מי ייתן שכל יושבי הארץ היקרה הזאת יוכלו לשרת את מולדתנו בעבודה חסרת אנוכיות ובהבנה אחוותית. שלח אהבה במקום שנאה, הבנה במקום אי־הבנה, אחדות במקום פירוד, ורווחה במקום סבל, הו אלוהינו..."
(source: Kiss Arnold, Mirjam (1942))
1939–1944: No Mass Deportations Were Permitted
In Hungary, until the German occupation, no mass deportations of Jews to Auschwitz took place, despite sustained pressure from Berlin. Horthy repeatedly rejected German demands, and as a result, between 1939 and March 1944 there were no mass deportations of Hungarian Jews to Nazi extermination camps. According to several historians, both Horthy and the government of Miklós Kállay resisted German pressure on this issue for an extended period.
(source: Rescue in the Holocaust)
After the Halting of Deportations, a Significant Part of the Budapest Jewish Community Survived the War
Following the suspension of deportations, a substantial portion of Budapest’s Jewish community survived the war. Most historians agree that the decision made in July had a direct impact on the lives of tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of people.
(source: Holocaust Encyclopedia)
The Details of the Suspension of Deportations
From early June 1944 onwards, the full extent of the tragedy of Hungarian Jewry became increasingly evident. More and more information reached Horthy regarding the conditions in the ghettos, the brutality of the gendarmerie, and the details of the deportations. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Sztójay, the Regent disclaimed all responsibility for the anti-Jewish measures. Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister Mihály Jungerth-Arnóthy reported to Cabinet meetings on the increasingly negative domestic and international reaction to the deportations.
By the second half of June, Horthy was under intense external and internal pressure.
The Christian churches intervened on behalf of Jews who had been converted to Christianity. Members of his own circle — including his son and his trusted adviser István Bethlen — urged him to break with previous Jewish policy, as did foreign leaders. On 25 June, Pope Pius XII, on 26 June, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and on 30 June, King Gustaf V of Sweden sent protest letters to Horthy. Parts of the Auschwitz Protocol had been published in the international press and reached Hungarian political and ecclesiastical leaders. By this point, there was widespread awareness of what was happening to Hungarian Jews.
Horthy was also influenced by the deteriorating military situation: on 6 June, despite German expectations, the Allies successfully landed in Normandy and began advancing through France. Meanwhile, the Red Army had reached Poland and was approaching the Hungarian border, and the U.S. Navy had inflicted a major defeat on Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands.
At the Cabinet meeting of 21 June, State Secretaries Endre and Baky presented a highly misleadingly positive picture of the deportations, claiming that the population welcomed the ghettoisation of Jews, that black market activity had ceased, that provisions in ghettos and collection camps were adequate, and that the authorities were acting strictly but in the spirit of Christian charity. This cynical portrayal was not taken seriously.
Horthy ultimately convened a Crown Council on 26 June (a body differing from the Cabinet in that the Regent himself was present). There he proposed the removal of Endre and Baky and the suspension of deportations. The government adopted a memorandum permitting, in principle, limited Jewish emigration to Sweden and Palestine. Nevertheless, deportations continued, as Sztójay and Interior Minister Andor Jaross — supported by the Germans — effectively sabotaged Horthy’s intentions.
Moreover, Endre and Baky planned to deploy thousands of gendarmes to Budapest in early July, potentially deporting the capital’s Jewish population even against the Regent’s will. The appearance of gendarmes in Budapest caused panic among Jews and prompted Horthy to act decisively, also out of fear of a possible coup involving the gendarmerie.
Relying on loyal armoured units stationed in and around the capital, he ordered the immediate withdrawal of the gendarmerie from Budapest. The “kakastollasok” (gendarmerie) left the city.
On 6 July, the Regent finally announced what he had already decided at the end of June: the suspension of deportations. Despite the explicit prohibition, deportations from settlements around Budapest continued on 8 and 9 July. However, the final stage of the deportation process — a planned multi-day operation in Budapest itself — did not take place. More than 200,000 Jews of Budapest were, at least for the time being, saved.
(source: holokausztmagyarorszagon.hu)
The Journal of Hungarian Jews, 18 June 1944
“The Pest Israelite Congregation held a thanksgiving service in the Heroes’ Temple on Wesselényi Street on the occasion of Miklós Horthy’s 76th birthday. The leadership and representative body of the congregation were present in full, and all denominational organisations and institutions were represented. In his festive address, Chief Rabbi Dr. Ferenc Hevesi recalled the glorious reign of the Regent, and in a prayerful invocation asked the Almighty to bless our Regent and the Hungarian homeland…”
The Recollections of Pinchas Freudiger
Pinchas Freudiger spoke on several occasions after the war about the significance of Horthy’s intervention in July 1944, stating that without it, a substantial proportion of Budapest’s Jewish population would have been deported to Auschwitz. He described the suspension of the deportations as a life-saving decision. The leader of Budapest’s Jewish community also testified at the trial of Adolf Eichmann, where he stated that Horthy had halted the deportations, although he did not present this as a general exoneration of Horthy’s overall role and responsibility.
(source: Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Messages of Gratitude from the Budapest Jewish Community in July 1944
The suspension of the deportations took place on 7 July 1944. This remains the most significant and most thoroughly documented measure associated with Horthy’s actions during this period. Acting on the Regent’s orders, the planned deportations from Budapest were halted. As a result, approximately 200,000 members of the city’s Jewish community were not sent to Auschwitz during the summer wave of deportations. Horthy also used military units loyal to him to remove the gendarmerie forces that had been deployed to Budapest and were preparing for the deportation of the capital’s Jewish population.
(source: rieth.hu)
Following the suspension of the deportations, several letters and messages of gratitude were sent to Horthy by Jewish leaders. These communications did not constitute an endorsement of the Horthy regime as a whole; rather, they expressed appreciation for the specific decision that brought the deportations from Budapest to a halt. Most historians agree that the deportations were stopped on Horthy’s orders between 7 and 9 July 1944.
(source: Holocaust Encyclopedia)
Attempt to Withdraw Hungary from the War
In August 1944, Horthy dismissed the pro-German government and appointed a more moderate cabinet in its place. In the autumn of 1944, he attempted to secure an armistice with the Allied powers and withdraw Hungary from the war. In response, the Germans removed him from power and installed Ferenc Szálasi as Hungary’s leader. According to a number of historians, the situation of Budapest’s Jewish population deteriorated significantly following Horthy’s removal from office.
(source: Reddit)
Attempt to Permit the Departure of Jewish Children and Emigrants Bound for Palestine
The effort to allow Jewish children and emigrants destined for Palestine to leave Hungary was one of the most significant diplomatic rescue initiatives in the history of the Hungarian Holocaust. It was closely connected to the political move that became known as the “Horthy Offer” of July 1944. The essence of the initiative was that, in response to mounting international protests, Regent Miklós Horthy offered to permit a certain number of Jewish refugees—particularly children—to leave Hungary for destinations abroad, chiefly Palestine, which was then under British Mandate administration. This proposal formed part of broader efforts to mitigate the humanitarian consequences of the persecution of Hungary’s Jewish population during the final months of the war.
(source: Múltunk folyóirat, yadvashem)
The Koszorús Operation and Recognition by Jewish Leaders
Several members of the Jewish Council stated after the war that, on Horthy’s orders, the intervention of Ferenc Koszorús prevented the rounding up and deportation of Budapest’s Jewish population. This account is also recorded in multiple memoirs and recollections.
(source: Everything Explained Today)
The assessment of history cannot be based on political slogans, prejudices, or isolated events. The documents and contemporary sources presented here clearly indicate that Miklós Horthy’s person and activities cannot simply be labelled as antisemitic. Historical truth must be grounded in facts, taking into account the full context of the circumstances in which events took place.
The Homeland Above All!
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