During World War II, Hungary took the side of Nazi Germany. They managed to recover,

thanks to German arbitration, the Carpathian Ruthenia, and part of Transylvania lost after

World War I. Horthy surveyed the possibility of withdrawing from the war but having limited

room for manoeuvre, he agreed that Germany would seize the country (March 1944). The

deportations of Hungarian Jews to death camps, previously blocked by Horthy, began. More

than 400,000 people were deported. Every fourth Jew out of about 800,000 survived the war.

Meanwhile, in May 1944, the so-called Hungarian Front was established in the underground

on the initiative of the communists. The Front also included representatives of the Small

Farmers' Party, the National Peasant Party, and social democrats. They opposed the German

occupation.

 

In October 1944, Horthy tried to surrender to the Hungarian army. However, the Germans

arrested him and the power in Budapest was taken over by the German Prince Ferenc Szálasi,

the leader of the Arrow Crusaders. They began further repressions against the Hungarian

Jews.

 

There were fierce fights all the time in Hungary. Budapest was captured by the Red Army on

17 February 1945 and in April the entire territory of Hungary was occupied.