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Miklos Horthy

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World Leader

The Resume

    (June 18, 1868-February 9, 1957)
    Born in Kenderes, Hungary
    Rear Admiral in the Austro-Hungarian Navy
    Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Navy (Feb.-Oct., 1918)
    Regent of Hungary (1920-44)
    Went into exile in Portugal after World War II

Why he might be annoying:

    He allied with Nazi Germany to try to regain territories Hungary had lost after World War I.
    He enacted a series of restrictive laws that resulted in a quarter of a million Hungarian Jews losing their jobs.
    He deported 20,000 non-Hungarian Jewish refugees to Ukraine, where they were killed by the SS in one of the first large-scale massacres of the Holocaust (August, 1941).
    Under German pressure, he authorized the deportation of 100,000 Hungarian Jews to concentration camps (1943-44).
    He told one of his prime ministers, 'I have been an anti-Semite throughout my life. I have never had contact with Jews. I have considered it intolerable that here in Hungary everything, every factory, bank, large fortune, business, theatre, press, commerce, etc. should be in Jewish hands.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    Despite being seriously wounded, he continued commanding the fleet during the Battle of the Strait of Otranto until he lost consciousness (May 15, 1917).
    Most large-scale deportations of Jews from Hungary occurred after the German army occupied the country (March 19, 1944), effectively reducing him to a figurehead.
    He was arrested by the Nazis and imprisoned in Germany after he tried to negotiate an armistice with the Soviet Union (October 17, 1944).
    He was fluent in German, English, French, Italian, and Croatian, in addition to his native Hungarian.
    He was married to Magdolina Purgly for 56 years.
    He outlived three of his four children.

Credit: C. Fishel


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 44 Votes: 47.73% Annoying