Claim:
Pál Teleki and István Horthy were both killed by the Germans
Rebuttal:
There has been found no proof for either of these claims – moreover, the assassination of Teleki and István Horthy wouldn’t have served the interest of the Germans.
In detail:
Pál Teleki himself said multiple times in front of other people that he intends to commit suicide. He suffered from severe depression. Moreover, in the spring of 1941 Germany didn’t necessarily really need Hungary to take part in the invasion of Yugoslavia, since they had access to it through Romania and Bulgaria. There is no proof whatsoever of him being assassinated. The situation is similar in the case of István Horthy: he was undertaking a flight with a notoriously poorly constructed plane.
What has helped these legends survive is the likewise unjustified claim that has Teleki survived the war, there would have been ’a seat reserved for him’ at the peace conference, and one that goes ’the Germans were so wary of István Horthy that they got rid of him. Both claims lack even the slightest actual proof.[1]
[1] The legends surrounding the deaths of the two men are discussed in a paper by Bálint Ablonczy and Lajos Olasz in: Romsics Ignác: Mítoszok, legendák, tévhitek a 20. századi magyar történelemről. Budapest, 2002 Osiris
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