Claim:
The deportations were forced on the Hungarian authorities by the German occupiers
Rebuttal:
The claim is inaccurate. The German occupation was a necessary condition of the deportation of Hungarian citizens into death camps, but the Hungarian authorities and the newly created pro-nazi government were not the least reluctant so they didn’t have to be forced.
In detail:
It is true that before the German occupation neither any of the governments nor governor Horthy wished the deportation of Hungarian Jews. After the occupation, however, Horthy said he didn’t wish the anti-Jewish measures presented to him before they are introduced and protested against the deportations only as late as June 1944, on international pressure. It is also true, however, that within the ruling party as well as the opposition a potential deportation initiative had had significant traction in parliament already earlier. The deportations to Kamianets-Podilskyi in 1941 attest to this, which, moreover, were carried out against explicit German protests. The confiscation procedures that went with the deportations had been developed by Hungarian extreme right groups even before the German occupation. The pro-German Sztójay government didn’t have to be forced to accept the deportation decision as they had been behind the idea all along and they had the necessary parliamentary majority to make it happen. It must be stressed that for this, they didn’t need the support of the Arrow Cross party. Arrow Cross leader Szálasi expressly forbade his men to help with the deportations, because in his opinion Hungarian Jews should have been taken to concentration camps set up within Hungary so that their workforce can be used locally.[1]
[1] A summary of the literature concerning the question: Karsai László: Holokauszt. Budapest, 2001 Pannonica
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