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8 German Occupation German troops occupied Hungary on Sunday morning, March 19, 1944, virtually without resistance. The occupation took the inhabitants of Budapest completely by surprise. It was a beautiful early spring day, and the cafés, beer gardens, and terraces of Budapest were crowded. The occupation troops entered Hungary ceremonially as if on parade, with bands playing—they were the cream of the German army, the elite, good looking and well educated. As they drove through the streets of Budapest, their disciplined, motorized convoy provided an impressive display to those on the streets and café terraces, who may not have understood the true meaning of the occupation. A young Budapest woman and her friends, leaving the pastry shop after their usual Sunday outing, were not surprised to see them; Babi explained that they were used to seeing German military around.1 By midday, German officers were sitting in the finest restaurants and cafés enjoying their Sunday dinner. Yet there was no cheering in Budapest as there had been in Vienna. The population looked on passively as the Germans entered. Sándor Kiss, a student leader, recalled: ‘‘I happened to go up to the castle on that . . . Sunday morning. . . . I hiked up from the streetcar stop on the Széll Kálman square. When I reached the gate, I was surprised to see two soldiers standing on either side, their weapons at the ready—the cannons on either side of the gate. So this was it. I got cold shivers up my spine. . . . I knew that there was big trouble, and it suddenly hit me: the Germans.’’2 Hungary—Enemy Country Very few knew of the circumstances surrounding Admiral Horthy’s visit to Klessheim. Because the Germans delayed his return, sidetracking his train and keeping his company incommunicado, Prime Minister Kállay received no instructions. He had been waiting for news from the regent since March 17 and had gone to bed at midnight after taking a strong dose of sleeping medicine. ‘‘I was hardly in my bed when my direct phone 278 | German Occupation with the ministry of the interior rang. Keresztes-Fischer . . . told me only to get dressed and that he would be with me very quickly because serious events were under way. A few minutes later he arrived to tell me that the frontier guards had reported that the Germans had crossed the border in trains, tanks, and armored cars, the various units evidently heading towards Budapest.’’3 Reports from the army then began to come in. ‘‘According to the general staff the following forces had been concentrated against us: on the western frontier, five German divisions; in the north and around Kassa, one German and one Slovak division; along the southeaster frontier, ten Rumanian divisions; in the Belgrade area, four to five German divisions; westward of this, important Croatian forces had been disposed against us. The only forces that we had ready for action were those in the Carpathians.’’4 Kállay called in the three army commanders who were in Budapest— István Náday, Károly Beregffy, and János Vörös. At that moment two telegrams arrived, one addressed by Foreign Minister Ghyczy to his deputy , Szentmiklóssy, which ran: ‘‘Please Let My Wife Know That I Am Well.’’5 According to the agreed code, this meant military occupation to be expected, but the Germans had purposely delayed transmission of the telegram. The second telegram from Chief of Staff Szombathelyi to his deputy chief of staff, General Jósef Bajnóczy, stated that nothing should be done until the regent returned, and that German troops were to be received as friends. The German military attaché, General Greiffenberg, then arrived with a long telegram from Keitel saying that the German troops were going to occupy Budapest in accordance with an agreement reached between the Führer and the regent. The regent and the new German minister plenipotentiary would arrive the next morning. The Germans would act in a restrained manner but would relentlessly crush any resistance, and if Hungary resisted, the armies of the neighboring countries which were standing in readiness on the borders would march on Budapest. Kállay faced the dilemma whether to act independently or wait for the regent. When he asked the army commanders if they were prepared to accept his instruction to order resistance in the absence of the regent, all three immediately replied that resistance against the Germans was absolutely impossible. Kállay pointed out...

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