In 1944, the German Army was outnumbered and retreating on every front. In March of that year, Adolf Hitler diverted troops from ongoing campaigns to attack Hungary, a country which had been Germany’s ally throughout the war. Why?
Strategically located in central Europe, Hungary was a major agricultural supplier of the German Army. Although it was an Axis nation, Hungary’s government was engaged in secret peace negotiations with the Allies. Hitler was aware of this, and he knew that if Hungary and the Allies signed a treaty, the Hungarian Army could be mobilized to fight against Germany. The invasion of Hungary was a military necessity.
The German leadership was also eager to gain access to the more than 600,000 Jews of Hungary — the last major Jewish community left in Europe. Immediately after the invasion, German officers and Hungarian fascist collaborators began rounding up the Jews of the Hungarian countryside. Only a few months later, the Soviet Army began taking Hungarian territory back from the Germans. But by then, more than 400,000 Jews had been deported to the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
