Bela Kiraly
| Béla Király | |
|---|---|
Béla Király in 1995
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| Born |
Király Béla Kálmán 14 April 1912 Kaposvár, Hungary |
| Died | 4 July 2009 (aged 97) Budapest |
| Resting place | Plot: Section 300, ÚJKÖZTEMETÕ, Budapest |
| Education |
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| Spouse(s) | Sarolta Gömbös (1947-1955 div.) (niece of Gyula Gömbös) |
| Relatives | nephew, Attila Tevely |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
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| Service/branch | Hungarian army |
| Years of service | 1930-1951 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Commands held |
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| Battles/wars | |
| Notes | |
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Dr. Béla Király (14 April 1912 – 4 July 2009) was a Hungarian army officer before, during, and after World War II. After the war, he was sentenced to life in prison under the Soviet-allied regime, but was later released. After his release, he commanded the National Guard in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. He then fled to the United States, where he became an academic historian. He returned to Hungary after the collapse of the Soviet Bloc and was elected a member of Hungarian Parliament.
He was born in Kaposvár, Hungary, the son of a station master. As a youth he bred pigeons, a lifelong interest. His ambition to be a veterinary surgeon foundered because his family could not afford the fees. Color blindness barred his employment by the railroad. In 1930, military service became compulsory - two years for conscripts but only one year for volunteers. He joined the army, found it interesting, finished the Ludovika Military Academy in the top 5% of his class, and was commissioned a second lieutenant 20 August 1935. As a student at the General Staff Academy he was promoted to captain of in December 1942.
Hungary joined the Axis powers and declared war on the Soviet Union in 1941. Király saw combat on the eastern front and was twice wounded. In 1943 he commanded 400 men guarding a Jewish labor battalion in the Don river valley. Contrary to orders, he provided them with warm clothing, decent food, and medical attention. In 1993, Yad Vashem named him one of the “Righteous Among the Nations”, recognizing his humane treatment of the Jewish prisoners.
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Wikipedia