Béla Kovács (politician, 1908)
Béla Kovács (born April 20, 1908 , † June 21, 1959 ) was a Hungarian politician of the Independent Party of Small Farmers, Farm Workers and the Bourgeoisie .
Ascent
Béla Kovács was born on April 20, 1908. He first attended elementary school and attended specialist courses on agriculture . During this time he also learned to be a waiter. In 1926, Béla Kovács founded a farm according to his youth interests. Seven years later, in 1933, Kovács joined the Small Farmers ' Party , or FKGP for short, which was responsible for representing the interests of small farmers and farmers in politics . After six years in this party, he won the post of deputy general secretary of this party through an internal election and became a candidate for parliament. In 1941 he was appointed general secretary by the Union of Hungarian Peasants .
Minister of Agriculture
During the Second World War , Hungary, like for example Italy ruled by Benito Mussolini , was an ally of the German Empire . Since 1941, Hungary was an ally of Adolf Hitler in his struggle for world domination. When the Red Army was advancing further and further west and the first extermination camps in Poland were about to be liberated by the Soviets, Josef Stalin expelled Hitler from Hungary in autumn 1944 . In Debrecen , convened as the short-term capital, the so-called Provisional Government of Debrecen was formed during this time . This directed the fortunes in Hungary before the Soviet government had completed the formation of a new government. There Béla Kovács initially held the office of Minister of the Interior before becoming Minister of Agriculture a little later . In 1945, when the Second World War was over and the Provisional Government of Debrecen was on the brink of collapse, Kovács was elected General Secretary of his party and for this reason gave up the post of Minister of Agriculture.
arrest
After Béla Kovács held the post of General Secretary of the Small Farmers Party for two years , he was arrested by the Soviet police on February 25, 1947. Without trial, he was taken to one of the dreaded camps in Siberia , where he was supposed to do forced labor for a period of twenty years. Kovács was accused of plotting a conspiracy against the republic.
After eight years in Siberian camps, he was brought back to Hungary by the Soviet Union in 1955 . In the meantime, the situation with regard to dealing with internal opponents in Russia had improved with the death of Stalin. In April 1956, Béla Kovács was released.
Last years of life
In 1956 the popular uprising raged in Hungary . Social forces rose against the communist rulers and the Soviet occupying power. During this revolution, Béla Kovács was jointly responsible for the founding of the Small Farmers Party and became president of the party. He also held the position of Minister of Agriculture in the government of Imre Nagy during the popular uprising . He negotiated with János Kádár about a compromise between the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party , of which Kádár was president. After the popular uprising was suppressed by Soviet troops, Kovács initially sank into political insignificance before he became a member of parliament in 1958. However, he was unable to do this job because of health problems resulting from his Soviet imprisonment.
He died on June 21, 1959 of the long-term effects of his imprisonment in Siberia .
literature
- Bela Kovacs , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 34/1959 of August 10, 1959, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)
Web links
- biography
- 20th century press kit (search for "Kovacs")
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kovács, Béla |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hungarian communist politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 20, 1908 |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 21, 1959 |