Lajos Fehér

Lajos Fehér (born December 15, 1917 in Szeghalom , Békés county ; † November 1, 1981 in Budapest ) was a Hungarian journalist and politician of the Hungarian Communist Party MKP (Magyar Kommunista Párt) , the party of the Hungarian working people MDP (Magyar Dolgozók Pártja) and later the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party MSZMP (Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt) , who as a journalist temporarily supported Imre Nagy's reform course before the Hungarian popular uprising in 1956 and later was secretary of the MSZMP Central Committee and Vice Prime Minister. Until his disempowerment in 1974, he had a decisive influence on the economic reform course during the Kádár era .

Life

Studies, MKP member and World War II

Fehér, who came from a peasant family, graduated in 1936 his schooling at András Péter - school his hometown Szeghalom and began a subsequent teaching degree the subjects Historical Sciences and Latin at the István Tisza - University of Debrecen , where he graduated in 1941 with a teaching certificate. In 1937 he joined the March Front (Márciusi Front) and worked as a journalist in Budapest in the independence movement. In the following years he worked as an editor for daily newspapers such as Szabad Szó (Free Word), Kis Újság (Small Newspaper) and Népszava (People's Voice) and in 1942 he joined the illegal Hungarian Communist Party MKP (Magyar Kommunista Párt) .

After he was released after a brief detention for his political activities, he worked for the Hungarian Farmers' Union (Magyar Parasztszövetség) in order to prepare their conference scheduled for 1944 in Vésztő . In addition, he became an employee of the national organization of the MKP in autumn 1943 and a member of the party's military committee in September 1944. There he helped organize and manage the armed resistance against the occupation of Hungary by Germany as part of the Margarethe company during World War II .

Post war and temporary support from Imre Nagy

After the war, Fehér was in September 1945 to lieutenant colonel and in 1946 deputy head of the political police (Politikai Rendészeti Osztály) of the state police, from the 1946 first the State Security Department of the Hungarian State Police (Magyar Államrendőrség Államvédelmi Osztálya) and 1948, the State Inspectorate of the Interior Ministry ÁVH ( State Protection Authority ) has been. However, he himself was dismissed from the police force in May 1947 and instead took a job as an editor at the weekly newspaper Szabad Föld (Free Land), founded in 1944 .

In the elections of May 15, 1950, Fehér was elected for the first time as a candidate on the joint list of the Hungarian Independent Popular Front MFN (Magyar Függetlenségi Népfront) as a member of the Hungarian Parliament (Országgyűlés) and initially represented the county in this until May 8, 1950 Békés .

After Prime Minister Imre Nagy began the reform course , he became a candidate for the Central Committee (ZK) of the MDP on May 20, 1954, and in July 1954 a member of the editorial board and shortly thereafter deputy editor-in-chief of the Szabad Néphez (Free People) newspaper . In March 1955, however, he was released from these functions and in May 1955 became director of a state agricultural cooperative on Lake Balaton .

Political career during the Kádár era

Central Committee Secretary and Vice Prime Minister

During the Hungarian popular uprising , Fehér joined the party wing in János Kádár and on October 24, 1956, became a member of the Central Military Commission of the MDP. In November 1956 he was first the second deputy editor-in-chief of Népszabadság (People's Freedom), the Hungarian daily newspaper with the highest circulation, and on December 8, 1956, after his predecessor's dismissal, he was himself editor-in-chief.

Shortly before, on November 7, 1956, Fehér became a member of the Politburo of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party MSZMP (Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt), which emerged from the MDP, and was a member of this top management body of the party during the Kádár era until March 22, 1975. At the same time he was a member of the Central Committee of the MSZMP from November 7, 1956 until his death. In addition, he acted in December 1956 as government commissioner for coal deliveries.

In February 1957 he was first head of the Central Committee's Department for Agriculture and was then from December 5, 1959 to November 24, 1962 Central Committee Secretary for Agriculture. At the same time he was a member of the State Economic Commission of the Central Committee of the MSZMP between 1959 and 1966. On November 27, 1962 he became vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers and as such played a leading role in the reform of agricultural production in 1966.

In the elections of November 16, 1958, he was again elected as a candidate on the joint list of the Hungarian Independent Popular Front MFN and the Patriotic Popular Front HNF (Hazafias Népfront) as a member of the Hungarian Parliament and represented there again until January 28, 1967 Békés county.

Economic reform course and disempowerment

In these functions, Fehér had a significant influence on Hungary's economic reform course during the Kadar era and was also a member of the party's economic policy committee from March 1966 to 1974. In 1970 he took over the function of chairman of a central committee working group which took over the supervision and control of 18 state organizations for the promotion of economic production.

Against the background of the restalinization policy of Leonid Brezhnev , however, the influence of the Hungarian reform socialists Rezső Nyers , Lajos Fehér, Jenő Fock and György Aczél were restricted from 1972 and Kádár's zeal for reform was greatly relativized. In 1974 Fehér then lost his position as chairman of the Central Working Group of the Central Committee and at the XI. Party congress on March 22, 1975 together with Nyers also had its seat in the Politburo of the Central Committee.

Web links

• Entry in Történelmi Tár (Hungarian)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Tibor Huszár: Kádár János politikai életrajza. P. 246ff.