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Revision as of 20:49, 19 July 2013
András Kun (died 19 September 1945, Budapest, Hungary) was a defrocked Roman Catholic priest of the Franciscan Order. He was also an enthusiastic member of Hungary's Fascist and militantly racist Arrow Cross Party. After the Second World War, Father Kun was tried for war crimes by the new People's Republic of Hungary. He was convicted and hanged.
Life
Father Kun was born 8 November 1911 in Nyírbátor, Hungary. He attended seminary in Rome. He then served as a priest within a Franciscan monastery. In 1943, he left the priesthood and moved to Budapest.
In March 1944, the former priest enrolled in the Arrow Cross Party. During the leadup to the German invasion of Hungary, Kun participated in the Arrow Cross' seizure of power by distributing weapons.
Soon after, the Arrow Cross and the Schutzstaffel commenced the extermination of Hungary's Jews. Kun served with Arrow Cross death squads which massacred Jews. During these activities, he continued to dress in his cassock along with a holstered pistol and an Arrow Cross armband.
In late 1944, Kun's squad broke into the Major Street City hospital, where 150 Jewish patients were summarily shot. On another occasion, the St. John's Hospital was invaded by Kun's unit and between 80 and 100 people were murdered. His squad also invaded sheltered housing and abducted some 500 Jews and their protectors. All were shot and thrown into the Danube. On another occasion, men under his command broke into a sanatorium, where, by their own admission, 100 Jewish patients were shot to death.
Father Kun did not flee the city before the Siege of Budapest, but remained behind while continuing operations. His squad routinely subjected those who were hiding Jews to torture and execution. Once, when regular gendarmes arrested and beat him, Kun spent 20 days in prison.
Soon after its release, the Soviet Army completed their capture of Budapest. Kun was arrested and tried for 500 murders by a Hungarian People's Tribunal. During his trial, Kun described his crimes in detail, while also expressing remorse. He was convicted and hanged at Budapest on September 19, 1945.
Legacy
Father Kun's cassock is currently on display at the House of Terror in Budapest.
References
- Marton, Kati (1995). Wallenberg: Missing Hero. New York: Arcade Publishing. p. 137. ISBN 1-55970-276-1. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- Paldiel, Mordecai (2006). Churches and the Holocaust: Unholy Teaching, Good Samaritans, and Reconciliation. New Jersey: Ktav Publishing House. p. 273. ISBN 0-88125-908-X.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - Soros, Tivadar (2001). Masquerade: Dancing around Death in Nazi-Occupied Hungary. New York: Arcade Publishing. p. 254. ISBN 1-55970-581-7.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - "Today we are the ones relating the history of the dictatorships". Wieninternational. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
