Lajos Esztergár before the People’s Court: The Mayor of Pécs and the Ho-locaust

Abstract

The purpose of the study. Lajos Esztergár, a former mayor of Pécs, is remembered with different emotions by different groups today. Suppressed during the communist regime, his memory was revived immediately upon the 1989/90 fall of that regime. On the one hand, conservative and nationalist intellectuals and politicians, with some nostalgia for interwar Hungary, celebrated him (and continue to do so) as a positive local representative of that system, ostensibly for having introduced a number of social reforms. On the other hand, those for whom his participation in the deportation of Jews from the city in 1944 outweighs his merits as a social reformer, criticize his celebration. The fact that he was brought before the People’s Court twice between 1945 and 1949 but acquitted has allowed his supporters to ignore or explain away his role in the Holocaust. This paper seeks to examine whether the judgment of the People’s Court provides sufficient reason to morally acquit him, as has been done by his supporters. It also probes the question of whether there was a connection between his social welfare goals and his willingness to participate in the deportations. Applied methods. Analysis of archival sources, especially the indictment and verdict of his first trial, as well as secondary sources, contemporary newspapers, and laws. Outcomes. We show that there is reason to doubt the objectivity of those involved in Esztergár’s legal acquittal. We provide new evidence to demonstrate that his actions before, during, and after the deportations point to his motives for retaining his position in 1944. It was so that he could arrange for the use of the confiscated properties of the Jews to fund a conservative and nationalist program for the amelioration of poverty.