Accusations against Lajos Esztergár by Pécs Residents before the Post-World War II Verification Committee

Abstract

Lajos Esztergár has a dubious reputation for his role in World War II. He was mayor of the city of Pécs when about 6,000 Jews were deported to Auschwitz. When considering the issue of his responsibility, it is common to discuss his trial in the People's Court, where the court acquitted him of the charges, even if he was morally condemned in the judgment. Historians have so far made little use of the proceedings of the Verification Committee, which also affected Esztergár after the World War in many cases. One reason for this is that we cannot speak about independent decisions in the case of Verification Committees. However, the documents that we have from the proceedings are important information and clues, if not full answers, for the investigation of the former mayor of Pécs. In this article, I examine Esztergár's responsibility in the light of the Verification Committee documents.