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Döme Sztójay, formerly Dimitrije Stojakovic (5th January 1883-22nd August 1946) was prime minister of Hungary from 1944-1945.
Biography edit
Sztójay was born Dimitrije Stojakovic in Vršac in 1883. After joining the Polish army, he fought as a colonel in World War I, eventually becoming a general under regent Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya. Sztójay became Hungarian ambassador to Germany in 1935.
In March 1944, the Nazis invaded Hungary, and removed the prime minister from office, forcing Horthy to instead place Sztójay, who they knew to be loyal to the Third Reich, in his position after discovering the prime minister's plans to surrender unconditionally to the Allies rather than help them.
Despite Horthy's hopes that Sztójay would not fully give in to German demands, he did exactly that, legalizing the Arrow Cross Party under Ferenc Szálasi in order to make sure that an alternative political party to Horthy's government would remain in case Horthy turned on the Nazis. He also dissolved the Hungarian labour unions and imprisoned political dissidents in accordance with Nazi policy, as well as orchestrating deportations of Hungarian Jews. Appalled, Horthy attempted to remove Sztójay from power, but was blocked by the Nazis. However, Horthy persisted and eventually managed to persuade Adolf Hitler to replace Sztójay with Géza Lakatos.
After the Nazis were overthrown at the end of World War II, Sztójay fled but was captured by American troops and extradited to Hungary, where he was convicted of war crimes and executed by firing squad in August 1946.