Béla Vágó (born ''Béla Weiss''; 9 August 1881 in

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( ) is a city with county rights in central Hungary. It is the List of cities and towns of Hungary, eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun County, Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the ca ...

– 10 March 1939) was a Hungarian

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician, who served as ''de facto''

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

with Jenő Landler during the

Hungarian Soviet Republic The Hungarian Soviet Republic, also known as the Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of Hungary was a short-lived communist state that existed from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919 (133 days), succeeding the First Hungarian Republic. The Hungari ...

. After the fall of the communist regime, he emigrated to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Death

He was arrested on 28 February 1939 on fabricated charges (espionage, counter-revolutionary activity), then sentenced to death on 10 March; the sentence being executed that day. He was buried in the Donskoye Cemetery, Common Grave No. 1. He was rehabilitated on 25 February 1956.

References

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
1881 births 1939 deaths People from Kecskemét Jewish Hungarian politicians Jewish socialists Social Democratic Party of Hungary politicians Ministers of the interior of Hungary Hungarian emigrants to the Soviet Union People granted political asylum in the Soviet Union Jews executed by the Soviet Union Great Purge victims from Hungary Executed communists Soviet rehabilitations {{Hungary-politician-stub