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Figure 45: Hungarian Army Colonel Zoltan Pisky (1893-1945) with an impressive array of five (!) Signum Laudis medals: Austro-Hungarian in silver and bronze, Hungarian in bronze with a miniature of war award, another Hungarian in bronze, and in silver for lifesaving.

decoration was awarded in all classes during World War II for acts of valor on the battlefield or for war merit. The class of Knight Cross was certainly most frequent (1574 awards). The number of higher classes was much smaller (262 Officer Crosses, 92 Commander Crosses, only 46 Commander Crosses with Star and a relatively large number of Grand Crosses - 21 awards). Only six individuals were invested with the Class of Grand Cross with the Holy Crown with swords and war ribbon, among them Miklós Horthy von Nagybánya (in 1939, as Regent of Hungary), Finnish Field Marshal Gustav Mannerheim (1941), Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (1942) and Hungarian Chief of Staff, General Henrik Werth (1942).The number of awards with war ribbon or decoration, but without swords, is substantially smaller than the corresponding classes with swords. Parallel to the war awards, civilian awards on the green ribbon continued and the number of these not only exceeded the number

Figure 46: General Béla Miklós (1890-1948), director of the Office of the Regent and acting Prime Minister (1944-1945), a recipient of the Large Gold Signum Laudis Medal with swords and double Commander Cross with star (with and without swords). The sash is of the Third Reich Order of the German Eagle (Wikipedia).

of war awards, but were two to three times (depending on class) as large as the number of awards between 1935 and 1939. Also the number of the bronze Signum Laudis awards, considered a junior class of the order, was fairly impressive, amounting to 2052 civilian awards, 1924 awards with war ribbon and as many as 4810 awards with the war ribbon and swords. However in the case of the silver Signum Laudis, which was a second-time award, these numbers fall to 200, 64, and 467 awards respectively. It should be added that only 18 individuals received the silver medal with bar.2 The Large Gold Signum Laudis with war ribbon was one of the rarest Hungarian awards: only seven persons obtained the medal with swords and just two without swords between 1939 and 1944.

A few words should be devoted to presentation boxes, in which particular classes of the order and accompanying medals were issued and kept. They were red cardboard boxes, usually with a gold St. Stephen’s crown and (not always) an ornamental motive stamped on the cover (Figure 47). Sometimes the double Hungarian cross was placed under the crown and if the decoration had swords, they could be added instead. Occasionally, the image of

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the order badge replaced the crown, most often in awards with swords. Boxes for orders had a distinctive shape, borrowed from imperial times, with a semicircular end on one side. The size of the box depended on the class. Boxes for medals were usually rectangular with rounded edges, although semicircular boxes for medals, as well as rectangular for orders can also be found. Officer crosses were kept in square boxes, similar boxes, but larger, were occasionally used to store order stars alone. The inside of the box was most usually grayish beige. The box for the Grand Cross with the Holy Crown of Hungary was made of dark-red leather.

Although new in the Hungarian tradition, the form of a cross pattée soon became the model for other decorations. Thus in 1940 the Regent established a National Defense Cross (Nemzetvédelmi Kereszt) (Figure 48), awarded for fighting Communism, and in the following year a Fire Cross (Tűzkereszt) in three classes, for Hungarian participants during World War II.

Hungary was able to remain neutral until 1941. In the spring of that year the country was forced to let German troops pass through its territory to attack Yugoslavia, and after the outbreak of war between Germany and the USSR, the Hungarian Second Army was sent to support

Figure 48: Obverse of the National Defense Cross (1940).

the Wehrmacht, and in 1943 it was almost entirely annihilated by the Red Army. Still, the war had not yet reached the Hungarian homeland.

This however was soon to come. In 1944 Hungarian authorities saw the alliance with Nazi Germany more and more inconvenient, and with Horthy’s consent,

Figure 47: Presentation boxes: (1) Grand Cross, 1922-38; (2) Grand Cross star, 1930-38; (3) Commander Cross, 1939-44; (4) Commander Cross with swords and war ribbon, 1939-1944; (5) Grand Cross with the

Holy Crown, 1939-44.

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began secret negotiations with the Western Allies. When Hitler became aware of the negotiations he ordered the Wehrmacht to occupy Hungary (in March 1944) and the Admiral was forced to dismiss prime minister Miklós Kállay and replace him with pro-German Döme Sztójay (one of the two recipients of the Gold Signum Laudis with war ribbon), former ambassador in the Third Reich, who acceded to Hitler’s demands. Sztójay legalized the Hungarian fascist party (known as the Arrow Cross) and allowed deportation of the Hungarian Jewish population to German concentration camps where most of them ultimately perished.

Facing the approaching Red Army, Horthy decided once again to do what he felt was best for his country and in August replaced Sztójay with General Géza Lakatos (Figure 49) who instantly ordered deportations to cease and reopened peace negotiations with the Allies.

Figure 49: General Géza Lakatos (1890-1967), commander of the 1st Hungarian Army and Prime Minister of Hungary (August-October 1944), wearing the sash and star of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit with swords and war decoration, the Commander Cross of the order with star, the Cross of Merit 3rd Class and the Large Gold Signum Laudis

Medal with swords (Wikipedia).

On March 1, 1944 Admiral Horthy instituted probably the last award of the era of Regency, known as the Civil Defense Cross of Merit (Polgári Honvédelmi

Érdemkereszt) (Figure 50). Although actually a separate award, it is sometimes considered a special type of the Cross of Merit, hence it seems worthy of mentioned here. It had three classes and was intended for civilians who had distinguished themselves in service in defense of the country.

Figure 50: Silver Civil Defense Cross of Merit, 1944.

The cross indeed looked very similar to the Cross of Merit. It is a gold, silver or bronze cross pattée, 43 x 43 mm, with smooth arms. In the middle of the medallion surrounded by a laurel wreath is the Hungarian coat of arms on a multi-rayed background. The reverse, without a wreath, had a semicircular inscription A HONVÉDELEMÉRT (for defense of the country) and the year 1944 below. Due to wartime material shortages, most crosses were made in silvered or bronzed aluminum. As far as it is known, no gold cross was ever conferred. The ribbon, the same for all classes, was red with a green stripe in the center, flanked by narrower white stripes.

In September, the Red Army entered Hungary and on September 20, 1944 the last amendment to the cross was announced. Any class awarded for bravery while defending the country at the risk of one’s life, should be worn with a gilt laurel-branch on the ribbon. Crosses awarded to underage boys or girls would be adorned with a similar branch with enamel described as “in fire color.” It is not known if this amendment was ever put into effect.

On October 15, 1944 Horthy announced on the radio that an armistice with the Soviet Union had been signed. Hitler’s reaction was immediate. He ordered Horthy deposed from office and deported to the Reich (the Germans had kidnapped Horthy’s son, Miklós Jr.