page_title: Operation Panzerfaust
section_title: Horthy's declaration of armistice
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Panzerfaust / Horthy's declaration of armistice
caption_attribution_description: Information added by Wikimedia users.Magyar: A felvétel helyszíne: Budai Vár, Szent György tér, a Királyi Palota mellett. A képen látható épület József főherceg ekkor még álló palotája (korábban Teleki grófi palota). Ez ma már nem látható, az 1944-es ostrom alatt súlyosan megsérült, a 60-as években lebontották. Időpont: 1944. október 15-16 körül, a nyilas hatalomátvétel napjaiban. Deutsch: Ort der Aufnahme: Burgviertel von Buda, am Sankt-Georg-Platz, nähe der Burgpalastes (Königlichen Schlosses). Die Fassade im Bild ist der ehem. Palais Erzherzog Joseph August von Österreich, (früher Palais der Grafen Teleki). Der Palais steht heute nicht mehr, er wurde im Weltkrieg, bei der Belagerung von 1944 schwer beschädigt, und in den 1960-er Jahren komplett demoliert und abgerissen. Zeitpunkt: 15-16 Oktober 1944, nach dem Tag der Machtübernahme der Pfeilkreuzler. English: Location: The Castle district of Buda, on St. George Square, near the Royal Castle. The photo shows the façade of the Palace of Archduke Joseph August of Austria (earlier Palace of the Counts Teleki). The Palace does not exist any more, as it was severely damaged during the siege of 1944, and completely demolished in the 1960s. Date and time: On 15 or 16 October 1944, when the Arrow Cross Party seized power. Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503. Only Tiger II unit to go to Budapest&#91;1&#93; ↑ Schneider, Tigers in Combat I, map of area of operations ISBN 9780811731713
context_page_description: Operation Panzerfaust was a military operation undertaken in October 1944 by the German Wehrmacht to ensure the Kingdom of Hungary would remain a German ally in World War II. When German dictator Adolf Hitler received word that Hungary's Regent, Admiral Miklós Horthy, was secretly negotiating his country's surrender to the advancing Red Army, he sent commando leader Otto Skorzeny of the Waffen-SS and former special forces commander Adrian von Fölkersam to Hungary. Hitler feared that Hungary's surrender would expose his southern flank, where the Kingdom of Romania had just joined with the Soviets and cut off a million German troops still fighting the Soviet advance in the Balkan peninsula. The operation was preceded by Operation Margarethe in March 1944, which was the occupation of Hungary by German forces, which Hitler had hoped would secure Hungary's place in the Axis powers.
context_section_description: Working through his trustworthy General Béla Miklós, who was in contact with Soviet forces in eastern Hungary, Horthy attempted to negotiate the end of the war, seeking to surrender to the Soviets while preserving the government's autonomy.  Although Horthy was an intractable anti-Communist, his dealings with the Nazis led him to conclude the Soviets were the lesser evil. The Soviets willingly promised that Hungary would remain autonomous and sovereign.
  Horthy governed from Castle Hill in central Budapest, an ancient and now well-guarded fortress. He blamed the German government for "forcing" Hungary into war, and during a meeting of the Crown Council declared that:
  Today it is obvious to any sober-minded person that the German Reich has lost the war. All governments responsible for the destiny of their countries must draw the appropriate conclusions from this fact, for as a great German statesman, Bismarck, once said, "No nation ought to sacrifice itself on the altar of an alliance." … I decided to safeguard Hungary’s honour even against her former ally, although this ally, instead of supplying the promised military help, meant finally to rob the Hungarian nation of its greatest treasure, its freedom and independence. I informed a representative of the German Reich that we were about to conclude a military armistice with our former enemies and to cease all hostilities against them.
  At 2:00 p.m. on 15 October 1944, Horthy announced in a national radio broadcast that Hungary had signed an armistice with the Soviets.  However, the Germans had been aware of Horthy's behind-the-scenes manoeuvring and had already set in motion plans to replace his government with forces loyal to the German cause, effectively occupying Hungary. With Nazi help, the Arrow Cross Party seized the radio station shortly after Horthy signed off.  A party member wrote a counter-proclamation and used the name of the Hungarian Army's Chief of the General Staff, General Vörös. The commanding officer and his assistant of the two remaining Hungarian army units in Budapest were arrested or disappeared, and their soldiers fell in line with the Arrow-Cross party.
   Skorzeny then brazenly led a convoy of German troops and four Tiger II tanks to the Vienna Gates of Castle Hill. Horthy recognized that he had no means to fight the German armor and superior forces. He issued orders that "no resistance should be made." One unit did not get these orders, and fought the Germans for about 30 minutes.
caption: A Tiger II tank in Budapest near Buda Castle.
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