Ferenc Rajniss

Ferenc Rajniss
Ministers of the Arrow Cross Party government. Ferenc Rajniss is in the first from left of the upper row.
Born	Ferenc Rheinisch (1893-07-24)24 July 1893 Bardejov, Sáros County, Austria-Hungary
Died	Budapest
Cause of death	Executed
Ethnicity	Swabian German
Citizenship	Hungarian
Occupation	Journalist
Known for	Politician and Nazi collaborator
Title	Minister of Education
Term	1944–1945
Political party	Hungarian National Defence Association, National Front, Hungarian National Socialist Party, National Federation, Arrow Cross Party

The native form of this personal name is Rajniss Ferenc. This article uses the Western name order.

Ferenc Rajniss (born Rheinisch) (24 July 1893 – 12 March 1946) was a Hungarian journalist, socialite and fascist politician. He belonged to the pro-Nazi Germany tendency within Hungarian politics

Emergence

Born in Bardejov (at the time part of Austria–Hungary but now in Slovakia) to a Swabian German family, Rajniss's surname initially reflected his German origins before he changed it to a Hungarian version. As a journalist Rajniss belonged to the Szeged fascist camp and was a supporter of Gyula Gömbös. He founded his own weekly paper, Magyar Futár, in support of this movement and it soon became notorious for its anti-Semitism. Before long he had secured funding from Nazi Germany for his political endeavours and this was to be one of his two main source of income, the other being acting as a 'toy boy' to a number of wealthy old women.

Member of the Diet

Rajniss was elected to the Diet of Hungary in the early 1930s, initially as a representative of the minor far right National Front. However he left this group in October 1937 to join with Zoltán Böszörmény and Fidél Pálffy in launching the United Hungarian National Socialist Party, one of a number of largely failed attempts to bring Hungary's Nazis under one umbrella.

Rajniss then became a supporter of Béla Imrédy and in 1938 joined the governing party as a result of his change of position. He followed his leader into the Party of National Renewal when Imrédy founded this opposition group in 1940.

Nazism

Rajniss launched a second paper, Esti Ujság, which he continued to edit until 1944 and which offered a pro-Nazi agenda. He became a trusted ally of the Nazis and specifically collaborated closely with the RSHA. By this time Rajniss had again switched his support, this time to Ferenc Szálasi and in 1944 he formed his own political party, the pro-Szálasi "Nemzeti Szovetseg" (National Federation), which contained about 200 members of Parliament committed to continuing the war on the side of the Nazis. Rajniss played a leading role in Szálasi's rise to power and was appointed part of the three man governing council with which the Germans replaced Miklós Horthy in 1944, alongside Károly Beregffy and Sándor Csia. He was also appointed Minister of Education in the new government, a position he held until the fall of Szálasi in March 1945.

Arrested after the collapse of the government he was judged as a leading figure in collaborationism and was executed in Budapest.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Iván Rakovszky	Minister of Religion and Education 1944–1945	Succeeded by Ferenc Szálasi