Gábor Péter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The native form of this personal name is Péter Gábor. This article uses the Western name order.

Gábor Péter (born as Benjámin Eisenberger in Újfehértó, 14 May 1906 – Budapest, 23 January 1993) was a Hungarian Communist politician, of Jewish origin. Between 1945 and 1952 he was the absolute leader of the State Protection Authority (Államvédelmi Hatóság) which responsible for much cruelty, brutality and many political purges.

During his early years he worked as a tailor. He took part in the labour movements from the last years of the 1920s. In 1931 he joined to the Hungarian Communist Party.

In January 1945 he was appointed as leader of the Budapest Police Main Command Political Department (PRO). Péter's career rose quickly then: he became leader of the Hungarian State Police State Protection Department (ÁVO) then the State Protection Authority (ÁVH). Under his leadership the organization committed serious illegitimacies and crimes against the humanity. Gábor Péter had big role in the organizing of the show trials.

In 1952 he was discharged from his position. Later he was arrested in Mátyás Rákosi's villa. According to historian Tibor Zinner, Gábor Péter was present on an official visit. Unexpectedly a handcuff clicked on his hand put back. After that Mihály Farkas stepped forward from behind the curtain and said: "the game is over". Gábor Péter's wife, Jolán Simon who served as Rákosi's secretary was also arrested.

He was accused of being a Zionist spy who cooperated with Laszlo Rajk, Rudolf Slansky and other "agents of international Zionism". In 1954 a court martial sentenced him to life imprisonment. In 1957 his term of imprisonment was significantly reduced and in 1959 he was released. After that he worked as a librarian.

Source

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon 1000-1990.
Gábor Péter's birth entry Újfehértó births, No. 1906/173.

Authority control	VIAF: 202292004

Persondata
Name	Peter, Gabor
Alternative names
Short description	Hungarian politician
Date of birth	14 May 1906
Place of birth
Date of death	23 January 1993
Place of death

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.