ÁVH

ÁVH (Hungarian: Államvédelmi Hatóság or ÁVH, English: The State Protection Authority) was the secret police of the People's Republic of Hungary from 1945 until 1956. It was conceived as an external appendage of the Soviet Union's secret police forces and gained an indigenous reputation for brutality during a series of purges beginning in 1948, intensifying in 1949 and ending in 1953.