Battle for Budapest: 100 Days in World War II

Battle for Budapest: 100 Days in World War II

BookBudapest ostroma
Copyright Holder (Text)Ungváry Krisztián
Translated byLadislaus Löb
ImprintI.B. Tauris
Copyright HolderI.B. Tauris
PublisherI.B. Tauris & Co Ltd
Typeset byDexter Haven Associates
Printed and Bound byMPG Books Ltd
About/SubjectHungary, World War II
FormatHardback
LanguageEnglish
LocationUK
This Edition Published2003
Copyright2003
Pages / Font366 pages
ISBN1 86064 727 8
ChaptersIllustrations vii Maps ix Map Legend x Preface xi Introduction: Hungary and the Second World War xiv I Prelude 1 1 The general situation in the Carpathian Basin, autumn 1944 1 2 ‘They are coming!’ – the first Soviet offensive against Budapest 3 3 The second Soviet offensive against Budapest – Ercsi and Hatvan 16 4 The third stage of the operations 25 II The Encirclement 40 1 Hungarian drôle de guerre – Christmas 1944 in the Budapest cauldron 40 2 The encirclement of Buda 49 3 Besiegers and besieged 56 III The Siege, 26 December 1944–11 February 1945 92 1 The hostilities on the Pest side from 24 December 1944 92 2 The siege of Pest, first phase: 30 December 1944–5 January 1945 102 3 The siege of Pest, second phase: 5–18 January 1945 – fighting in the city centre 109 4 The siege of Buda: 24 December 1944–19 January 1945 125 5 Fighting on Margit Island 135 6 The siege of Buda: 20 January–11 February 1945 137 IV Relief Attempts 160 1 Operation Konrad I 162 2 Operation Konrad II 164 3 Operation Konrad III 168 V The Break-out 172 1 The antecedents 172 2 Strategic plans and ideas 174 3 The situation of the garrison at the time of the break-out 178 4 ‘The First Act of Despair’ 179 5 The journey through the Ördög-Árok culvert 187 6 The escapees’ further progress 193 7 Arrivals 198 8 Events in the Castle District and the military hospitals 201 9 The German Army Group South’s reaction to the break-out 204 10 Soviet views on the break-out 207 11 The outcome 210 VI The Siege and the Population 216 1 The plight of the Hungarian population 216 2 The persecution of the Jews 236 3 The resistance 252 4 Hungarian soldiers on the Soviet side 264 5 Zero hour – it’s all over 268 6 The treatment of the prisoners of war 273 7 The Soviet crimes 279 8 The Soviet soldiers’ mentality as reflected in contemporary recollections 291 9 Life goes on 295 VII Epilogue 311 Tables 317 Bibliography 337 Photographic Acknowledgements 357 People Index 358 Place Index 361
NotesThe title appears in the book as BATTLE FOR BUDAPEST One Hundred Days in World War II Published in 2003 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 Website: http://www.ibtauris.com First published in German as Die Schlacht um Budapest 1944/45 © 1999 by F.A. Herbig Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH, Munich Original Hungarian edition: Budapest Ostroma (Corvina, Budapest, 1998) Original text © Krisztián Ungváry Translated by Ladislaus Löb Copyright © I.B. Tauris, 2003
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