people's court

Identifier
003144
Dates
1945-1949
Type of Entity
Corporate Body

History

The twenty-four regional courts in post–World War II Hungary set up in 1945 primarily for the investigation of war crimes. The members of the people’s courts were predominantly political delegates and generally lacked law degrees. About sixty thousand people were tried in the people’s courts in the postwar years, and roughly twenty-seven thousand were found guilty. Of these, 477 people were sentenced to death, and 189 were actually executed.