Stöckler, Lajos (1897 - 1960)

Industrialist, member of the Third and Fourth Jewish Councils. During the Szálasi regime, he became de facto head of the Council and one of the leaders of the “large” ghetto of Budapest. After the war, he became President of the Pest Israelite Congregation and the National Office of Hungarian Israelites. In 1950, Stöckler was appointed head of the National Representation of Hungarian Israelites (Magyar Izraeliták Országos Képviselete), the unified organisation of Hungarian Jewish communities forcefully set up by the communist regime. In January 1953, he was arrested on fabricated charges of murdering Raoul Wallenberg in 1945 and brutally tortured. He was convicted, but released in early 1954. In 1956 he emigrated to Australia.