Foundation of the Arrow Cross Party

The Arrow Cross Party was founded on 15 March 1939, under the leadership of Ferenc Szálasi, through the unification of fragmented far-right movements. The ideology known as 'Hungarism' was a mystical belief, a specifically Hungarian fusion of nationalism and socialism. In the 1939 elections, the party became the second largest political force, with its base mainly consisting of the lower middle class and the urban poor. The party's exclusionary worldview treated minorities, including the Roma, as alien and harmful elements “to the national body”. After the Arrow Cross takeover in 1944, this ideology was put into practice: alongside collaboration with the Germans, the systematic persecution of these groups began, including their rounding up into concentration camps and their deportation.