The local population warmly welcomes a Hungarian unit during the recovery of Northern Erdely (Transylvania) from Rumania after the Second Vienna Award, 1940.

Liberation of Northern Erdely, 1940

Visitors before the war often considered Budapest as one of the beautiful cities of the world.  But the siege seriously damaged not only some of the famous public buildings, like the ornate Royal Palace and the neo-Gothic, spired house of parliament, but also destroyed or seriously damaged about 1/3 of the all other structures, like apartment houses and private villas. All of the Danube bridges were in ruins and  most of the numerous factories had been seriously disrupted. 

The human suffering and casualties were also unprecedented for the city as well, a subject that deserves separate treatment later. Above is a photo showing retail stores burning on a major thoroughfare, as some people try to carry on with daily activities. The rebuilding is still less than complete today,  almost seven decades later. (Of course, the Revolution of 1956 left a few pockmarks as well.)



BUDAPEST SIEGE: The Destruction of a Grand City

Nicknamed the Király Géppisztoly (Royal Machine Pistol), this little-known Hungarian-made SMG is widely viewed as one of the best of WWII, and at least one source describes it as an intermediate step between the SMG and the assault rifle: the 39.M has the longest barrel of any SMG, providing better accuracy. Its sister weapon, the 43.M, was essentially the same weapon with a folding stock and a slightly shorter barrel. The gun is little known in the West; understandably so, as most copies were lost on the eastern front.