Fidél Pálffy

Count Fidél Pálffy ab Erdőd (6 May 1895 – 2 March 1946) was a Hungarian nobleman who emerged as a leading supporter of Nazism in Hungary.

Early life After service in the First World War he lived on an estate in Czechoslovakia before returning to Hungary, where he was left bankrupt by the Great Depression of 1929.

Pro-Nazi activity He founded a group called the Hungarian National Socialist Party in 1933 and later merged it with two similar groups under Sándor Festetics and Zoltán Meskó. By 1935 Pálffy had assumed control of this group, although it failed to prosper as support drifted to Gyula Gömbös. He also became an important contact for Wilhelm Höttl during his work on behalf of the SS in Budapest. Ultimately, as Minister of Agriculture during the period of Nazi dominance, Pálffy was held to be guilty of collaboration and was hanged for treason in March 1946.