Lajos Wienermann

Lajos Jenő Wienermann (western name order, 1888–1918) was a Hungarian Hussar who became a prisoner of war of the Russian Empire, but after the Bolshevik revolution was able to join the Red Army where he formed a battalion of internationalist soldiers, most notable of whom were the 'Hungarian Hussars' who defeated the White cossack army on several occasions.

Early life

Wienermann was born in 1888 in Jászberény in the Kingdom of Hungary. From an early age he helped his stepfather who was a tinsmith. At this age he already had left leaning views because he joined the Social Democratic Party and took part in the trade union movement and right before the war became the secretary of Jászberény's tinsmith union.

Fighting in the First World War

In 1914, Wienermann was drafted a hussar and due to his bravery was eventually promoted to sergeant. Not long after his promotion he was captured and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Tomsk in 1915. There he met important Hungarian socialist prisoners most notable of them being Béla Kun, whom he later became close friends with. In 1917 he attempted to escape back to Hungary but was stopped by German soldiers in Belarus and returned to Russian occupied Minsk. Meanwhile, in the Saratov prisoner of war camp the 1st Saratov International Cavalry Regiment was created, composed of 300 Hungarian Hussars, led by Sándor Kellner. These Hussars did not wear typical Bolshevik uniforms but instead the Hungarian Hussar uniform.

Joining the Red Army

After sending socialist propaganda leaflets to the prisoners in the local camp he created the 1st Minsk International Detachment of the Red Guard composed mostly of Slavic nationalities (Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, and Croats). Sándor Kellner, commander of the Hungarian Hussars of the Red Army. In May 1918 Wienermann and 300 volunteers from his battalion were sent to Astrakhan to help Vasily Chapayev defend the city from the Czechoslovak Legion and White Army. The Red Army usually lacked effective cavalry but this changed when the battalion was joined by the 3 squadrons of Hungarian Hussars led by Sándor Kellner, these hussars were extremely important for the defense of Samara and Astrakhan. By the time Wienermann arrived, the prisoners he tried to save were already executed. One of the prisoners killed was the brother of the Hussar Ferenc Muller. Muller chased after the retreating Cossacks and killed a few before eventually detaching far away from the other soldiers and was presumably killed. After the battle many resources were captured, mostly guns, sabres and horses, but among them was an American produced motorcycle, Wienermann took the motorcycle for himself. On the motorcycle he carried a sabre, hand-held machine gun and a few grenades and he would conduct many raids with it, in battles switching between horse and motorcycle.