Sopronkőhida
Encyclopedia
Sopronkőhida is a village in North Western Hungary, 4 km north of the city Sopron
and 5 km south of the border with Austria
.
, were imprisoned here, with Bajcsy-Zsilinszky executed in late 1944. After World War II, the prison served as the holding facility for the Allied Military Tribunals
until 1947, when it reverted again to serve as a prison until 1951. Prior to World War II, it served as a workhouse, and after 1951, the buildings were used for successive commercial enterprises.
The Austrian border near the village was the site of the 1989 Pan-European Picnic
breach by East Germans gathered to escape to Western Europe
, and which precipitated the collapse of the Iron Curtain
.
Sopron
In 1910 Sopron had 33,932 inhabitants . Religions: 64.1% Roman Catholic, 27.8% Lutheran, 6.6% Jewish, 1.2% Calvinist, 0.3% other. In 2001 the city had 56,125 inhabitants...
and 5 km south of the border with Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Significance
The village is the location of an infamous Hungarian military prison. Its notoriety stems from its use in 1944, by the Nyilas government to incarcerate, torture, and execute its opponents. Famous prisoners, like General Vilmos Nagy of Nagybaczon, and Endre Bajcsy-ZsilinszkyEndre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky
Endre Kálmán Bajcsy-Zsilinszky , was an influential Hungarian politician and an important voice in the struggle against German expansion and military policy.-Family history:...
, were imprisoned here, with Bajcsy-Zsilinszky executed in late 1944. After World War II, the prison served as the holding facility for the Allied Military Tribunals
Mauthausen-Gusen camp trials
The Mauthausen-Gusen camp trials were a set of two consecutive trials of the German World War II criminals, carried over by the Dachau International Military Tribunal. Between March 29 and May 13, 1946, and then from August 6 to August 21, 1947, a total of 69 former Nazi officials were tried...
until 1947, when it reverted again to serve as a prison until 1951. Prior to World War II, it served as a workhouse, and after 1951, the buildings were used for successive commercial enterprises.
The Austrian border near the village was the site of the 1989 Pan-European Picnic
Pan-European Picnic
The Pan-European Picnic was a peace demonstration held on the Austrian-Hungarian border near the town of Sopron on 19 August 1989, an important event in political developments which led to the fall of the Iron Curtain and the reunification of Germany...
breach by East Germans gathered to escape to Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, and which precipitated the collapse of the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
.