Defence Minister Takes General’s Inheritance

On November 4 the Manfred Wörner Hall of the Ministry of Defence hosted an event with an intimate atmosphere. Acting upon the legal heirs’ request, Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende took the inheritance of General Miklós Gyulai Gaál, a soldier of the 1848/49 Hungarian War of Independence.

The general’s direct line descendant great-great grandchild, Jesuit Professor Dr. Péter Nemeshegyi and the outgoing custodian of the inheritance also attended the event. The Defence Minister delivered a speech in which he said that the occasion was really elevating, and that he thought highly of the heirs’ decision to turn to the Ministry of Defence.

Dr. István Kausz, the outgoing custodian informed the Defence Minister that the papers had been written in German by General Miklós Gyulai Gaál. “These private documents reveal a soldier’s story and the general’s family relations", Dr. István Kausz said, adding that Miklós Gyulai Gaál stood up for the cause of the Hungarian Revolution in 1848. When the War of Independence was lost he was sentenced to death in Arad, and he would not have been pardoned but for his loving wife’s intervention. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and died in the dungeon of Arad.

István Kausz also noted that most of the inheritance consists of a copy of the correspondence between the general as a young imperial officer and his mother. The letters were transcribed by his wife into Hungarian and German in a copy-book.

The rest of the inheritance is made up of articles, studies and strategic proposals as to how to conduct certain military operations in the War of Independence. István Kausz made an interesting point by saying that no general’s inheritance has been archived since 1945.

In his answer, Dr. Csaba Hende said he had insisted on taking the inheritance personally. The papers will be in the safe keeping of the Archives of the MoD Military History Institute and Museum. By putting a signature on the certificate of donation, the Ministry of Defence certifies that the general’s heirs are the sole proprietors of the inheritance which they hand over to the institution for safe keeping and handling so that anyone may study the papers to do research on them or to publish them.

“I hope that Miklós Gyulai Gaál’s work will be introduced to the widest public in a very detailed scientific study, which is going to be written once the inheritance is fully processed", Dr. Csaba Hende said.

The outgoing custodian and his sister, Dr. Sarolta Kausz handed over to the Defence Minister the papers packed in a gift box. The Minister immediately transferred them to LTC Dr. László Töll, the Head of the MoD Public Affairs and War Grave Care Bureau. The heirs received gift boxes with the photocopies of the inheritance in them.