Paris Peace Conf. 184.011102/218
Captain Bernath Weiss to Mr. Albert Halstead85
Subject: Conditions in Budapest and Hungary.
In an interview I had with Bela Kun he manifested dissatisfaction with the blockade referring especially to food, medical supplies and printing paper. He said he would have liked to go the right but without success, wherein there was too much sympathy shown those who opposed the Soviet policy.
There seems to be a new plan tried with the peasants who are busy with the harvest but are not organized. In the past it was the habit of Bela Kun and his leaders to send young men into the country for the purpose of organizing Soviets or directoriums in various districts. These young men appeared to have lacked tact and the ability to make themselves understood with the results that the peasants resented the attitude of the agitators so that disorder and trouble followed. To show their strength it became the habit to hang a few peasants in the various villages, but this did not produce satisfactory results therefore more tact was necessary and the plan was adopted of appointing several peasants of prominence in a village who were easy to influence, as the heads of the directoriums. Flattered by this delicate attention the peasants seek to get results and keep quiet. It has been further decided not to interfere with the peasants any more than is necessary and the delightful practice of hanging them has been given up.
The harvest appears to be gathered but the threshing has not begun because of the want of coal or other fuel for the threshing engines. Wood is, however, brought down in so far as it is possible, but as yet the quantity is in no sense sufficient. It being impossible to properly protect the unthreshed wheat it is feared that with the rainy weather a large proportion of it will rot in the sheaf.
I had a visit just before leaving Budapest from two newspaper men and two civilians, whom I regard as responsible persons. Discussing the government and its strength they declared it expected to be able to maintain itself but that preparations are being made for eventualities. Therefore, should the Roumanians defeat them badly, but be unable to follow them up for any reason, it is proposed to institute a reign of anarchy in Budapest. Asked what this would consist of the reply was that the plan was to let these activities depend upon developments. This it appears is not necessarily the plan of Bela Kuhn himself, but of one Cserny a notorious character, who has at [Page 621] least one murder to his credit, who is in charge of a body of criminals called “Lenine’s Boys”. This organization of about 1,500 criminals has been re-organized for the purpose of plundering the town of Budapest. This organization has 45 machine guns, 26 guns some of them of 15 cm calibre, and about 1000 hand grenades. In addition to these criminals there is the 31st infantry, the 101 artillery, the red guard of the second district and Bucharin attacking troops, also the reserve troops in Kelenfold and troops in the international barracks, all of whom are prepared to join.
When the attack on the Roumanian line began on the 20th instant one red regiment, which I believe is the 15th, joined the Szegedin troops. Two other regiments refused to fight unless they were permitted to go into battle under the red, white and green—the Hungarian flag. This was refused and they were interned at Miskolcs. In the crossing of the Theiss at Csongrad and Tiszafüred the red army failed to make adequate artillery preparation with the result that though they got over the river, their losses were very heavy, so heavy as to make it impossible for them to take any advantage of that crossing. The white guards on the side of the Roumanians were able to cross the Theiss on the 26th at Tizafüred where the red guard had originally gone over.
The red guard is showing increased disorganization, which appears to make rather rapid progress. The report that their own countrymen, in the form of white guards, were opposing them has had a striking effect. Whether Hungarians are actually fighting on the side of the Roumanians is not confirmed.
- Transmitted to the Commission by Mr. Halstead under covering letter No. 354, July 27; received July 29.↩