Bela Kiraly papers, circa 1957-1988

Dr. Béla Király (14 April 1912-4 July 2009) was a Hungarian army officer before, during, and after World War II. Király saw combat on the eastern front and was twice wounded. In 1943, he commanded 400 men guarding a Jewish labor battalion in the Don River valley. Contrary to orders, he provided them with warm clothing, decent food, and medical attention. In 1993, Yad Vashem named him one of the "Righteous Among the Nations", recognizing his humane treatment of the Jewish prisoners. After the war, he was sentenced to life in prison under the Soviet-allied regime, but was later released. After his release, he commanded the National Guard in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. He then fled to the United States, where he became an academic historian. Kiraly enrolled in Columbia University and earned a graduate degree in history. From 1964 he taught Military History at Brooklyn College, and became chairman of the history department. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 1982. During his tenure he served as director of the Society In Change Program on East Central Europe, supervised Brooklyn College Press (the College's Publishing House), and was an adviser to the Brooklyn College Military History Club. The Brooklyn College Bela K. Kiraly Award, awarded to undergraduate students for outstanding work in modern history, bears his name. He returned to Hungary after the collapse of the Soviet Bloc and was elected a member of Hungarian Parliament.