ORGANIZATION OF THE AVH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A001000900003-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 5, 2009
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: May 1, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2009/03/05: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA001000900003-8
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
. SECRET
SECURITY INFORMATION
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE
Hungary
Organization of the AVH
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tionl Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 end 794, of the U.S. Code. as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of Its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
REPORT
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DATE DISTR. 1 M R7 1953
NO. OF PAGES 5
REQUIREMENT 25X1
REFERENCES 25X1
is is UNEVALUATED Information
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE. 25X1
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
Organ zatloa 0 A amvede? Hat pa ac -- AVH).
1. The _Polit1 eal Debt (Political Osztaly). After the pattern of all Hungarian
ministries, one of the principal and integral parts of the AVH was the Political
Iwho was also the deputy AVH commander and the chief of the Main Admin- 25X1
istration Department, had direct access to the office of Gabor PETER, the AVH
chief. The Political Department was in charge of political indoctrination within
the AVH and generally supervised all AM activities. It established and directed
the activities of all AVH schools, and directed selection of AVH cadres, or the
personnel attending these schools. The following departments came under the
Political Department:
a. Th? Press and Prooa&anda Department (Sajto es Propaganda Osztaly) was in charge
of editing all news dispatches, and no information was released for public
consumption until it was cleared with this Department. No public performances
or films could be presented without its approval.
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b. , T the' ; -reae d *1 RRa ibZ) Cenarjr hi, D ar r e ' (Radio es Sajto
22,
e a rs.. six 5~` ~F `Ilifc~rke i c!o e cooperati. ra with 'the Press
ind, Fropa alnq,; . )ei 'tmant w It .c nifored all li garia r. and
fore : gn, ,; imgm dispatches arid all .l aas4glarian and Westevn; broad-
casta,. : `','~ rr t, -it )' c r4,ied itself With checking to 'ssee"that
the orders o Propaganda Department were carried
out.
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o . ' Disc.: 1 t r rt t: (peg el si. Cis .,-a" ,Y) consisted of
s p s.?ca a.,?~.e` ~t' s .~exs ozsr, w It passed judge ont oxa, complaints
a td ad i. s: ste&!e 'reprisro.ands aril )uni set tent" t A'6 officer and
NCO pertsonz el.M1 The slcoprr. of its a tchority r as limited to the
meting out of penalties such as fines.. ra,c~x ction In grade,.
withholding of to ?omtlonn, and recon end,atioxie for discharge.
d. The- Passport 3.repa.rtmex t (Utlevel Os ta:.y').No paaspor issued
W.-",-F-" K-571 U, -r t r .or ostensibly the issuing agency, was
Valid without, the amotxntereig r.ture of this Department : It also
ohec ced'' requests 10'6r visas presented to the Ministry of Foreign
Affai'rsa. . A visa-without -this DepartrnenU s approval was invalid.
e . The` ,L ti P~ e a .x?t. r,wx t (Nyomo o Osztaly) wars the plain-
c cr aes~zaa o ae
thin a rganiz4tion 2
operated; exten ivel,yly through th,ee use of Inforrda s, and that their
Operstione were' s costly of an inve, stiga,toary nature
.
f . The Intern at `: `a r r; Dep rv xr t ('int erna o oe a l ) prepared
` is ! " o"ff" ' act a caxa or cep rt tion,, b t the local
police aut xoritlerx garrS ad out the cxp er ti smns,v sometimes with
the ' help 'f the Y3 t; . (t ne.riot ssq~~x x.d,s=~.., ? d
g . Tka e r sa Dits e, I'd -.(Sport 0azt:aly) ' viii in charge of athletic..
'+W~ rl s a .xxe"i.. plsi?n,' a W+thes 'and uniformed,
e ,
supplying Wx,sm with s:po "t e xat staezat and'. orgs s i, ;ing ceiea aetitione ?
2 : The Main Adminisstrat1 eon ear exit (Elnok:t. Osztaly) was the' prinoi-
p...a, "'Mo'or na" '. .>:+ x?g ih a organ. ,ation,. All perss'anss desiring
to, see the A VII chief,, abor P, TER,t with the two 4sxae;ptions noted
a a ?ve,' were cleared y this Department,, Most A'S'S activities daze
mnde 7 the direct' s rpe'r'Yisa.o a o. ? this cf ee . These included:
a. The: $eO tar, at _( Segedhivata:l) was the section responsible for
ra t'c" "e car ; ertrx '?all cosasmu nications,9 the keeping of records and .
ether off icial dcro'seuataxts.
-b .. The Pe,r son iel De o.~ tnaer t (I z cmely aet;;l: Cs; taly), kept on file
person xe "'.rec~arr s ass entire AV organization
o. The 0r >' .niza, ionw a's Rar?tmen (Szervezes( O sz al.y),, was charged
w- skink g all, A , wits, both the uhiferrmed,
and pla1nlroioi.hess branches.. Also,, in conjunction with the
Personnel and Training i a.:rt entse,, the J Departrent drum' `up
plans for expansion and . ?eo?r +caa lzati+ ,n p6,licies for the AVH.
d Then De and ent Ma alts' Oszta
...,~".~ -~. ( ~`) handled supplies,. for
" 'en f .re 1V a rg, ,n Izati.ora , as d kept recorrdss of all d. equipment'
including fopd,N buildings, cranstructi.o aterials, horees and
#ehi.clea 1Trcer 'the superialorx of this Departrness atat were:
(1) The Health De, fart nt (E ;er rseg gyi. Osztaly) and.,
.(2) h Motor VehS.> les e ax~t xa ,. (Ge; Ja ?omu .Cs'ztaly) .
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SECRET/SECURITY INFORMATION
e. The Training Department (Kikepzesi Osztaly) received training
devices from the Ministry of Defense ' and distributed them. This
Departmental?so set yip training programs for AV.H personnel,
uniformed and:--plain-clothes, and saw that they Were properly
carried ?t.ry Under the supervision of this Department were:
(1) The .De artcent of Arms - and'',Ballistics . (Fegyver es Loeszaki
Dsz a y -,` cage . 1 ~weapo and `firiing instructions.
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(2) Tha Riot.-..h ds Department (ICarhatalmi asztaly--BKA )
under s ._ epar men came all uniformed AVH internal
security personnel. This 25X1
Department, together with the Political Department, super-
vised and controlled.the following:
(a) The 'Moue ed Division (Lovas Osztaly), composed of the
' "'a "" erv cee a s (Karhatalmi es Szolgalatl ?
Klot oval sz a y ani ` e ort $ quad (Sport Keret), in
charge of horse training ar semanship.
(b) 'be Coon Outposts Department (Videki Kirendeitsegek
sz ta ya , w c" con ra e ? special assignments
of the BKA units in the event of'emergency or,other
requested assistance in the provinces. This Depart-
ment was based on geographic. (county) distributions
and composed of:
] Ripuad Outposts (jarhatalmi Kirendeltsegek) and
2 In~resti U_Rr_ out ort ts. (Nyomozo Kirendeltsegek) .
3. Relationship of AV1 with various Ministries.
a. Ministry of Interior
wor.~.....w..a
In deportation operations, the AVH
prepared the lists of persons to be deported or evacuated, but
the actual operations were carried out by local police authori-
ties. AVH agents., both plain-clothes and,BKA, were at all
times authorized to request the services of the local police,
and the latterd were. obliged to honor these requests immoadiately.
orders to that effect was we la- known
n military and police circles. The Ministry of Interior:-issued
passports, but these had to have the stamp and countersignature
of. the Passport Section of the AVH to be considered valid.
b. Ministry of Defense
The ' relationship of the AVE with the Army was principally in
the field of training, both receiving essentially the same type.
In the event of emergency, however, all AVH personnel came'
under the authority of the Minister of'Defense. This was one
df the standing orders given to military personnel. In addition
to the...AVI.all "arms bearing" personnel came under the jurisdic-
tion of the Ministry of Defense in the event of emergency,
including police, firemen, prison guards, customs agents,
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c . Frontier-Guards
For ordinary training, administration, and equipment, the frontier
guards were under the Army. The Frontier Guards also had a
plain-clothes division with investigatory functions within the
security area along the Hungarian frontier. This division
received "4''s training from the Investigation 'Pivision of the
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$ECRET/SFC ,ITY INFORMATION
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All persons charged with political 25X1
crimes were :. ,edlately turned over to the Investigation Division
of the AV H. If the offender was charged with a criminal offense
within the frontier security area, he was taken into custody by
the Frontier Guard unit of the area . If the offense was-committed
outside of the security area, the local police authorities handled
it. This division of authority was a fact well-known by all
?police and military personnel.
4.
Enelcsure A Organizational Chart of the. A\TH
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ENCLOSURE. A SECF+:E''/'SECURITY INFORMATION
: -5- 25X1,
H *' Q:
hl4i
MAIN ADMINISTRATION POLITICAL DEPARTMEN
DEPARTMENT
SECRETARIAT PRESS AND
PROPAGANDA
DEPARTMENT
PERSONNEL
D, EPARTMENT `' PR a,( & RADI
FCENSORSHIP D
ORGAN ZATXO . R : TINARY
17EPART MMENT Alt
;
SUPPLY PASSPORT
DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT
l
DEPT. G N
OF DEPARTMENT
HEALTH
.t' f'N1~1E1Q
DEPARTMENT
VEHICLES- DEPT
DEF. RTMEN r
TR.!1~ ~rIN Dt DEPT* OF RIOT SQUADS
ARMS AND
-..,--...~ , ...,.
BALLISTICS
>~MO' 'ED DI 'ISION ,
foR'xnT AND SERVICE
.
SPOt' ' SQW1D
~. COUNTRY
~, ..... ~...__._._..__._.__.._._..__ OUTPOSTS
RIOT SQUADS
QUTPOSTS
INVESTIGATION
OUTPOSTS
ORGANIZATION OF THE AVH
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