The Fate of Western Hungary 1918-1921 - Corvinus Library ...

police bodyguards, which he might not find very pleasant, either.” Finally,
Villani reported that he had a long conversation with Baron Stefan Neugebauer,
ministerial advisor and ‘on very good terms’ with Chancellor Schober, – the
content of which he will report to the Foreign Ministry – who was also working
on removing Davy. Next he asked the prime minister’s approval to start a
disinformation action against Davy, making use of his close contacts at several
Viennese newspapers. They would evaluate the work of the provincial governor
and demand his removal for Austria’s interest. PM Bethlen agreed to the anti-
Davy steps “especially in the Austrian press. But if the generals were to allow
him into Sopron, I ask caution, lest any physical violence or demonstrations be
done against Davy that might be taken as disorderliness, to be able to be used
against us.” 396
Earlier, Lt.Gen. Hegedűs reported in the evening of September 15: a
delegation led by former mayor of Sopron, Károly Töpler, visited him and
asked that Maj. Ostenburg and his battalion continue to remain in Sopron
because the planned relocation of the unit “caused great agitation among the
population.” The local police have received information that former prime
minister István Friedrich, Pál Prónay and Iván Héjjas are once more in Sopron,
“for which there is no need, and not particularly desirable.” Lt.Gen. Hegedűs
suggested that, through Count Sigray, the government request them to leave the
city. This had indeed happened because, according to the Commissioner’s daily
reports – based on informants – Prónay was already in the vicinity of
Felsőpulya on September 16 th and by the 18 th was in Felsőőr, in zone ‘A’. 397
Still on the same day, the 15 th , Col. Lehár showed up in Szombathely with
the stated objective: to gather familiarity of the “mood” of the Western
Hungary population. In reality, he arrived as the agent of the Hungarian
government but who was arrested the following day by Prónay in the vicinity of
Felsőőr and was only released four days later by the intercession of Count
Sigray. 398 Prónay justified himself by saying that Lehár “is an Austrian spy”
and he received orders for the arrest. 399 The Entente generals in Sopron were of
the opinion that the colonel was arrested because he was a “Karlist,” meaning a
follower of the former Habsburg ruler, Charles IV. Gyula Gömbös became
embroiled in the solution of the Antal Lehár matter, as the following telegram
shows: “The arrested former colonel, if he gives his word of honor never to
enter into the district, is to be escorted to zone ‘A’ and released without any
harm. (Signed) Jákfai.” 400 Col. Köller, Chief-of-Staff of Lt.Gen. Hegedűs, sent
the following telegram on the following day, September 16: “The situation is
396 Ibid, pp. 549–552.
397 Ibid, pp. 523, 525, 555, 558.
398 Zsiga, 1988, op. cit., p. 126.
399 Fogarassy, László: Lehár ezredes a Prónay-felkelők fogságában [Col. Lehár in the
captivity of the Prónay rebels]. In: Soproni Szemle, 1975, issue 4, pp. 348–351.
400 MOL. K 26. 1388. csomó. 1922–„H” tétel, pp. 548, 553–554. Gyula Gömbös used
the alias ‘Jákfai’ in this period, after his family’s estate in Jákfa.
151