Gábor Péter, ( 1906–1993)
Originally employed in tailoring, Péter became active in the labour movement at the end of the 1920s and joined the Hungarian Communist Party in 1931. He also took part in Red Aid activity in Hungary and in the work of the trade-union opposition. In 1943, he joined the leadership of the communist Peace Party. In January 1945, Péter became head of the Political Security Department at the Budapest headquarters of the Hungarian State Police. Later he headed the ÁVO and ÁVH secret-police organizations. This meant that he played a prominent part in preparing the show trials and conducting these illegal legal processes. Péter was dismissed from his post in 1952 and expelled from the HWP. On January 3, 1953, he was arrested, and in the following year, sentenced by the Military Supreme Court to life imprisonment. This was commuted in 1957 by the Military Council of the Supreme Court to 14 years’ imprisonment. However, he was released in 1959 under an individual amnesty and then worked as a librarian until his retirement.
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