Károly Janza, b. 1914
Born in Újpest (now the 4th District), the son of a carpenter, Janza trained as a turner and went to work at the Ganz Shipyard. During the enlisted in the Royal Hungarian Army, reaching the rank of sergeant. In 1945, he became chairman of the works committee at the Ganz Shipyard and then its first worker manager. He applied to join the Hungarian People’s Army and in 1949, became the deputy commander and then commander of the catering corps, with the rank of colonel. He took over as commanding officer a year later. From January 27, 1951 to October 25, 1956, Janza was a deputy minister of defence. On October 27, 1956, he joined the national government of Imre Nagy as defence minister, in which capacity he called for an end to the armed struggle on October 28. On October 29, Janza reached an armistice agreement with the revolutionaries. He was in the Defence Ministry on November 4, where he forbade the Hungarian forces to oppose the Soviet invasion. Janza was retired after the defeat of the revolution. On February 21, 1958, he was stripped of his rank. He was rehabilitated by the president and restored to the rank of lieutenant general in 1990.
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