Both Rajmund

Rajmund Both was born on 15 January 1917 in Bratislava, his father was a professional officer. After graduating from the Honvéd Realschule, he enrolled at the Ludovika Academy and was commissioned an infantry lieutenant in 1939. In 1942, he took part in the fighting around Korotojak, and from August 1944, as a company commander of the 18th Infantry Regiment, he was deployed in the Carpathians, then on the Danube-Tisza and finally in the outskirts of Budapest. At unknown dates he was twice awarded the Governor's Commendation with Swords.

He was captured on 11 February 1945, by his own admission he had been in hiding in civilian clothes for weeks. He was allowed to return to Hungary in September 1947. He was initially retained in the military service, but was discharged in 1955. His last rank was lieutenant colonel.

In 1948 he joined the National Peasants' Party. In 1956, he applied for military service, but was not recalled. During the revolution he was completely passive. In 1960 he was placed under police surveillance for unknown reasons.

He was employed at the Kőbánya Light Metal Company, and graduated from the Csepel Metallurgical Technical School. Although his party secretary at his workplace wrote a very negative characterisation of him, the military headquarters, recognising that there might be a personal conflict behind this, did not accept this and retained his rank. In 1964 he defected with his wife to relatives in the FRG, and was subsequently stripped of his rank. In Allach he took up a position as a technician in a car factory.

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