Károly Kenedi

Károly Kenedi was born in 1915 in Gyönk. He changed his name from Scheurer in 1931. In 1938 he graduated from the Ludovika Academy as a lieutenant. In the spring of 1944, as 3rd Company Commander of the 102nd Combined Combat Battalion, he joined the 1st Hungarian Army fighting in the Carpathian Foothills. His unit just managed to break through the Soviet encirclement at Nyíregyháza in late October 1944. He was wounded on 14 January 1945 and was awarded the Bronze Medal of the Governor's Commendation with Swords and the Iron Cross, Second Class, a rarity for his rank. On 6 February 1945 he was taken prisoner of war at the Constitution Road Hospital, from where he returned in 1947. According to his autobiography, he edited a newspaper while a prisoner of war and received a letter of commendation in Russian for his work. He was demobilised in 1948 and subsequently worked as a bookkeeper and a reinforced concrete worker. Although he did not express any political opinions, he was demoted in 1958.