Hungarian Border Guard, 1950: Duty Officers’ Report

Abstract

Based on the documents of the National Archives of Hungary, the paper discusses the daily reports submitted by the central duty of the Hungarian Border Guard in 1950. It presents the state of affairs of the Border Guard, its organisational structure and command documents. Presented in groups, the reports about the daily events reveal the main activities, the cases involving the use of weapons, fatalities at the technical barrier (barbed wire and electric fence) and the adjacent minefield and the relations with the neighbouring countries. Using statistical data, the author evaluates the efficiency of the technical facilities.