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Kovács Implements Hungary’s Defence Plan 3 1944–1945

DEF-3 Ground Level Counterintelligence Operations

Kovács at his age of 43 was now a key seasoned military counterintelligence officer involved in implementing Hungary’s Defence Plan 3 (Def-3), working closely with fellow Hungarian intelligence officers from various combat units to coordinate Hungary’s defence  against the advancing Soviet Army.

Given Lt. Endre Kovács’ known role in Hungarian military counterintelligence (V-Section, under Captain István Szekeres), “DEF-3” denotes a third-tier security clearance protocol or operation, such as:

DEF1 – Internal troop surveillance

DEF2 – Anti-partisan activity and domestic agent checks

DEF3 – External counter-espionage against Soviet infiltration

My father Andras in his later years said “The fighting in Buda became a devastating urban meat grinder, and his father Endre found himself at its very centre.”

Final Weeks of WW2

By the final weeks of the siege at Buda Hungary, DEF-3 counterintelligence operations were being conducted at ground level that was barely distinguishable from frontline combat itself. Officers worked from basements, tunnel networks, and makeshift command posts, often without reliable power, radio communication, or medical support.

Despite the chaos, they continued screening personnel, managing civilian interactions, and securing the remnants of the defence structure. Their counterintelligence tasks expanded into tactical reconnaissance, rapid threat evaluation, and supporting the coordination of close range fighting.

What had begun as an internal security function evolved into a hybrid role bridging intelligence, combat, and crisis management.

Brutal Close-Range Fighting

Buda’s last month was almost entirely close bloody combat:

  • Grenade duels

  • Flamethrowers in tunnels

  • Hand-to-hand combat

  • Snipers everywhere in street to street fighting

  • Defenders firing from caves, sewer lines, and castle ruins

Limited Medical Attention at Buda Rock Hospital

Both sides took shockingly high casualties for the final 4–5 km² of territory. Many soldiers sought medical attention at the embedded hospital in the rock which was part of the cave system that honeycombs the rock as tunnels under Buda Castle. It was designed to hold 60. But over Christmas 1944, with the Russian army advancing on the city, 600 crowded in. There was one toilet for men, one for women.

Read more at: https://theprogress.com/2011/04/22/budapest-the-hospital-in-the-rock/

hospital

Despite the desperate meaures in implementing Def-3 plan by Hungarian officers in various units such as Endre Kovacs by the end of WW2, it was ultimately unable to withstand the Soviet onslaught. Budapest fell to the Soviets in February 1945, and Hungary was fully occupied by the end of April 1945.