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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:

DEF- 1 – Internal troop surveillance

DEF- 2 – Anti-partisan activity and domestic agent checks

DEF- 3 – External counter-espionage against Soviet infiltration

Overlap Between Def-2 and Def -3

Extracts : Ervin Golántáy book – Boy Soldier

VANNAY BATALLION AT FULL STRENGTH 8 DECEMBER 1944 pg 54

In the afternoon I receive a visit from Lieutenant Kovács Endre with a number of elderly intelligence officers from Def 2 in an elegant DKW (car) and your priority task has been assigned to all volunteer units of the Arrow Cross Commission Commissar for Budapest; razzias  must be carried out to round up all AWOL and spies. Support police regiment is deployed as Infantry.

By now 1st Lieutenant Kovács has arrested 2 false lieutenants and now he’s looking for an imposter who claims to be a Vannaist spreading confusion in the Leopold District.

DANUBE DIP 11 DECEMBER 1944 (TOLDY SCHOOL)  pg 57

1st Lieutenant Kovacs brings in two dripping wet civilians and locks them into the coal shed of the Basement. They are Vannaist deserters .The Proclamation of General Hindy has just been posted with orders to disembowel all deserters on the spot! instead Kovacs made them dip into the ice called Danube. I kept pulling there ears a bit until they ask for parden. Ervin states “ I cannot but admire Kovacs good humid interpretation of the disembowelment order. Deserters must be chastised not wasted”.

SOVIET POWS 3 FEBRUARY 1945 pg 161

Corporal Vali is bringing  in 2 hand cuffed hooded soviets.
Vali ” Look what we found in the court of the Cartographic Institute”

  • Ildy reacts hysterically
    – Kill the motherfuckers! Carry out Vannay’s order “No pardon!”
    – Ervin : “Cool it Ildl, not yet – we must let Def-3 interrogate them ….I ring 1st Lieutenant Kovacs:” The Def-3 special line work impeccably
    – Ervin” Sir, Corporal Vali brought in Red  army brass. Whats next?”
    – Endre: “Im sending Pál Házi. He will be there in a jiffi.-! “

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.

Summary

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.”