István Oláh

In 1945, he became a volunteer in the Hungarian People's Army. That same year he joined the Communist Party.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/16/world/gen-istvan-olah-dies-at-59-hungary-s-defense-minister.html|title=General Olah joined the Hungarian Communist Party in 1945.|work=The New York Times |date=16 December 1985 }} In 1949 he graduated from the Kossuth Military Academy. In 1964, he studied at the Voroshilov Soviet Higher Military Academy. From 1966 to 1973, he rose through the ranks of the Hungarian People's Army. He had been serving as a Deputy Minister of Defense of the Hungarian People's Army since 1966.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/16/world/gen-istvan-olah-dies-at-59-hungary-s-defense-minister.html|title=General Olah had been a Deputy Defense Minister since 1966, the year he was also promoted to general. In January 1973 he was named Chief of Staff of the army.|work=The New York Times |date=16 December 1985 }} In 1975, he was made a permanent member of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/16/world/gen-istvan-olah-dies-at-59-hungary-s-defense-minister.html|title=He was active in its youth movement and in 1975 was named to the party's policy-making Central Committee.|work=The New York Times |date=16 December 1985 }} He was the Minister of Defense after the removal of Lajos Czinege.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/16/world/gen-istvan-olah-dies-at-59-hungary-s-defense-minister.html|title=General Olah was appointed Defense Minister on Dec. 6, succeeding Gen. Lajos Czinege. General Czinege, Defense Minister since 1960, was named to the largely ceremonial post of Deputy Prime Minister.|work=The New York Times |date=16 December 1985 }}

Oláh died on 15 December 1985, a day before his 59th birthday.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/16/world/gen-istvan-olah-dies-at-59-hungary-s-defense-minister.html|title=Hungary's new Defense Minister, Gen. Istvan Olah, died today, the official Soviet press agency Tass reported from Budapest. He was 59 years old.|work=The New York Times |date=16 December 1985 }} He was buried in Kerepesi Cemetery. Conspiracy theories about his death arose has his death occurred at a time when the defense ministers of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and East Germany had also died within the same year. It gave rise to assumptions by the media about a specially held action by the Western special services to eliminate the supporters of a forceful solution to the 1981 Polish hunger demonstrations.[http://www.tvc.ru:8020/news/show/id/57850 ТВЦ, 19 декабря 2014. Маршал Устинов: последний защитник социализма]

• [http://mek.niif.hu/00300/00355/html/index.html Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon]
• [http://www.politika.rs/pogledi/Miroslav-Lazanski/Dan-armije-na-Svetog-Nikolu.sr.html Politika, Serbian newspaper (text in Serbian)] on his involvement in 1980 events about the time of death and state funeral of Josip Broz Tito.

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{{succession box|title=Minister of Defence|before=Lajos Czinege|after=Ferenc Kárpáti|years=1984–1985}}

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Category:1926 births

Category:1985 deaths

Category:People from Hajdú-Bihar County

Category:Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party

Category:Hungarian soldiers

Category:Ministers of defence of Hungary

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