Conviction and Restoration
When World War II ended and for several years afterward, the Communist government organized and encouraged the arrest and execution of those they blamed for the deprivations the war visited upon the Hungarian population. These arrests and prosecutions were in many instances politically motivated and the legal process was later found to lack the minimum requirements for legal action.
Farkas was convicted in absentia by the Budapest High Court of the Hungarian Communist government on March 30, 1950 and was stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment. He visited the United States and Canada during 1955 and met with Hungarian Scouts in exile. In 1962, he was named General Captain (Hungarian: Fõkapitány) of The Knightly Order of Vitéz, a role in which he continued to serve through 1977. He also continued his involvement with Scouting both locally and internationally, serving as Chief Scout of Hungary for the Hungarian Scout Association Abroad. He died in Arnstorf, Germany on April 14, 1980.
In late 1998, the Hungarian Republic Supreme Court found serious legal and procedural errors in his original 1950 trial and on December 7, 1998 rescinded the sentence, nullifying its results. On September 15, 2006, the Hungarian Defence Ministry's Rehabilitation Committee fully reinstated his military rank and overturned his conviction posthumously.
Read more about this topic: Ferenc Farkas De Kisbarnak
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