SHE was a billionaire Countess who became one of the most powerful women in horse racing, mixing with royals and holding lavish parties at her Austrian castle. But behind the glamour, Nazi socialite Margit Batthyany hid a murderous dark side that would see her dubbed the ‘Hostess from Hell’. During the last days of the war in 1945, Gestapo leaders, Nazi soldiers and socialites descended on the Countess’ grand 17th-century castle in the quiet Austrian village of Rechnitz to drink and dance into the night.The war was coming to an end and Red Army troops were only 10 days away from the village, near the Austria-Hungary border, when the Countess decided to hold a party on the eve of Palm Sunday. It would later be known as the Rechnitz massacre – a murderous party that would host one of the last horrific Nazi crimes against Jewish people. A wealthy descendant from the German Thyssen family, the glamorous socialite was a Nazi supporter who lived a lavish lifestyle thanks to her rich industrialist family. (…) But her roaring racing success in the years after the war concealed her previous affairs with Nazi lovers and sick “kill the Jew” parties. On March 24, 1945, nearly 200 Jewish prisoners were said to have been executed purely for entertainment during the party at her castle, according to author David R.L Litchfield. Those who were unable to work were stripped naked and shot by drunken guests, while those who remained alive were then told to bury the dead before also being gunned down. Other sick atrocities were also said to have been carried out at the castle after Jews were reportedly brought there to build a wall that would hold back Russian forces. One witness describes how the twisted Countess prefered to have a front-row seat to the sadistic killings and beatings. NAZI LOVERS The socialite became Countess Batthyany in 1933 after marrying Count Ivan Batthyany of Hungary – rescuing him from bankruptcy.
Categories: holocaust