Editing Gálicz János

{{Infobox military person|native_name=Gálicz János|native_name_lang=Hungarian|name=János Gálicz|nickname=General Gal|birth_date=1890|birth_place=[[Tótkomlós]], [[Békés County (1860–1946)|Békés County]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1918)|Hungary]], [[Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (1867–1918)|Austria-Hungary)]]|death_date=1939 (aged 48–49)|image=File:János Gálicz.webp|image_size=150|death_place=[[Moscow]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991)|Russian SFSR]], [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]]|allegiance=Austria-Hungary<br>[[Socialist Federative Republic of Councils in Hungary (1919)|Hungarian Soviet Republic]]<br>Soviet Union<br>|branch=[[Red Army]]<br>[[International Brigades]]|rank=[[Polkovnik]]|commands=[[XV International Brigade|Abraham Lincoln Brigade]]<br>[[15th Division (People's Army of the Republic)|15th Division]]|known for=his actions during the [[Spanish Civil War]]|battles=* [[First World War]]
* [[Russian Civil War]]
* [[Spanish Civil War]]
** [[Battle of Jarama]]
** [[Battle of Brunete]]}}

'''Gálicz János''' (1890 – 1939), also known as '''José Ivanovich Gal''', '''General Gal''', or '''General Gall''', was a [[Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (1867–1918)|Hungarian]]-[[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet]] commander of the [[Spanish Civil War]].

Gálicz served in the [[Land Forces of Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Army]] during [[First World War|World War I]]. He was captured by the [[Russian Empire (1721–1917)|Russians]], became a [[Marxism|Marxist]], was freed by the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Bolsheviks]], and fought in the [[Workers' and Peasants' Red Army|Red Army]] during the [[Russian Civil War]]. He also participated in [[Béla Kun]]'s [[Republic of Councils in Hungary (1919)|Hungarian Soviet Republic]], although he was forced into exile to [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991)|Russia]] after the republic collapsed.<ref>[[Cecil D. Eby|Eby, Cecil D.]] (2007).: ''Comrades and Commissars: The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War''. [[Penn State University Press]]. p. 65.</ref>

Gal gained infamy for his actions as commander of the [[XV International Brigade]]. During the [[Battle of Jarama]] in 1937, he sent hundreds of his own men to their deaths in what [[Ernest Hemingway]] later described as an "idiotic, stupidly conceived and insanely executed attack"<ref name=":0">[[Gustav Regler|Regler, Gustav]]; [[Ernest Hemingway|Hemingway, Ernest]]; [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers, Whittaker]]; [[Henry Hay (writer)|Mussey, June Barrows]] (1940).: ''The Great Crusade''. Longmans, Green & Co. New York. p. vii.</ref> on [[Pingarrón|Pingarrón Hill]], also known as "Suicide Hill",<ref>[[Tom Wintringham|Wintringham, Thomas Henry]] (1940).: [https://www.marxists.org/archive/wintringham/1940/02/jarama.htm ''Comrades of Jarama'']. [[Volunteer for Liberty|''Volunteer for Liberty'']]. p. 4.</ref> throwing outnumbered and inexperienced troops at a heavily-fortified uphill enemy position, against the advice of his subordinates.<ref>[[Marion Merriman|Merriman, Marion]] (1986).: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1986/06/29/for-whom-the-bell-tolled/a54132bb-9231-4a43-9a2d-a0a81f46e595/ ''For Whom the Bell Tolled'']. [[The Washington Post|''The Washington Post'']].</ref>  Hemingway wrote that "He [Gálicz] should have been shot at the time."<ref name=":0" />

Gálicz later served as the commander of the [[15th Division (People's Army of the Republic)|15th Division]].

Gálicz was removed from his position after the "deplorable" conditions in his sector became known, and in 1939, after he returned to the Soviet Union, he was tried by a people's court and sentenced to death by shooting.<ref name=":0" /> The sentence was carried out on 20 October 1939.

== References ==
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1939 deaths]]
[[Category:Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Hungarian anti-fascists]]
[[Category:Hungarian communists]]
[[Category:Red_Army_officers]]
[[Category:Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War]]
[[Category:Soviet military personnel of the Spanish Civil War]]