Career
He belonged to the pro-Nazi Germany tendency within Hungarian politics
Born in Bardejov (at the time part of Austria–Hungary but now in Slovakia) to a Swabian German family, Rajniss"s surname initially reflected his German origins before he changed it to a Hungarian version. As a journalist Rajniss belonged to the Szeged fascist camp and was a supporter of Gyula Gömböson He founded his own weekly paper, Magyar Futár, in support of this movement and it soon became notorious for its anti-Semitism.
Before long he had secured funding from Nazi Germany for his political endeavours and this was to be one of his two main source of income, the other being acting as a "toy boy" to a number of wealthy old women.
However he left this group in October 1937 to join with Zoltán Böszörmény and Fidél Pálffy in launching the United Hungarian National Socialist Party, one of a number of largely failed attempts to bring Hungary"s Nazis under one umbrella. Rajniss then became a supporter of Béla Imrédy and in 1938 joined the governing party as a result of his change of position.
He followed his leader into the Party of National Renewal when Imrédy founded this opposition group in 1940. Rajniss launched a second paper, Esti Ujság, which he continued to edit until 1944 and which offered a pro-Nazi agenda.
He became a trusted ally of the Nazis and specifically collaborated closely with the RSHA. Rajniss played a leading role in Szálasi"s rise to power and was appointed part of the three man governing council with which the Germans replaced Miklós Horthy in 1944, alongside Károly Beregffy and Sándor Csia.
He was also appointed Minister of Education in the new government, a position he held until the fall of Szálasi in March 1945. Arrested after the collapse of the government he was judged as a leading figure in collaborationism and was executed in Budapest.