The Rákosi Battalion was a volunteer unit founded in April 1937.

The battalion was named after Mátyás Rákosi, then a political prisoner in Miklós Horthy's Hungary, later leader of the Hungarian People's Republic.

The battalion became trapped by machine-gun fire and lost a quarter of its men.

Their commander, Ákos Hevesi, and political commissar, Imre Tarr, were both killed as they led from the front.

[3] At the start of the Battle of the Ebro, on 25 July 1938, the battalion led the XIII International Brigade and 35th Division across the river near Ascó, initially advancing quickly.