A Jewish ghetto was established in district VII, and the deportations began. In April 1945 the Red Army besieged Budapest. The German army retreated across the river, blowing up all the bridges behind them, and holed up on Castle Hill in Buda. The resulting siege left a smoking ruin of what had been a beautiful Baroque city, while Pest also suffered extensive bomb and shell damage.The immediate post-war period, 1945-48, saw an attempt at democracy with multi-party elections and the re-formation of some pre-war parties. However, the cynical percentages agreement concluded between Churchill and Stalin, dividing Europe up into various spheres of interest, saw much of Eastern Europe being sacrificed to the Soviets in return for Greece. Hungary was supposedly divided 50-50 between Russia and the West, but it never happened. Mátyás Rákosi, “Stalin's best pupil”, as he proudly called himself, instituted his “salami tactics”, slicing up the social democrats and slinging “fascist mud” at the right wing. He came to power on the back of rigged elections in 1948, ironically exactly 100 years since Russia had dealt Hungary her other mortal historical wound. Rákosi instigated one of the worst Stalinist regimes in the region, with the police terror, midnight arrests and show trials.