Viktor Orbán and his responsibility for rising antisemitism in Hungary

Quite a political storm is brewing in Hungary, after Ronald S. Lauder of the World Jewish Congress named Hungary Europe’s most anti-Semitic country. Specifically, Mr. Lauder said the following: “The worst offender is Hungary. Because they now have a neo-Nazi party called Jobbik. They had started to put up statues of Admiral Horthy, who was a Nazi.” András Heisler, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary (MAZSIHISZ), came to the Orbán government’s defence in a statement. He wrote to Mr. Lauder, suggesting that he may have been the victim of “journalistic manipulation or incorrect information from advisers,” as there is “constructive cooperation between the Hungarian government and Jewish organizations.” But many take issue with this. Eszter Garai-Édler, a civil rights activist, wrote to me this morning emphasizing that the Orbán regime is the only government in the EU, which has overtly and wholeheartedly embraced undiluted racism. Ms. Garai-Édler is sharing with our readers the full text of a talk she gave a few years ago at the 4th International Conference of the Global Forum for  Combating Anti-Semitism, in Jerusalem, on Mr. Orbán’s role in rising anti-Semitism. Since then, Mr. Orbán’s rhetoric towards Arabs and Muslims has changed markedly, but his government’s cynical and self-serving use of xenophobia to scapegoat specific communities has not. (C. Adam)

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It is probably well-known that Hungary is home to one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities. But nearly 70 years after the Second World War, Hungary has started down a path, which in the past has already led to fascism, the rise in power of the far right and a horrific defeat.

operative zone and collecting points for rounded-up Jews s in Hungary (1944)

Operative zones and collecting points for rounded-up Jews s in Hungary (1944)

But before I speak about this ominous path, I would like to make a brief side note:

A 1920s/1930s joke, that appeared in a then important humorous political paper, the Ojság (kind of Yiddish for the Hungarian word for newspaper) is still doing the rounds in Budapest – but updated to Orban, Hungary’s current prime minister:

Ojság

Ojság

Question: Can one believe Viktor Orbán?

The wise rabbi responds by telling this story:

“Grün and Kohn are walking down a side street, when a dog starts coming towards them. Kohn becomes frightened, but Grün reassures him:

-Why are you scared of that dog? Can’t you see how he’s wagging his tail?

-“Yes, but look”—says Kohn—he is snarling and showing his teeth. One doesn’t know which side of the dog to believe.”

When asked if, as Hungarians, Jews and residents of Budapest, we can believe Viktor Orbán, the answer is a resounding “no.”

Orban and his old friend and main anti-Semitic journalist, Zsolt Bayer, having fun.

Orban and his old friend and main anti-Semitic journalist, Zsolt Bayer, having fun.

Orbán’s responsibility for the rise in anti-Semitism goes back as far as his electoral defeat in 2002, after which he often turned to coded anti-Semitic language, which any far right supporter could understand and with which he hoped to win over extremist voters. He often spoke about “foreigners”, “foreign cosmopolitans” and even referred to the left as being “genetically coded” to act in what he felt was an unpatriotic manner. With these anti-Semitic speeches Orbán has gained the support of the far right and managed to keep it, up until the extremist realized that much of this is little more than smoke and mirrors, and that Orbán does not necessarily buy into his own rhetoric.

It is well known that the spread of anti-Semitism and racism do not only pose problems in Hungary, but elsewhere throughout Europe. The difference, however, is that in most other European countries mainstream political parties and community organizations have managed to keep these extremist elements quarantined from the rest of society. Most other EU countries have also taken clear, decisive and successful steps in combating far right extremism, especially in places like France and Germany. German television, for instance, took a show off the air after it surfaced that the main character has a Nazi past. Demonstrations that glorify Hitler are banned in Germany, while in Hungary it is even possible to hold such an event right in front of the Palace of the President of the Republic. It should also be noted that Hungarian anti-Semitism differs markedly from the western European variant, where anti-Semitic attacks and aggression are often committed by Muslims, rather than by the majority population. Orbán actually courts Muslims and Arabs.

In an effort to maximize votes, the Hungarian government in everyday life tolerates Nazi ideology and it only protests under international pressure at special occasions that involve the outside world. This is what Orbán himself describes as ‘peacock dance’, something for show only.

In fact, one of the great tragedies of post-1989 Hungary is that the country has no moderate, proper conservative party in the European sense.

Ellie Wiesel bitterly complained in an open letter to the Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament that he, who has the second highest ranking political office in the country,  and government ministers as well as the now President of the country, openly and officially associated themselves with anti-Semitic, pro-Fascist individuals and events.

The reburial of fascist politician and author József Nyirő - House Speaker László Kövér speaks.

The reburial of fascist politician and author József Nyirő – House Speaker László Kövér speaks.

President János Áder (right) unveils statue honouring fascistic author albert Wass.

President János Áder (right) unveils statue honouring fascistic author albert Wass.

The World Jewish Congress decided that in order to shed light on growing anti-Semitism in Hungary, it would hold its 2013 conference in Budapest, instead of in Jerusalem. In his May 6th speech to the Congress, Orbán admitted that anti-Semitism posed a growing problem in Hungary and promised that he would address this crisis using all means at his disposal. (Slide 10 Orban’s new ‘peacock dance’ Shalom at the WJC in Budapest) Nevertheless, even having said this, he failed to distance himself from the far right. Additionally, he insulted many Hungarian Jews, as in his speech he implied that Hungarian Jews are not Hungarians. This was especially offensive as Jews in Hungary generally identify as much, if not more, with being Hungarian as they identify with their Jewish heritage.

Orbán’s two-faced politics are astounding. He constantly speaks of  “most decisive action against all extremist, racist and anti-Semitic acts … in order to diminish the hateful and unacceptable voices … and to protect all citizens from such attacks.”

Unfortunately, all his promises have proved to be empty propaganda and rhetoric, while anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia are on the rise, and while hateful speech and hate-filled physical attacks are increasingly common.

According to Peter Feldmájer, until very recently the president of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, which represents some of the country’s Conservative Jews, the participants of the Congress [quote] “have arrived in a country where an elderly head rabbi is attacked on the streets, where fascists are rampant, where the courts turn murderers into role models for the youth, where streets and squares are named after anti-Semites and where Hungarian Nazi authors form part of the national curriculum in schools.” [unquote] While Feldmájer’s words were clear and succinct, he did not mention who bears responsibility for this situation.

Using his two-thirds super-majority, Orbán has built an autocratic – even dictatorial – structure and has re-crafted the country’s constitutional framework in his own image and to his own liking.

With his government’s unprecedented power, he should have no trouble dealing a decisive blow against the extremists and, considering that the Treaty of Paris is still in effect, which declares that parties such as Jobbik are illegal, he would be obliged to take swift action.

Instead, the Orbán government has turned to Nazi authors, thinkers and ideas to take the attention away from lost jobs and economic hardship.  Unresolved structural problems,  high levels of unemployment and the decline in the social safety net, and rise in poverty. The same long queues for free food in 1918 and in 2012 and crime are often blamed on the Roma population and on the Jews. Both minorities are often the scapegoats for all of Hungary’s social ills.

Young Hungarian Nazis-in-training and the Roma children that they aim to terrorize.

Young Hungarian Nazis-in-training and the Roma children that they aim to terrorize.

The moral and intellectual decline is clearly evident within Hungarian society. Discrimination and hatred form part of the daily reality and discourse. Certainly, we cannot disregard the responsibility that previous liberal and left-leaning governments also bear, especially since the rise of the far right and the radicalisation of the Hungarian right happened under these governments.

The current ruling party, Fidesz, has however taken this to new heights and has even seen the politics of the inter-war era as a model for the country. Horthy, the governor of that time, was in reality a war criminal – though, thanks to Stalin’s intervention he was never convicted – and he bears grave responsibility for the extermination of Hungarian Jews. In 1944, while under German occupation, Hungarian authorities took the initiative in deporting 437,402 Hungarian Jews to the death camps.

In true Orban style, József Szájer, a Hungarian Member of the European Parliament claimed in a congressional hearing in Washington that “there is no rehabilitation of Horthy and that the government has no such plans or desire.”

However, the facts are that the new constitution, accepted and approved exclusively by the governing parties, has codified the historic and moral rehabilitation of the Horthy regime, which was in place from 1919 to 1944 and that even Parliament Square is being re-modelled on its 1944 lay-out.

The now completed Kossuth Square, shown here under construction. There are archival photos showing the square as it was before 1945 on the fence sepa-rating the area under reconstruction.

The now completed Kossuth Square, shown here under construction. There are archival photos showing the square as it was before 1945 on the fence sepa-rating the area under reconstruction.

Further, high ranking politicians frequently officially partake in events honouring anti-Semites, like Ottokár Prohászka, a cleric who was the intellectual and spiritual force behind Europe’s FIRST racial law, the 1920 Numerus Clausus  and who legitimized the most virulent forms of anti-Semitism.

Fidesz politician Sándor Lezsák unveils a bust to anti-Semitic bishop Ottokár Prohászka.

Fidesz politician Sándor Lezsák unveils a bust to anti-Semitic bishop Ottokár Prohászka.

Recently prestigious state awards were given to rabidly and openly anti-Semitic journalists, archaeologists, musicians.

Most tellingly and dangerously, the government decided to incorporate into the compulsory school curriculum some virulently anti-Semitic writers of the Horthy regime,  on the basis of some perceived “society needs.” According to the Association of Hungarian Teachers, from an aesthetic and literary perspective, these authors cannot be considered to be or to have ever been significant literary figures.

Junior Minister for Culture, Géza Szőcs, celebrates fascist author and politician József Nyirő.

Junior Minister for Culture, Géza Szőcs, celebrates fascist author and politician József Nyirő.

Horthy lives on, also thanks to support by the Catholic Church. Paradoxically, a recent Horthy commemoration attended by Fidesz MPs and mayors, was held in a church named after a lady, who saved Jews during the War and was killed by the Nazis.

These examples are very telling of the intertwined nature of the right and far right in Hungary. Unfortunately, anti-Semitism is also underpinned by the indifference shown by many liberals, which strengthens the right’s campaign of hate.

In Hungary – in stark contrast with other European countries – the lack of a legal anti-hate framework makes it impossible to truly penalize those who spread racism and anti-Semitism. Even in court rooms, courts and judges can be labelled (pejoratively) as Jewish by anti-Semites. So far, legislation has addressed Holocaust denial, but not anti-Semitism. Even today, the anti-Semites and racists claim that Jews are over-represented in more prestigious professions. During the 1920’s and 1930’s the right made the same claims and we all know the consequences of that campaign.

A significant section of Hungarian society does not understand that this tendency to discriminate and marginalize – which we have already experienced in our history – portends great danger. At the moment, there is no evidence of a positive change in direction.

Eszter Garai-Édler

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