With Hungary a focal point of the ongoing storm of controversy over Europe’s refugee crisis, it’s instructive to take note of the upcoming seventieth anniversary, on March 12, of the hanging of Ferenc Szálasi , the “Hitler of Hungary.” Szálasi, the leader of a fascist, xenophobic government responsible for terrorizing the Budapest Jewish community and murdering tens of thousands of them […]
The Orbán government’s drive to glorify World War II‐era fascists has reached the shores of North America. A small group of Hungarian immigrants have started to organize similar events here in the US which enjoy the quiet support of Hungarian diplomats. Last year the Simon Wiesenthal Center requested the cancellation of programs honoring the Hungarian writer Albert Wass. Mark Weitzman, […]
Our readers will recall the controversy surrounding plans to erect a statue to virulent anti-Semite and interwar politician Bálint Hóman in the town of Székesfehérvár. Those plans have been scrapped and the activist group at the centre of the campaign against the monument, who are also behind a moving alternative memorial to the Holocaust in Budapest’s Freedom Square, issued the […]
The Hungarian-American Coalition has somewhat surprisingly joinded a growing chorus of individuals and organizations in North America condemning the Orbán government’s decision to provide 15 million forints in funding for a statue in memory of interwar antisemitic politician and Minister of Education Bálint Hóman, who was among the most enthusiastic supporters of Hitler’s Germany, even as some in the government […]
U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, issued a statement regarding plans by the Hungarian government to fund a statue honoring Bálint Hóman, one of the architects of Hungary’s anti-Jewish laws and member of […]
Ronald S. Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress, had some sharp words this week, regarding plans to erect a statue in memory of historian Bálint Hóman, Hungary’s Minister of Religion and Education between 1932 and 1938, and again between 1939 and 1942, during the fascistic Horthy era. The statue is planned for the western Hungarian town of Székesfehérvár. While […]
Csaba Latorcai, the Orbán government’s deputy state secretary in charge of religious groups, minorities and affairs relating to the Jewish community, just wrapped up what was likely a very successful trip to Canada. Hungary’s state news agency (MTI) published quite a gushing report of the unbridled successes of the week-long Canada-wide tour, where Mr. Latorcai was accompanied, for most of […]
HFP’s Hungarian-language sister publication, the Kanadai Magyar Hírlap, published a lengthy and–we think–insightful interview with András Heisler, the President of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities (Mazsihisz), during his official visit to Canada this week. Mr. Heisler was coming alongside Deputy State Secretary Csaba Latorcai and spent five days in Canada, meeting with various levels of federal government, including the […]
My father’s cousin is a retired engineer who moved to Israel with his wife, Lory, over four decades ago. Endre Borsai now lives in a retirement home in Haifa, with his wife. On December 31st, 1999, as the twentieth century drew to a close, he wrote a lengthy letter–a very personal testimony–of our family’s experiences during World War II and, […]
Géza Szőcs, a Romanian-born poet, is one of the foremost promoters of Hungary’s anti-Semitic writers from the Transylvania region (today part of Romania). He was invited to the Göteborg Book Fair. According to the official program, Mr. Szőcs is scheduled to appear on Saturday, September 26th, in the afternoon, with Ms. Katalin Mezey as moderator. We protest the invitation of […]
