Controversial Holocaust Memorial Draws Protests

Posted by: Ahuva Balofsky April 10, 2014 BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing; but the name of the wicked shall rot.” (Proverbs 10:7)

Nazi roundup of Jews in Budapest, Hungary, October 1944. (Photo: Faupel/ German Federal Archives)

Protesters broke through a construction cordon Tuesday to hold a vigil at the site of a planned Holocaust memorial in Budapest.  The monument is meant to commemorate the victims of Nazi atrocities, but opponents say it whitewashes Hungary’s complicity in the Holocaust.

The planned monument, which depicts Hungary as an angel being attacked by Germany’s eagle, was intended to be unveiled on March 17, but construction was postponed when Hungary’s largest Jewish organization, Mazsihisz, refused to attend.  March 17 is the anniversary of Germany’s occupation of Hungary.

Following national elections which took place on Sunday, construction was supposed to resume this week.  Roughly 300 protesters turned up to prevent that from happening.  Participants recited Kaddish, the Jewish mourning prayer, at the site.

“It is an extremist memorial that covers up the past with a lie, and a gesture (by Prime Minister Viktor Orban) to the far-right,” remarked Szabolcs Kerek-Barczy, an opposition politician. “We won’t let it be built!”

Miklos Horthy was Hungary’s anti-Semitic leader during the Holocaust.  When Germany invaded in 1944, the government actively participated in the deportation of 450,000 Hungarian Jews, most of whom were gassed in Auschwitz.  Even prior to the occupation, Horthy enacted a series of restrictive laws similar to the Nuremberg Laws which restricted Jewish freedoms in Nazi territories.

Socialist politician Csaba Horvath called the monument a “disgraceful Nazi memorial” and said it was meant as a “symbolic demonstration of power.”

Another protester, Gergely Karacsony, said the monument would “humiliate those that we should commemorate.”

The newly-re-elected government tried to tone down the memorial, saying it would no longer be “dedicated to the memory of the German occupation,” but to the “victims of the German occupation.”  They insist the work is progressing on schedule despite the protests, and will be completed by May 31.  The government considers it a priority to pay tribute to the memory of the victims on the 70th anniversary of Hungary’s occupation.

Anti-Semitism is a growing concern in Hungary.  The country’s far-right extremist Jobbik party made significant gains in Sunday’s elections, earning 20.5% of the votes.  Jobbik is blatantly anti-Semitic, despite the fact that one if its founders, Csanád Szegedi, recently discovered he is a Jew.  In the words on one Jewish resident of Budapest, “This party embraces everything that used to be the National Hungarian Guard, which was founded in 2000 and was outlawed.”

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/13626/controversial-holocaust-memorial-draws-protests/#ggXHx8b01zQpqyVs.99

Hungary Sliding Back to Nazi-Era Anti-Semitism?

By Dale Hurd

CBN News Sr. Reporter

March 27, 2014

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BUDAPEST, Hungary - The Shoes on the Danube is a memorial to Budapest's Jews who were rounded up during World War II and told to take off their shoes before being shot and pushed into the Danube.

Today, Hungary's Jews are fearful again because of a return of anti-Semitism.

Hungary has been going backwards economically since before the financial crisis of 2008. Old scapegoats have come back to life in a nation that was flattened by globalization: foreigners, bankers, and Jews.

Tapping Into the Psyche

Hungarian political ads are tapping straight into the Hungarian psyche.

One shows ordinary Hungarians saying:

"More and more installments we have to pay. Are banks allowed to do what they want? While we keep working they just steal. Are political criminals allowed to do what they want? I'm already afraid to go into the streets. Are Gypsy criminals allowed to do what they want? There are no Hungarian products on the shelves. Are multis (multinational corporations) allowed to do what they want? We've had enough of parasitism. If you have too, vote for Jobbik on Oct. 3."

It's an ad for Jobbik, now the third largest party in Hungary and a strong contender to finish second in Hungarian elections April 6, creating the possibility it could join a coalition government.

Evangelicals in Hungary are very concerned, and have created a website called SaveHungary.

Vote Against Jobbik

Go to Vote Against Jobbik and like the page to help support the push against the anti-Semitic, anti-Evangelical party in Hungary.

Far-right racist parties are fairly common in Eastern Europe. But Jobbik is different. It's stronger, better organized and offering solutions to real problems that Hungarians face - even if some are the wrong solutions and their bogeyman is an American-Israeli conspiracy.

Feeling the Anti-Semitism

Budapest Rabbi Schlomo Koves said Jews can now feel the anti-Semitism in the street, although physical attacks on Jews are rare.

"There's a joke in Hungary in which someone comes to a village and he asks, is there anti-Semitism here? And the other guy answers, 'No, but there's a great need for it,'" he told CBN News.

"When society is not in a good state, when people have a hard time making a living, all these extreme ideas can come back," he said.

One Jobbik member of parliament has called for a list to be drawn up of all the Jews in government because he deems them to be a security threat.

"They consider the entire Jewish community as the agents of America and Israel," Pal Steiner, A Hungarian Jew and member of parliament, said.

"They say that through the Hungarian Jewish community, Israel and America are turning Hungary into a colony," he said.

Steiner lost half of his relatives in the Holocaust and now, 70 years later, he is receiving death threats. He says anti-Semitism isn't returning to Hungary - it never left.

"It's clear that Jobbik's basic principles are very similar to the Nazis, especially considering the so-called 'Jewish problem,'" he said. "And I need to stress that there is a part of Hungarian society that has a secret sympathy towards Jobbik."

A Sicker Society?

Miklos Horthy ruled Hungary during World War II when it was a Nazi ally. Horthy returned to a place of honor in Budapest when a bust of him was unveiled at a church. Opponents demonstrated by wearing yellow stars.

Jobbik once started a militia - the Magyar Garda - but it was outlawed. Jobbik claims it was a service organization but it looked like Arrow Cross, a Nazi-era party that killed thousands of Jews.

It's now very dangerous for Hungary's Gypsies, who have higher than average rates of criminal acts and are hated more than Jews.

CBN News asked one of Hungary's leading political consultants, Viktor Szigetvári, if Hungarian society is getting healthier, or getting sicker. He told us,

"Sadly, I have to say sicker because of growing intolerance, because of growing poverty," he said.

Could Jobbik end up in a governing coalition someday as some predict, or is it too politically radioactive for other parties?

"They are radioactive, but it is possible we might have a minority government formed after the 2014 general elections and it will be interesting to see what role Jobbik will play," Szigetvári said. "I believe (Jobbik as part of ruling coalition) is a no-go area; not in Hungary, not in Europe."

Jobbik leaders turned down our request for an interview.

"We do not want to help you on the issue of anti-Semitism," they said in a written statement. "Jobbik is dealing with much more important problems right now: the sellout of soil to foreigners and to oligarchs close to the government, the corruption scandals, the chaos in education and the catastrophic state of public safety."

Poisoning the Population

Jobbik repeatedly denies that it is anti-Semitic. On its English-language website it seems to disavow some of the positions that its leaders have spouted publicly.

They say they do not deny the Holocaust but they also do not like Israel.

CBN News spoke with one former Jobbik member from a rural area who said he never heard talk of anti-Semitism at Jobbik meetings he attended. But we also interviewed a former Jobbik leader who had to leave the party when he discovered he was a Jew.

"The problem is there are clever people in Jobbik," Hungarian Journalist Ferenc Szlazsánszky, with channel ATV, said. "It's a two-faced party - what they say amongst themselves and what they say in front of the public."

"The other problem is they are inciting hatred," he added. "They are poisoning the population in Hungary."

Steiner and others told CBN News that Jobbik should be considered "very dangerous."

And even if Jobbik never rules Hungary, critics say it's a legally elected party spreading dangerous ideas.

But fpr many, Jobbik seems to be only a symptom in a nation that is still clinging to old-fashioned anti-Semitism.

And now there is a chance that Jobbik could help rule Hungary.

*Original broadcast December 2013.


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CBN News - Hungary Sliding Back to Nazi-Era Anti-Semitism?

Hungary Sliding Back to Nazi-Era Anti-Semitism?

By Dale Hurd, CBN News Sr. Reporter Monday, December 16, 2013

Ad Feedback

BUDAPEST, Hungary - The Shoes on the Danube is a memorial to Budapest's Jews who were rounded up during World War II and told to take off their shoes before being shot and pushed into the Danube.

Today, Hungary's Jews are fearful again because of a return of anti-Semitism.

Hungary has been going backwards economically since before the financial crisis of 2008. Old scapegoats have come back to life in a nation that was flattened by globalization: foreigners, bankers, and Jews.

Tapping Into the Psyche

Hungarian political ads are tapping straight into the Hungarian psyche.

One shows ordinary Hungarians saying:

"More and more installments we have to pay. Are banks allowed to do what they want? While we keep working they just steal. Are political criminals allowed to do what they want? I'm already afraid to go into the streets. Are Gypsy criminals allowed to do what they want? There are no Hungarian products on the shelves. Are multis (multinational corporations) allowed to do what they want? We've had enough of parasitism. If you have too, vote for Jobbik on Oct. 3."

Jobbik is now the third largest party in Hungary and some say a possible longshot to rule the country in a coalition government someday.

Far-right racist parties are fairly common in Eastern Europe. But Jobbik is different. It's stronger, better organized and offering solutions to real problems that Hungarians face - even if some are the wrong solutions and their bogeyman is an American-Israeli conspiracy.

Feeling the Anti-Semitism

Budapest Rabbi Schlomo Koves said Jews can now feel the anti-Semitism in the street, although physical attacks on Jews are rare.

"There's a joke in Hungary in which someone comes to a village and he asks, is there anti-Semitism here? And the other guy answers, 'No, but there's a great need for it,'" he told CBN News.

"When society is not in a good state, when people have a hard time making a living, all these extreme ideas can come back," he said.

One Jobbik member of parliament has called for a list to be drawn up of all the Jews in government because he deems them to be a security threat.

"They consider the entire Jewish community as the agents of America and Israel," Pal Steiner, A Hungarian Jew and member of parliament, said.

"They say that through the Hungarian Jewish community, Israel and America are turning Hungary into a colony," he said.

Steiner lost half of his relatives in the Holocaust and now, 70 years later, he is receiving death threats. He says anti-Semitism isn't returning to Hungary - it never left.

"It's clear that Jobbik's basic principles are very similar to the Nazis, especially considering the so-called 'Jewish problem,'" he said. "And I need to stress that there is a part of Hungarian society that has a secret sympathy towards Jobbik."

A Sicker Society?

Miklos Horthy ruled Hungary during World War II when it was a Nazi ally. Last month Horthy returned to a place of honor in Budapest when a bust of him was unveiled at a church. Opponents demonstrated by wearing yellow stars.

Jobbik once started a militia - the Magyar Garda - but it was outlawed. Jobbik claims it was a service organization but it looked like Arrow Cross, a Nazi-era party that killed thousands of Jews.

It's now very dangerous for Hungary's Gypsies, who have higher than average rates of criminal acts and are hated more than Jews.

CBN News asked one of Hungary's leading political consultants, Viktor Szigetvári, if Hungarian society is getting healthier, or getting sicker. He told us,

"Sadly, I have to say sicker because of growing intolerance, because of growing poverty," he said.

Could Jobbik end up in a governing coalition someday as some predict, or is it too politically radioactive for other parties?

"They are radioactive, but it is possible we might have a minority government formed after the 2014 general elections and it will be interesting to see what role Jobbik will play," Szigetvári said. "I believe (Jobbik as part of ruling coalition) is a no-go area; not in Hungary, not in Europe."

Jobbik leaders turned down our request for an interview.

"We do not want to help you on the issue of anti-Semitism," they said in a written statement. "Jobbik is dealing with much more important problems right now: the sellout of soil to foreigners and to oligarchs close to the government, the corruption scandals, the chaos in education and the catastrophic state of public safety."

Poisoning the Population

Jobbik repeatedly denies that it is anti-Semitic. On its English-language website it seems to disavow some of the positions that its leaders have spouted publicly.

They say they do not deny the Holocaust but they also do not like Israel.

CBN News spoke with one former Jobbik member from a rural area who said he never heard talk of anti-Semitism at Jobbik meetings he attended. But we also interviewed a former Jobbik leader who had to leave the party when he discovered he was a Jew.

"The problem is there are clever people in Jobbik," Hungarian Journalist Ferenc Szlazsánszky, with channel ATV, said. "It's a two-faced party - what they say amongst themselves and what they say in front of the public."

"The other problem is they are inciting hatred," he added. "They are poisoning the population in Hungary."

Steiner and others told CBN News that Jobbik should be considered "very dangerous."

And even if Jobbik never rules Hungary, critics say it's a legally elected party spreading dangerous ideas.

But many, Jobbik seems to be only a symptom in a nation that is still clinging to old-fashioned anti-Semitism.

Crisis of Conscience: Anti-Semite Learns He's a Jew - CBN News

Crisis of Conscience: Anti-Semite Learns He's a Jew

By Dale Hurd

CBN News Sr. Reporter

Thursday, August 08, 2013

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BUDAPEST, Hungary -- What do you do when you learn you are not the person you thought you were, when you learn you are the very thing you hated?

It was a question Csanad Szegedi was confronted with -- one that led to a remarkable transformation.

Szegedi was once a rising star in Hungary's third largest and most controversial political parties, Jobbik. Jobbik has been labeled fascist and anti-Semitic. 

Its leader once asked for a list of all the Jews in Hungarian government. And Szegedi, still in his 20s, was on a trajectory to lead the party someday.  

"I joined Jobbik in 2003, when the party foundations were being built," he told CBN News. "I was a member for 9 years. I was vice president for 6 years and I have served in the European parliament since 2009."

Szegedi was also branded an anti-Semite, although he told CBN News that when he joined Jobbik, "I was kind of indifferent toward Jews."

"I didn't care about Jews," he said. "I didn't care about the Holocaust. I didn't consider the Holocaust as a tragedy for the Hungarian people."

Szegedi's Damascus Road

But still, Szegedi was a leader in a major anti-Semitic party, and his public statements showed that, at the very least, he didn't like Jews and was suspicious of them.

But that would all change when Szegedi learned something about himself that would turn his world upside down: Szegedi discovered he was a Jew.

When rumors of his Jewish ancestry started swirling on the Internet, Szegedi went to talk to his 94-year-old grandmother, who he never knew was Jewish.

"She opened up and she talked about her life and how she was sent to Auschwitz and how our family was annihilated," he recalled. "I was shocked. First of all because I realized the Holocaust really happened."

At first, Szegedi tried to hide his Jewishness and act like nothing had happened. But he realized he couldn't stay in Jobbik. 

"It started such a crisis in my consciousness," he told CBN News. "I realized I can't take part in any organization that has anything to do with anti-Semitism. And after my Jewish origins were disclosed, they really didn't want to see me in the party anymore."

A Spiritual 'Leper'

So what do you do when you discover you are one of the very things you hated? Szegedi decided to change.

He contacted local Rabbi Schlomo Koves, who first thought it was a joke.

"When I first met with Csanad, I had very, very mixed feelings because on one hand I was sitting across from a member of the Jobbik party, which has extreme anti-Semitic views," Rabbi Koves told CBN News.

"But on the other hand, I was sitting across from a broken person who has realized what he has done and has come to a situation where he figured he had to change but he didn't know how to change," he said.

Szegedi started attending synagogue and jokes that he was treated by some members "like a leper."

"It was very interesting to see how other people viewed it and some stepped back," Rabbi Koves said. "They were shocked."

But Szegedi started taking classes at the synagogue, learning Hebrew and the meaning of kosher and Shabbat. He said his life has completely changed.

"It's changed everything. It's like being re-born, and the changes in my life are still happening," he said. "I had this set value system that I had to change completely. I had had this value system until I was 30 and I had to admit that it was all wrong and to find the will to change."

Visiting Israel

He also became a politician without a party and has continued to serve in the European parliament as an independent.

"As a politician, now I want to defend human rights for everyone," Szegedi explained. "I am aware of my responsibility and I know I will have to make it right in the future."

One of the high points of his new life was visiting Israel with his wife and visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and the Western Wall.

"When I landed in Israel, airport security asked me a lot of questions, and when the guard asked me, 'Are you a Jew?' Then for the first time in my life, I could say, 'Yes,'" Szegedi recalled.

"Just to feel like you are on the right way spiritually, and you can get closer to God," he continued. "It's a whole new feeling for me, that I am doing the right thing."

"Since then, my life has been full of incredible miracles," he said. "But I believe everyone who chooses the way of God sees miracles."