Six hundred people, wearing black uniforms and insignia which critics say are reminiscent of the Nazi era, took an oath of loyalty on Sunday to defend Hungary as members of a far-right "guard". The Hungarian Guard was launched in August with 56 members and drew widespread criticism because of its uniform and use of a red-and-white striped flag linked to the fascist Arrow Cross regime which sent hundreds of thousands of Jews to death camps.
The Hungarian Guard was launched in August with 56 members and drew widespread criticism because of its uniform and use of a red-and-white striped flag linked to the fascist Arrow Cross regime which sent hundreds of thousands of Jews to death camps.
Well, that's pretty scary when people are openly joining fascist paramilitaries. Something is very, very wrong in Europe.
The connection with post-communism is more convoluted -- the disenchantement of some poor people, primarily retirees, is one element; another is how the historical memory of fascism was dealt with (or not)-- e.g. it was dealt with somehow by official communist propaganda, which nationalists could ignore as propaganda, and later generations weren't talking about it the way their Western counterparts did in the sixties. But this is more indirect in the current case, which incolves young people (the Hungarian Guard is a creation of a far-right youth party), in no small part college students, with no direct memory of being under the previous regime. For them, sadly, being rebellious and radical is being far-right. Their disenchantment involves recent government policies. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
Hungary during the Second World War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In March of 1944, the Nazis launched Operation Margarethe and German troops occupied Hungary, and mass deportations of Jews to German death camps in occupied Poland were set to begin. The infamous SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann went to Hungary to oversee the large-scale deportations. Between May 15 and July 9, Hungarian authorities deported 437,402 Jews, all but 15 thousand went to Auschwitz-Birkenau.[4] One in three Jews killed at Auschwitz was a Hungarian citizen. [4] In August of 1944, Horthy replaced Sztójay with the anti-Fascist General Géza Lakatos. Under the Lakatos regime, acting Interior Minister Béla Horváth ordered Hungarian gendarmes to prevent any Hungarian citizens from being deported. A Turan I tank of the Hungarian 2nd Armoured Division in action near Debrecen, 1944. In September of 1944, Soviet forces crossed the Hungarian border. On October 15, 1944, Horthy announced that Hungary had signed an armistice with the Soviet Union. The Hungarian army ignored the armistice. The Germans launched Operation Panzerfaust and, by kidnapping his son (Miklós Horthy, Jr.), forced Horthy to abrogate the armistice, depose the Lakatos government, and name the leader of the Arrow Cross Party, Ferenc Szálasi, as Prime Minister. Horthy abdicated and Szálasi became Prime Minister. Soon Hungary became a battlefield. Szálasi promised greatness for Hungary and a prosperity for the peasants, but in reality Hungary was crumbling and its armies were slowly being destroyed. In cooperation with the Nazis, Szálasi restarted the deportations of Jews, particularly in Budapest. Thousands more Jews were killed by Arrow Cross members. Of the approximately 800,000 Jews residing within Hungary's expanded borders of 1941, only 200,000 (about 25%) survived the Holocaust.[5] Several thousand Roma were also killed as part of the Porajmos. The retreating German army demolished the rail, road, and communications systems. The advancing Red Army committed mass rapes, mass lootings, and numerous other war crimes.
In March of 1944, the Nazis launched Operation Margarethe and German troops occupied Hungary, and mass deportations of Jews to German death camps in occupied Poland were set to begin. The infamous SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann went to Hungary to oversee the large-scale deportations. Between May 15 and July 9, Hungarian authorities deported 437,402 Jews, all but 15 thousand went to Auschwitz-Birkenau.[4] One in three Jews killed at Auschwitz was a Hungarian citizen. [4]
In August of 1944, Horthy replaced Sztójay with the anti-Fascist General Géza Lakatos. Under the Lakatos regime, acting Interior Minister Béla Horváth ordered Hungarian gendarmes to prevent any Hungarian citizens from being deported. A Turan I tank of the Hungarian 2nd Armoured Division in action near Debrecen, 1944.
In September of 1944, Soviet forces crossed the Hungarian border. On October 15, 1944, Horthy announced that Hungary had signed an armistice with the Soviet Union. The Hungarian army ignored the armistice. The Germans launched Operation Panzerfaust and, by kidnapping his son (Miklós Horthy, Jr.), forced Horthy to abrogate the armistice, depose the Lakatos government, and name the leader of the Arrow Cross Party, Ferenc Szálasi, as Prime Minister. Horthy abdicated and Szálasi became Prime Minister.
Soon Hungary became a battlefield. Szálasi promised greatness for Hungary and a prosperity for the peasants, but in reality Hungary was crumbling and its armies were slowly being destroyed. In cooperation with the Nazis, Szálasi restarted the deportations of Jews, particularly in Budapest. Thousands more Jews were killed by Arrow Cross members. Of the approximately 800,000 Jews residing within Hungary's expanded borders of 1941, only 200,000 (about 25%) survived the Holocaust.[5] Several thousand Roma were also killed as part of the Porajmos. The retreating German army demolished the rail, road, and communications systems. The advancing Red Army committed mass rapes, mass lootings, and numerous other war crimes.
On the other hand, in the region where fascist dictatorship was followed by Soviet occupation and Stalinist dictatorship, it was easier to misinterpret history in different ways, and thus Quislings did keep a following. In Slovakia, Romania and Croatia, too.
As a historical sidenote, when the Arrowcrossers were formed, though fascists and violent anti-semites too, they were first hostile to the Nazis -- and the Nazi-friendly pseudo-fascists and hard-right-wingers then holding power. Thus the Arrowcrosser leader used to sit in prison even during the start-up of WWII. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
(Not responding, reading.) *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
Below I precisify some stuff.
launched in August with 56 members
Nope. They wanted 56, to remind of 1956, but only 55 showed up. That was then a matter for general laughter. The current half-thousand is less funny, even if the number of supporters cheering is unchanged at around 1500.
a red-and-white striped flag linked to the fascist Arrow Cross regime
This flag was the original flag of the Kingdom of Hungary, or originally its first line of kings. The Arrowcrossers hijacked it the same way the Nazis hijacked the Swastika. However, this symbol (unlike the Arrowcross) wasn't banned along with other 'autocratic regime symbols' in the nineties.
In recent years, the far-right began to use it. For them it's less about the Arrowcrosser tradition (there are plenty of other far-right traditions) than about provocating the left and center, and they use the transparent excuse that this is a pre-WWII Hungarian symbol. Since the local populist center-right accepts and courts far-right support, the flag has gone into wider usage. (It hangs on two houses in the streets near me, I have such an urge to burn those flags.)
fascist Arrow Cross regime which sent hundreds of thousands of Jews to death camps.
To be precise: it was the regime the Arrowcrossers succeeded that collected 400,000 members of the Hungarian Jewry on trains and handed them over to the Nazis at the border, a job done 'efficiently' in a couple of weeks, but then stopped upon the spread of rumours of Auschwitz. All this happened after the Nazi occupation of the country, upon fears that Hungary would change sides, and upon another attempt at changing sides, Hitler forced the installment of the Arrowcrosser government -- under whom the Arrowcrossers and the occupiers themselves continued the ghetto-creation, murder and deportations on the remaining c. 300,000, but that wasn't finished due to the Soviet advances. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
