Calvin Synod Herald, 2014 (115. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2014-03-01 / 3-4. szám
8 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD Never Asain! HUNGARY GOT IT RIGHT! Hungary was honored as UNESCO named it the patron of the Holocaust Memorial Year 2014. Next year it will be President of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance for the 70th Anniversary of its end with the freedom of the Jews from the Nazi concentration camps. But there are dark clouds hovering about. Charges of anti-Semitism in Hungary by American politicians and European Union critics, and also obnoxious outbreaks by neo-Nazi militants in Hungary, call for a clarification to Hungary’s friends. U.S. Representatives David C. Cicilline and Lois Frankel wrote they were concerned with “the resurgence of extremism and anti-Semitism in Hungary over the past few years, including personal attacks against Jews, vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, and virulently anti-Semitic statements by members of the fascist Jobbik party.” After all, with the limited news usually available from this part of the world, what is going on? The fact is, after years of the Communist/Socialist headin-the-sand neglect, right now the present government of Hungary has got it right. The Representatives also noted, “We are specifically encouraged by your government’s commitment to a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy against anti-Semitism,” but that they were still concerned over ... the honoring of Miklós Horthy ... (and) the continuation of paramilitary activities by racist organizations.” So it is necessary to understand what’s going on in Hungary. Trianon - The Unwilling Satellite Having lost its war of independence in 1849, and tethered in the Dual Monarchy to the Habsburgs, the control of its foreign policy and armed forces was held by Austria. Hungary was compelled to fight on Austria’s side in WWI, aligned with Germany, a loser in a war in which Hungary had nothing to gain. The Allies foisted the Trianon Treaty (June 4, 1920) on a newly independent Hungary, but gave away 2/3rds of its land and 65% of its people. Forbidden to have an army, it could not defend itself when neighbors sought even more of its land or abused rights of the Hungarians now living in their new ‘homeland.’ In the foreword to his book “Regicide at Marseille, ” the spirit of the time was expressed by Tibor Eckhardt, the country’s Chief Delegate to the League of Nations, who fled Hungary to the United States upon the Nazi’s takeover of the government. “In the heart of Europe, dismembered Hungary had to endure the worst tribulations. Disarmed and encircled by hostile forces she had to survive.” He shared his personal insight into the nation’s Regent, Admiral Miklós Horthy: “But in 1941, it was Horthy’s main desire to stay out of the war waged by Hitler - a person whom the Admiral despised. In 1937, just back from a naval parade in Kiel where Hitler had tried to impress Horthy with his new modem fleet, the Regent complained to me about ‘the vulgarity of that character’ whose power was terrifying, but with whom he would never have anything to do. Now, in March, Horthy had no doubt that the Nazis would be defeated in a few year’s time, ‘somewhere in distant Asia or Africa.’ But he felt certain that the danger of war had passed away, well beyond Hungary, and that our neutrality could be maintained up to the war’s end. He assured me that he would certainly refuse to join in Hitler’s war or to resign under Nazi pressure which might enable Hitler to take over Hungary.” Horthy walked a thin tightrope. With Hitler’s rise, pieces of its neighbors were split off by the Fuehrer for Lebensraum, or swallowed up as German satellites. Regent Miklós Horthy, head of state, stmggled to keep Hungary an independent nation. At the outbreak of World War II, Germany’s troops entered one after another in Hitler’s move to the Balkans, but not into Hungary. However, there were Nazi sympathizers, often anti-Bolshevik and anti-Semitic, many in the army formerly tied to Austria, who saw a chance to regain some of the nation’s losses. Tightening the Vise on the Jews Horthy’s government was tempted by Hitler to regain land lost by Trianon, if he would surrender its Jews, but the Fuehrer was spumed one time after another. In his book, “Hungary: The Unwilling Satellite, ” John F. Montgomery wrote, in 1947, “Under the circumstances, it was heroic on the part of the regime to permit a strong influx of foreign Jews, chiefly Polish, Slovakian and Austrian. It would have been sufficient proof of courage if the government, defying German pressure, had protected its own Jews, at the same time keeping its borders closed.” (p. 106) In the New York Times, Mrs. Anne O’ Hare McCormick said, “It must count in the score of Hungary that until the Germans took control it was the last refuge in Central Europe for the Jews to escape from Germany, Austria, Poland and Rumania. Now these hapless people are exposed to the same ruthless policy of deportation and extermination that was carried out in Poland. But as long as they exercised any authority in their own house, the Hungarians tried to protect the Jews.” (July 15, 1944) Hungary dragged its feet, reluctantly conceding reductions in employment of Jews or political involvement. Count Stephen Bethlen, although retired from government, lifted his voice against the anti-Jewish laws. Offered a piece of Rumania, for anti-Jewish concessions, Count Paul Teleki refused. The American Jewish Yearbook said, “It was really surprising to note his resistance at this point, certainly a minor issue for Hungary after all the fundamental sacrifices extorted from her.” It also noted that “considerable numbers of those who lost their original occupations found some devious but tolerated ways to earn at last some irregular income. Jews dwell safely in their original homes ... and no discrimination against them in the distribution of food.” The Regent had all he could do to keep the Fuehrer away. US Rep. Tom Lantos - Survivor - Nazi Boots German boots trampled Hungarian soil on March 19, 1944, and as the Yearbook says, “One of the official German pretexts for the occupation was ‘the unrestricted presence of some one million Jews as a concrete menace to the safety of German arms on the Balkan peninsula.’” It noted that when the German I
