Folia historica 24

I. Tanulmányok - Fisli Éva: „A nemzet halottja”, 1945 Bajcsy-Zsilinszky (újra)temetése

Л temetési menet közönsége The Dead of the Nation, 1945 The reburial of Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Summary In Hungary the reburial ceremony of Bajcsy-Zsilinszky was the first public event of its kind in the May of 1945. A consolidating political party (FICGP= Small Landholders Party) and a provisional national government used his emblematic figure to mobilize a grief-stricken, failed nation and to legitimize their power. In December 1944 Bajcsy-Zsilinszky was executed and buried by Arrow Cross men (Hungarian Nazis) in Sopron-Kőhida because he attempted to organize the Hungarian resistance. His personal moral courage, his martyrdom and constant anti-German feeling made him suitable for performing this role. In spring 1945 in Hungary - as well as in other countries of Western Europe - a discredited political community was looking for the possibility of continuation, redefining itself, its friends and foes. Bajcsy-Zsilinszky became the ideal of the „just Hungarian man" in the Hungarian press of 1945 and set an example for the morally collapsed country. He contributed to the process of self-examination and purification. The meanings connected with him, the various kinds of definitions and several political utilization reflect the political playground of the age. In May 1945 besides the Soviet Red Army, the Small Landholders Party defined the „political memory" and public life. At this time the Hungarian Communist Party 195