Borvendég Zsuzsanna: Fabulous Spy Games. How international trade networks with the West developed after 1945 - A Magyarságkutató Intézet Kiadványai 24. (Budapest, 2021)
‘FABULOUS’ IN HUNGARY - Sympathetic journalism
FABULOUS SPY GAMES irreconcilable contradiction puts the idea of Orwellian doublespeak to shame and illustrates the unscrupulous and morally untenable nature of the Kádárian consolidation that went under the guise of soft dictatorship’. From a ruling perspective, Kádár ’ s pragmatism was hugely successful for the regime as the idyllic reporting of Hungary, written under extraordinary circumstances, vastly improved the image of the country and its leader. What do I mean by extraordinary circumstances? On 9 December 1962, Meissner was staying in Hungary again, and Ervin Rojkó invited him for a Sunday trip to Visegrád. In the village of Leányfalu, the embedded ‘tour guide’ happened to notice János Kádár walking at the side of the road with his dear wife. Having called the attention of the German journalist to this ‘fortunate coincidence’ the guide asked Meissner if he wanted to stop for a moment to engage in conversation with the country’s premier. Of course, the journalist grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He was flabbergasted that the most powerful man in Hungary, the head of both the government and the state party, could just walk the street without any protection whatsoever and simply engage with any stranger who happens to walk by. Mrs Kádár, who used to fight the ‘reactionary’ deviationists at the mail control unit of state security, was the embodiment of charm. Dripping with kindness, she insisted that the journalist absolutely had to return in spring, when the Danube bend would be at its most beautiful.359 I can only guess at the scale of the collusion and organisation that these few minutes of conversation took to stage, but no matter how much energy went into it, it was definitely worth it. A few days later, the first article of a three-part series was published in the West German press entitled ‘Meeting Kádár ’. The blood-stained murderer of the revolution was presented to the western public as the King Matthias of the folk tales, who could walk among the common people because he was surrounded by love and appreciation, and therefore had nothing to fear: 359 ÁBTL 3.1.5. 0-12344/5 p. 117 Report by ‘ Reményi’ 10 December 1962 “Last week, we were staying in Budapest. We shall report on this in several instalments. Today we shall start with our political impressions. 134
