On Sunday, November 3 a bust of Miklós Horthy, Hungary’s head of state from 1920-1944, was unveiled in front of a church on Szabadság tér. The event was organized by Márton Gyöngyösi MP, deputy group leader of the far-right Jobbik party and Lóránt Hegedűs Junior, pastor of Hazatérés Temploma (Church of Homecoming) of the Reformed Church. Those attending the ceremony were met by hundreds of counter-demonstrators, many wearing a yellow star. The event sparked heavy protests both domestically and internationally. Several pastors of the Reformed Church also voiced their concern and the church district commenced a disciplinary inquiry into Hegedűs’s actions.
Miklós Horthy is a highly controversial figure. Not only discussed by historians alone for his ambiguous role in the Interwar period, he has increasingly become the object of an emotional and politicized debate. While some celebrate him as a national hero others condemn him as war criminal and mass murderer. Elected Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1920 the last commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian navy remained in office until October 1944. To revise the Treaty of Trianon after the First World War Horthy steered the country into an alliance with Nazi Germany, eventually entering the war on its side in 1941. Most problematic is Horthy’s role in the genocide of Hungarian Jews. Following the occupation of the country by the Germans in March 1944 Horthy remained in office and allowed the deportation of over 437 000 Hungarian Jews from rural Hungary, leading to their extermination. In July 1944 Horthy intervened in the deportation of the Jews of Budapest, a fact often used to defend him. The far right is trying to portray Miklós Horthy as a great statesman and the bust adds to a small but growing list of renamed streets/squares and statues for Horthy initiated on the local level. Two cases taking place in 2012 created considerable noise. The first was the decision of the town council to rename a square Horthy-park in the small town of Gyömrő. Despite loud protests on the national level a local referendum on the matter held in January this year was rendered invalid due to low voter turnout. The second was the case of lawyer Péter Dániel, who had covered a wooden Horthy statue with red paint to draw attention to the problematic role of Horthy. The statue had been erected on the initiative of the deputy mayor of Kereki village two days before. Dániel was later sentenced to a fine.
However, the most recent unveiling of a bust for Horthy is also a byproduct of an ongoing rehabilitation of the Interwar period that is partly tolerated and partly actively promoted by the governing center-right Fidesz party. The restoration of Kossuth square to its 1944 state, the inauguration of the statute for Prime Minister István Bethlen and several other measures point to a selective rehabilitation of the period. But when it comes to the emblematic figure of Horthy himself Fidesz has remained rather voiceless. Antal Rogán, mayor of Budapest’s 5th district and leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group, disapproved of a statue for Horthy and deemed the unveiling a “provocation” by Jobbik. But more concerned about international reactions than the statue itself, Rogán argued that this would serve as yet another vehicle for criticism of Hungary by “the western European left-wing media.” Personally condemning the inauguration, János Lázár, state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office, stated that it is the historians’ task to judge the past. In fact, quite a number of historians have repeatedly voiced their concern and have also been drawing attention to the ambiguous role of Fidesz in the rehabilitation of the interwar period. But Lázár might have other historians in mind. A government decree from October 25 stipulates the foundation of “Veritas Historical Research Institute.” The institute will operate under the auspices of the very same state secretary. Besides the already telling name, the decree defines the institute’s aims as “strengthening national spirit,” producing an “undistorted” view on the past 150 years and analyzing and presenting “successful models of government” from the past. It remains to be seen what the ‘undistorted’ perspective on Horthy will be.
Jan Bröker, History
Image by the author.
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