Antisemitism in contemporary Hungary
Whether economic and social changes fed the sudden increase in antisemitism or covert hostility toward Jews surfaced as a consequence of new civil liberties is debated.
[2][3] Post-communist capitalism has led to "social nationalism"; racism, xenophobia, fundamentalism, and antisemitism are identity- and culture-based pseudo-response to real socio-economic problems.
A socio-political cleavage structure in Hungary, reflecting historical contradictions between notions of progress and nationhood, is said to have created a situation in which high-status groups attempted to transform antisemitism into a mobilizing cultural code.
In his concept of "national antisemitism", Klaus Holz emphasised the image of the Jew as a universal and threatening "non-identity", destroying other identities and communities.
Hunnia Füzetek and Szent Korona (newspapers established after the transition) were the first to bring back the motifs of traditional antisemitism and merge them with postwar elements, particularly Holocaust denial.
Mainstream antisemitism, promulgated by intellectuals such as István Csurka (who participated in the anticommunist opposition's activities and was prominent in political life after the 1989 transition), appeared in public discourse.
[2] According to the ADL survey conducted in January 2012, "disturbingly high levels" of antisemitism were to be found in ten European countries, including Hungary.
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, has said that: "In Hungary, Spain, and Poland the numbers for antisemitic attitudes are literally off-the-charts and demand a serious response from political, civic, and religious leaders".
In a broader context of the historical Jewish role in the process of Westernization, the relationship to Jewry seems to be, for Viktor Karády, one of the main sources of the present ideological division.
[2] By examining anti-Jewish prejudice in contemporary Hungary in accordance with a socio-psychological causal model,[note 2] Bojan Todosijevic and Zsolt Enyedi have found that:[15] During the post-communist era, the quickly emerging extreme-right subculture also strengthened the traditional anti-Roma attitude.
Many neo-Nazi, Hungarist, and "nationalist rock" bands came into being and use extremely racist language and symbols, including HunterSS, White Storm, Endlösung, and others.
[5] The anti-Zionism and Moscow-initiated intensifying attacks on so-called "rootless cosmopolitans" (at its peak from 1949 to the death of Stalin in 1953) that ruled the mainstream discourse during communism did not disappear after the 1989 transition, and it sometimes re-emerged in the form of antisemitism.
"[17] Nevertheless, according to János Gadó, an editor for Hungary's Jewish periodical, Szombat, antisemitism should not be seen as a characteristic of the right-wing alone; it is an increasing problem on the left of the political spectrum, as it is shrouded in criticism of Israel's policies.
"A significant proportion of the anti-Jewish rhetoric in Hungary's right-wing press is characterized by the left-wing's language of anti-Zionism ... according to this Israel is 'oppressive,' 'racist', and tramples on the rights of Palestinians".
[20] Anti-Soros conspiracy theories in Hungary originated in 1993, with the work of István Csurka, a far-right intellectual who depicted Soros as an anti-patriotic globalist Jewish financier capable of controlling governments.
[20] The government unveiled a mass-campaign of posters urging Hungarians to "Stop Soros", portraying the financier as a puppet master and employing the antisemitic trope of the Jews as an alien fifth column working against their host society.
[21] The conspiracy theories alleged that Soros was behind a plan to let one million Muslims a year into Europe, aided by global political bodies over which he exercised control.
[21] This rhetoric overtly utilised elements of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, some versions of which depict Jews plotting to undermine majority-white societies by importing non-white immigrants.
