Hungary

The Poetics and Politics of Historical Memory in Hungary

by Gábor Schein

Gábor Schein offers a "poetry of witness" for the mutilation of history in service of Hungarian nationalism. 

Bringing CPAC to Hungary Betrays the Roots of the Conservative Movement

by Lauren Lassabe

It is a bitter irony that the postwar American conservative movement was energized by the anti-Stalinist Hungarian revolution of the 1950s; today the movement takes inspiration from a repressive regime and its autocratic leader. 

Can Volodymyr Zelensky Follow the Footsteps of 19th Century Hungarian Liberal Lajos Kossuth?

by Tim Roberts

In 1851, Hungarian liberal and anti-imperialist Lajos Kossuth caused a sensation with an ultimately unsuccessful appeal to Congress for aid. What will the effects of Ukrainian President Zelensky's appeal be? 

John Ganz and Lauren Stokes on the American Right's Hungary Hearts

Historian Lauren Stokes helps to explain the American right's embrace of Viktor Orban and the right-wing regime in Hungary. 

Why Tucker Carlson went to Hungary

by Nicole Hemmer

Tucker Carlson's PR visit to Orban's Hungary echoes the tribute paid by leaders of the American right to racist regimes in Rhodesia and South Africa in the 1970s, and reflect the ongoing fantasy of the right to rule free of constraints of law and democratic norms. 

Letters from an American: The Rising Appeal of Hungary on the US Right

by Heather Cox Richardson

Tucker Carlson's fawning visit to Viktor Orban's Hungary, at a time when the right is mobilizing to subvert future American elections, is an ominous signal of the growing contempt for democracy on the right. 

"Without Pressure from Germany": Hungary's Revisionist History of the Deportation of 18,000 Jews

by Karl Pfeifer

The Hungarian government has sought to deny and obscure its responsibility for the deportation of Jews beginning in 1941. 

Hungary Transfers 11 Universities to Foundations Led by Orban Allies

"Critics immediately denounced the move as a government handover of both public education and a vast network of public assets — including real estate and shares in Hungarian companies — to Mr. Orban and his supporters."

US Embassy in Hungary slams article likening Soros to Hitler

A Hungarian culture minister suggested that the Hungarian-American Jewish financier's advocacy of stronger democratic standards in the EU--which reflect criticism of right-wing governments in Poland and Hungary--are similar to the crimes committed against the two nations by Nazi Germany, among other attacks.

A Coup of "Clerqs"?: Anne Applebaum's "Twilight of Democracy" Reviewed

by David O'Connor

Anne Applebaum's new book looks with concern at the rise of right-wing populism in Europe and the loyal party functionaries who enable its march. 

US Holocaust Survivor Who Spent Decades Fighting For Family’s Looted Art Dies

Family of biochemist and tabletop designer Martha Nierenberg, 96, says they’ll continue legal battle for art collection, stolen by the Nazis and still held by Hungary.

New Novel "The Collaborator" Explores the Moral Ambiguities of a Holocaust Rescuer

by Diane Armstrong

Do we have the right to judge the actions of people in life and death situations? Are we honour-bound to keep promises, no matter to whom they were made, and in what situations? Can a man be a hero and a collaborator?

Hungarian-American Relations in 1849 and Today: Why We Need Another Lajos Kossuth

by Tim Roberts

A Hungarian nationalist visited the United States in 1849 to plead the case for an independent, democratic state, inspiring the cause of abolition in America. Today Hungarian-American relations are running in the direction of authoritarianism. 

Coronavirus Kills Its First Democracy

You could say that Hungary was already “immunocompromised.”

Hungary’s Orban hopes a rabbi can save his country’s controversial new Holocaust museum

Initially, a Hungarian official spoke of a museum that would highlight the "story of love between Hungarian Jews and non-Jews. A love that has survived everything. As a result of which there is still a large Hungarian Jewish community living in this country." The premise was decried as Holocaust revisionism by historians and museum professionals worldwide.

Why the U.S. Bombed Auschwitz, But Didn't Save the Jews

by Rafael Medoff

Seventy-five years ago this week—on March 19, 1944—German troops marched into Hungary. The country’s 800,000 Jews, the last major Jewish community to have eluded the raging Holocaust, now lay within Hitler’s grasp.

Holocaust row taints Hungary's House of Fates museum project

Arguments over the whole concept of the museum, and the content of the exhibitions and educational centre which will operate there, have long delayed the opening.

Hungarians Fume as Statue of Former Leader Is Downgraded

Imre Nagy, the communist prime minister executed for rebelling against the Soviet Union, is a hero to many in Hungary — but not to its far-right government.

Hungary: Zero Tolerance for Anti-Semitism?

by Karl Pfeifer

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s claims to the contrary Jews are living in fear in Hungary – and with good reason.

Randolph L. Braham, leading historian of the Holocaust in Hungary, dies at 95

Dr. Braham described Holocaust scholarship as his “destiny” and fought against moves to whitewash Hungarian collusion with Nazi authorities.