MAGYAR FRONT MAY JUNE 2003 (Read-Only)

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Vancouver
MHBK member
Lajos S. Miklós Jr.
was awarded
membership in the
Order of St. László
on May 25th, 2003
and received the
Star of the Order.
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‘Freedom’ and ‘truth’ are two words we all cherish, and most of us get more than just a little
bothered when either of these concepts is kept from us. ‘Propaganda’ is another word that
evokes emotions in us, yet we usually hear it in reference to long ago and far away regimes that
used it to keep their populaces in check.
Today we are exposed to a great deal of ‘media’ – we are bombarded by so much ‘advertising’
that even when we are assaulted with propaganda; and even when freedom and truth are taken
away from us we soon forget the pain – the diversion is so overwhelming. Anyone with even the
most basic adult observational skills comes to realize that what we are told and taught isn’t
necessarily the truth, and it didn’t take me long to find a good example that we can all relate to.
Some time ago, my good friend and fellow MHBK member Péter Laborc excitedly told me
about his involvement in an upcoming museum display that was to take place in the town of
Kőszeg, Hungary. The city is known for many things – one of them being that the leader of
Hungary (for the last year of W.W.II), Ferenc Szálasi fled there from the capitol to stay ahead of
the rapidly advancing Red Army. His government, the Royal Body Guard, the Crown Guard and
the Holy Crown itself were taken there to run what remained of the devastated country. A bunker was built to house these officials and still stands as a silent reminder of a tragic past.
The display was called ‘Horthy Miklós Katonai és Szálasi Ferenc Nyilasai’ or Miklós Horthy’s
Soldiers and Ferenc Szálasi’s ‘Arrows’ (the ‘Arrow Cross’ in Hungarian is simply ‘Arrows’). The
display was very academic – some of the rarest pieces from the very short period in 1944 and
1945 when Hungary was ruled by the Nazi-sympathetic Szálasi would be shown. These items –
uniforms, insignia, decorations, photographs and posters are the ‘rarest-of-the-rare’. The retributions after the war for anyone having even the slightest connection with the Arrow Cross were so
brutal, that most everything was destroyed long ago. The articles for the display were culled
from many private collectors from around Hungary, our friend Péter bringing many pieces from
his personal ‘museum’.
He was indeed excited as there had never been a display of so many rare pieces from this era
all in one place – for the serious student of Hungarian militaria this was to be a very special
event. Laborc and his colleagues worked for weeks preparing the items and planning the display
with their usual efficiency and attention to detail. The display opened on March 19th, and not
long after the curator of the exhibition Kornél Bakay began to be inundated with violent threats
and then scrutiny from the media. Jewish groups demanded that it be shut down – they felt that
the display did not show enough about the atrocities against their people. Left wing government
officials condemned the display since it did not vilify the former fascist regime. By the time
Bakay’s family was threatened by outraged extremists, he had enough – and closed the doors on
April 18th.
I had followed these events very closely. Péter and I spoke on the phone several times a week
and he sent me a number of packages containing newspapers and magazines from the far left to
the far right that ran articles about the controversial show. ‘People were offended by it’ and minority groups felt that ‘it didn’t show the negative aspects of the regime’. I pointedly asked Péter
– Did the show glorify fascism? Was it in any way a ‘neo-Nazi’ or politically motivated exhibition? His response was quick and certain – the display focused on the specialized artifacts of the
military units of the time – period. It was not an exercise in ‘who is good and who is evil’, just a
very academic and technical representation of a very specific genre of militaria.
It certainly got a lot of press in Hungary, and an article was even published in English on the
Internet. I quickly glanced over the words and at first I thought that it was a fairly middle-ofthe-road report; but then I took some time to read it thoroughly and I was appalled by its lack of
objectivity and its curious ‘counter-propaganda’. Why does the media continue to ‘compare
apples to oranges’? Turn the page to read the English language report.
ARROW CROSS EXHIBIT FORCED TO CLOSE
The organizer of a controversial exhibition looking at Hungary’s wartime Fascist movement, the Arrow Cross, have claimed a
media campaign against it has forced its closure. Horthy’s Soldiers - Szálasi’s Arrow Cross Men closed last Friday at Kőszeg in the
west of Hungary. During its run it had been condemned by political dignitaries and Jewish organizations, as well as the media. The
exhibition, which opened on March 19 in the Jurisics Chateau Museum of Kőszeg, had come under close scrutiny after an expert from
the National Museum ruled that it portrayed the Hungarian Fascist leader Ferenc Szálasi in a positive light. The exhibit was finally
forced to close after private collectors began withdrawing items on loan to the Jurisics Chateau. Museum director Kornél Bakay informed the head of the Directorate of Vas County Museums in a letter that, “As a consequence of the uneasy atmosphere created by
the media, the owners withdrew their permission to exhibit the majority of their objects and documents lent to the museum.”
The National Museum’s Vilmos Gál had considered it ‘problematic’ that only two half sentences allude to Szálasi’s Arrow Cross
reign of terror. Szálasi, an ardent Fascist and a faithful follower of Hitler’s regime, was named Hungarian Prime Minister in October
1944 after a German backed coup. Until the victory of the Soviet forces his Arrow Cross party members killed thousands of Jews and
non-Jews. Gál’s report found neither ‘factual presentation of the harmful consequences of the Arrow Cross era in the display, nor any
consideration of the affect of Nazi occupation on the future fate of Hungary.’
However, Gál described the media reaction to the exhibition as exaggerated, and found that the show did have value which
‘deserves attention and recognition’. Leaders of MAZSIHISZ, the Federation of Jewish Religious Communities in Hungary demanded
the immediate closure of the exhibition, seeking the help of House speaker Katalin Szili, and anticipating an appeal to Parliament’s
Human Rights and Cultural committees. Minister of National Cultural Heritage Gábor Görgey, who together with political state
secretary László Kocsi profoundly condemned the exhibition, said he was pleased at the news of the closure of the exhibit. The fact
that the controversial issue could be settled within the boundaries of law and in the name of morality and good taste is a triumph of
democracy and social solidarity, he declared.
Let’s take a closer look:
“The exhibition, which opened on March 19 in the Jurisics Chateau Museum of Kőszeg, had come under close scrutiny after an expert
from the National Museum ruled that it portrayed the Hungarian Fascist leader Ferenc Szálasi in a positive light”
Péter assured me that the the only information presented with the articles were concise details of the particular item – political
opinions were not presented by the museum. Choosing not to present them seems to portray the fascist leader in a ‘positive light’ to
the media.
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“The exhibit was finally forced to close after private collectors began withdrawing items on loan to the Jurisics Chateau.”
The private collectors were told of the threats to the museum and the people involved – they only withdrew their items when the
curator had to inform them that they were not safe.
“The fact that the controversial issue could be settled within the boundaries of law and in the name of morality and good taste
is a triumph of democracy and social solidarity, he declared.”
It was this ‘Orwellian’ statement that bothered me the most. We still have a long way to go.
Péter Laborc sent me an excellent CD-ROM full of video footage of the display, as well as several Hungarian
television programs that had stories of and featured debates about the museum display.
He has given me permission to copy it, so contact me if you are interested in one.
Keep in mind it is in CD-ROM format, so you can only view it in your computer’s CD drive.
HERO’S DAY (HŐSOK NAPJA) DISPLAY AT
OUR LADY OF HUNGARY CHURCH
Although attendance could have been
higher, our annual Hero’s Day mass
and display went very well. There are
still a lot of Hungarians who were
raised under the communist system
and who were born here that are
unaware that this holiday exists,
and is official once again in Hungary.
We are doing our best to educate the
general public about it, and hope that
the little booklet we published in
English and Hungarian (shown at left)
will help people remember.
Father Dénes Lakatos
deserves special thanks for his
staunch support of our holiday and
his moving words that honoured
Hungary’s fallen soldiers.
General
Antal v. Radnócy
1912 - 2003
Főkapitány
of the
Order of Vitéz
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The rarest of the award badges of the old Magyar Frontharcos Mozgalom is the Badge for Life-time Members or Örökös tagsági jelvény. The
list below is of the members who were awarded this badge (from a 1942
veterans’ yearbook) - it is not known whether any were awarded after
that year. The examples pictured at left are the only know badges in
private hands, and belong to MHBK Vancouver Chapter member
Béla v. Hajdu. He recently brought them over to Péter Laborc’s house for
him to scan images of it for me. Hajdu is the world’s foremost authority
on Hungarian military badges.
This insignia is similar to the plain large award badge, except it has
the addition of the golden oak leaves. The small buttonhole badge is
worn on the lapel.
THE HUNGARIAN FRONT-LINE FIGHTER’S ASSOCIATION LIFE-TIME MEMBERS
A MAGYAR TŰZHARCOS SZÖVETSÉG ÖRÖKÖS TAGJAI
v. gróf Takách-Tolvay József ny. altábornagy
v. Borbély-Maczky Emil ny. őrnagy
Kertész Elemér t.c. százados
v. Mándoky Sándor ny. tábori főesperes
Lázár Emil t.c. százados
Molnár Gyula népf. százados
Somogyi Aladár ny. vezérőrnagy
Dr. Fabinyi József t.c. százados
Dr. Hegedűs Bertalan t. főhadnagy
Dr. v. Ireghy Antal t.c. százados
Dr. Juhász Ödön t.c. hadnagy
Komárnoky Gyula t.c. százados
vjk. Sághy Antal t.c. főhadnagy
Tóth Zsigmond t.c. százados
v. Áronffy Mihály ny. ezredes
dr. Csiby László ny. alezredes
dr. Diettrich Lajos t.c. százados
Korponay Ede t.c. őrnagy
Dr. Litteczky Lajos ny. százados
Marossy László t. főhadnagy
Dr. Luckács Gyula t. hadnagy
Dr. Vojtsek Ottó t. főhadnagy
Zámory Imre ny. ezredes
Dr. Csukássy Lóránt t.c. százados
Dr. v. Franknóy Gyula t.c. százados
Dr. Géber Mihály hadnagy
NOW AVAILABLE…
THE NEW MHBK ‘BLAZER BADGE’
The Vancouver Chapter of
the MHBK is now taking
orders for our
organization’s exquisite
new hand-embroidered
crest. These badges are of
the highest quality, with
intricate gold wire details
on fine black wool. Each
insignia comes complete
with convenient pin
attachments on the back there is no need for sewing.
$25.00 CDN or $17.00 US (plus postage)
Please allow 2 - 4 weeks for delivery
Send cheque (payable to Peter Czink)
v. dr. Horváth Kázmér t.c. százados
v. dr. Huszár Aladár t.c. százados
V. Illés Béla ny. Ezredes
Lovag Kempsky Lénárt t.c. százados
Dr. Kenessey Gyula t.c. százados
Dr. Kiss Endre t.c. százados
v. Martsekényi Imre t.c. főhadnagy
Papp Elek t. főhadnagy
Pataki József t. zászlós
v. Pitér Vilmos ny. alezredes
Dr. Streicher Andor t. főhadnagy
Terényi Jenő ny. alezredes
v. dr. Váczy György t.c. zászlós
The MAGYAR FRONT
is published bi-monthly by Péter Czink VRNT,
Chapter Leader, Vancouver Chapter,
Hungarian Veterans’ Association
(Csoport Vezetõ, Vancouveri Csoport,
Magyar Harcosok Bajtársi Közössége)
P.O. Box 74527 Kitsilano P.O.
Vancouver B.C. V6K 4P4 Canada
telephone/fax: 604 733-9948 email: [email protected]
THE NEW HUNGARIAN VOICE
A Vancouver newsletter dedicated to
the promotion of Hungarian culture.
The New Hungarian Voice is an English language quarterly that
deals with Hungarian local, cultural and historical issues perfect for those with English as their first language.
Available free of charge from the above address!