Are Hungarians Antisemitic?

One of the things I discovered without looking for it was that in conversation about money, many Hungarians would complain about Jews. My first question was “why?”

This led me to do some research on the history of the relationship between Hungarians and Jews.

Today, so many Arabs and in the past the Germans despised the Hebrew race. I have come to the conclusion that feelings of antipathy toward Jews among many Hungarians are not with the Hebrews as a race.

This is unlike the Nazi regime that based itself on the belief that the Germans were the master and superior race. However, one ethnic group that excelled in German society in the areas of intelligence was the Jews. Their existence with their economic and professional success in German society was a direct challenge to the master race theory that Adolph Hitler preached. It was also a Jewish professor who rejected Hitler as a mediocre art student. This infuriated the young Hitler who wanted a career as and artist in his younger days. His hatred for the Jews was a mixture of racial delusion and a rejection complex that drove his twisted fanaticism. His demonic communication skills that tapped the dark primordial paganism of the Teutonic soul gave him a way to pass this delusion on to a whole nation.

It also seems that among the Arabs there is a rejected brother complex that goes back four thousand years. The Biblical character Abraham is the father of both the Jewish and the Arab race. According to the Books of Moses, his first son, Ishmael, was born to his Egyptian mistress. His second son, Isaac, was born to his wife Sarah in their old age. There was a great rivalry between the two women and they could no longer live together. The older son could not live peacefully with his younger half - brother either. Though he deeply loved both sons, Abraham finally relented to his wife and sent his mistress, Hagar and her son Ishmael away. This family resentment remains to this day and is deep in the soul of the two people groups.

In spite of the atrocities carried out by the Arrow Cross-in WWII Hungarians today do not wish that Jews should be exterminated. It is true that from 1944 when Szilasi took over Hungary Jews suffered tremendously but I have never met a Hungarian today who agrees with what was done.

The antisemitism and over 500,000 Jews murdered in the Hungarian holocaust are part of the dark night of the Hungarian soul. I believe there has been a national repentance for this and it is not necessary to open wounds which should be healed, not re-opened.

Even extreme nationalists who are anti Jewish and for that fact, those who may be anti-anyone-who-is-not-Hungarian do not openly agree with the Hungarian Holocaust.

But why is it in kocsma (pub) conversations so many Hungarians of every level of society complain so vehemently about Jewish people? What is the root of Hungarian antipathy toward Jewish people? Hungarians are not at all xenophobic. In fact, they are overly gracious to the foreigner who hungarianizes in the smallest way. Especially if the foreigner speaks Hungarian, even if badly.

So why is it that there are so many complaints from Hungarians regarding the Jews? Why is it that during the horrible conflict between the Jews and Palestinians in April 2002 Hungarians demonstrated alongside Arabs in front of Parliament? But why did only a few gentile Hungarians participate in the pro – Israeli demonstration at the synagogue?

First, it would be worthwhile to look at how Jews in Europe have lived since the Spanish inquisition and secondly, the relationship between Jews and Hungarians from the beginning.

It is interesting to note that before the Spanish inquisition, Jews lived well under the Muslims in the areas of Europe where Muslims dominated, mainly Spain. Jews often administrated property and banking relationships between Muslims and Christians on behalf of the Arabic Moors who occupied the southern part of Europe. According to the Koran (which at that time the Moors followed in their business and politics), Jews and Christians, as people of the Book, (The Torah - Jewish Scriptures, and the Injil - the Christian Gospels), were allowed to live unmolested as second – class citizens as long as they paid taxes and submitted to Muslim rule. Jews prospered as they collected taxes and lent money to Christians who felt a terrible oppression under Muslim rule in their own land.

Of course, there are also the deep religious differences. In European history religious differences have caused bitter wars- even in the twentieth century differences between Catholics and Protestants have shed a lot of blood in Northern Ireland.

Religious persecution and prejudice is a sad fact of European history. Therefore, is it no surprise that if those who call themselves Christian would turn against one another for the different ways in which they practice their faith, why would they not also turn against those who only believe the first Testament of their Bible? This behavior in no way reflects true Christianity whose founder came to die for those who were against Him, not to kill them.

In my own Spanish heritage I am reminded of the bloody, even satanic inquisition, which forced conversion upon Jews in a terrorism which inflicted the pain of torture and death (as well as others who were considered heretics). Many who accepted a forced conversion still lost all of their property and immigrated to the New World with their new religions and identities to escape the wave of persecution. Archaeologists have discovered that some of them secretly practiced Jewish rites there. I understand that some of their blood maybe runs in my own veins! After the expulsion of the Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492, the infamous Tomas Torquemada carried out this terrible backlash that became known as the Spanish Inquisition.

The Spanish Catholic Church desired to cleanse the land from non- Catholic influence and those whom they considered heretics. However, not only in Spain, but also throughout Europe Jews were the targets of religious persecution. Many tried to escape the persecution by converting to Catholicism. In many cases this was not successful because people knew anyway that they were Jews.

Those who remained in and scattered throughout Europe developed a mentality of ethnic self – preservation and held on tightly to their rituals, religion, and even developed an Eastern European Jewish language, Yiddish.

Study was part of the Jewish tradition from the beginning as Jewish boys from five years old had to memorize the Torah in Hebrew regardless of their national language. When they transferred the passion for learning to other disciplines outside of studying the Scriptures, this also put them at a great advantage in any society in which they lived. They also developed skills in commerce and banking, knowing that they needed to make money this way as they could be expelled from the lands they lived in at any time. Therefore, they avoided agriculture as their prime source of income, though they did own property from which they collected rent.

Because of pogroms, (anti-ewish persecutions), many constantly migrated from country to country. To the European Jew, education and business were a part of survival to succeed in a place where they were not sure they could settle. They passionately pursued these avenues and were usually successful in the countries where they lived, always with the idea that they may have to leave and take their money, jewels and skills with them to a new place. This passionate pursuit of excellence led them to become accomplished professionals and artists. Jewish doctors, lawyers, architects, professors, bankers, jewelers, businessmen, actors, directors, and musicians rose to the top levels of the European nations in which they lived.

Someone asked Arthur Rubinstein, why is the Jew so good at the violin and so few good at the piano? Rubinstein answered, “Because you can take the violin with you when you have to run away.” It is interesting to note that another migratory nationality, gypsies, or the Roma people also developed skills in commerce and performed their music with mobile instruments, but did not develop a similar ethic of education. However, as many believe about the Jews, the Roma also seem to have a sense of tribal exclusiveness where they are the insiders. Whether it is true or not, many believe that among both peoples there is the feeling that they must look out for themselves as the society is not for them.

Commerce, education, and culture were what Jews would bring to every new place they would migrate. Migrate they did, as they would go in large numbers from one persecuted country to another where they could be accepted.

This cycle of history repeated itself throughout Europe. Jews would migrate from one country to another, live there and prosper, and also raise the standards of education, professionalism, commerce, finance, arts, and other aspects in the new societies where they lived and as long as things went well in the country they were accepted, or at least tolerated.

However, in other parts of Europe as in Hungary, Jewish influence also brought trouble. Among some Jewish intellectuals, radical politics became almost a fashion. It was Leon Trotsky, a Jew, whose thinking on social structure brought on the flood of ideology that eventually separated Eastern Europe from Western Europe. What became known as Communism caused great upheavals and millions of executions, starvation, economic deprivation, and loss of personal freedom. Now former communist countries are going through a recovery period that has left them way behind the west and in many cases, desperate.

For centuries there has been a lingering resentment in European history regarding prosperity and success of Jews. However, not only prosperity but also politics left another reason for thinking people to resent Jewish influence. The radical Jewish thinkers often came from privileged families and therefore a great inconsistency existed. It was because of their elevated educational and financial status in society that they could write and publish their ideas in intellectual circles and distribute them to the common people who did not have the luxury of politicizing when they were only trying to survive.

Theodor Herzl, another Jew whose radical ideology permanently changed today’s world was born in Budapest. His thinking and activism shaped the ideas of the Zionist movement that resulted in the State of Israel and the turmoil in the Middle East.

In the scientific forum, other Hungarian Jews led by Oppenheimer opened the door to the horrors of the atomic age in which we live in today. Another Hungarian Jew, Janos Neumann is considered by many to have brought the world into the computer age. These have also set the world on a course that it cannot reverse.

In European societies the Jewish minority usually experienced a prosperity that the working majority could never touch. When a prosperous segment of society which does not experience the day to day struggle of working people can recommend solutions that they themselves would never live under this can also create more resentment. Once things got worse people did not forget it.

Someone from a communist country once said, “The Jewish people developed communism and capitalism. Communism for us, and capitalism for them.”

Over all, the relationship between Hungarians and Jews has been like a roller coaster and seems to accompany economic conditions in the country. When Jews first began to arrive and establish themselves it was like the roller coaster on its initial ascent to its highest point. From the end of the First World War to the end of the Second World War it was a rapid descent with the question of whether it would ever rise again.

Since the time of communism and from the change of the system it was up and down again. One high point was October 1994 at the dedication of the downtown Budapest synagogue. At the dedication of the synagogue, the Hungarian government asked forgiveness of the Jewish people for the Hungarian holocaust and there was a good feeling among Hungarian Jews. In the late 1990’s Jews emigrated to and invested in Hungary in large amounts while at the same time extreme nationalist elements rose up and publicly denounced Jews. Many Jews came to Hungary from their crowded and insecure lives in Israel to find space and security in Hungary.

Today there seems to be ups and downs on the amusement park ride as officially, the government denounces antisemitism. Yet at football matches there are hooligans in the crowd who have chanted that the trains are heading to Auschwitz once again. Which one is the real Hungary? There is the official position, the hooligan’s and to each individual, the feeling in his or her heart. Is the official position against antisemitism necessary for EU ascension or is it real? Do the kocsma conversations reflect the official position? How serious is anti Jewish sentiment in Hungary? Is it only a political and economic feeling or a deep hatred? You be the judge of your own heart, my Hungarian reader.

In Hungary, the golden age for Jews and Hungarians living together was from 1867 till 1918. Until the devastation of the war both Hungarians and Jews experienced a prosperity that was nothing short of a miracle. The Jewish contribution to this prosperity was evident as they filled the professional classes and played a big part as professors, scientists, architects, artists, intellectuals, businessmen, and financiers of the Hungarian economic surge and a building mania took place. The national unity showed what Hungarians can achieve as a nation as all Hungarians, including Jews exhibited a healthy national pride and prosperity that turned a semi backward agrarian country into an economic and industrial powerhouse in Europe. Budapest rivaled any European capital. The smaller cities of greater Hungary were a beautiful mixture of nature, architecture, industry, and technology that any nation could be proud of.

The invitation for Jewish migration was from the Hungarian ruling class and elite class who utilized the skill of the Jewish education for the industrial, commercial and technical development of the country. This was their shortcut to modernize their country and give them a place of honor among the European elite class. The Hungarian nobility and elite still believed in a feudal social stratification between those with land and wealth and the peasants who worked their land.

Utilizing Jewish people may have been more acceptable than trying to reform the economic situation among peasants and working class compatriots. What is your opinion, my Hungarian reader, you be the judge.

During this time the symbiotic relationship between the ruling Hungarian class and prosperous Jews worked to each other’s advantage but did it really contribute to a close relationship between them? Affluent Hungarians vacationed at Balatofüred. Affluent Jews vacationed at Siófok. In the great Budapest coffeehouse culture of that era the Hungarian Jews frequented the New York Café, the Hungarian gentiles at the Pannonia. Though there was an advantageous co-existence, the separation remained.

During this time the rising Hungarian middle class began to feel the resentment as they felt economic competition and saw the quiet but rapid ascent of the Jewish community into economic prominence in the country while they still had to work very hard to maintain a basic existence. Though it may have been a little better, the peasants in the country were still in the poverty they had known for centuries. The middle class Jewish population had their own quarter in the 6th district which eventually became their ghetto in the second world war where Jews were forbidden to leave, and gentiles not allowed to enter.

In spite of the separation, Hungarian Jews believed in Hungary, proudly and patriotically serving in the armed forces and paying taxes. Like everything in the world, and especially Hungary nothing is totally black and white and some Hungarians and Jews intermarried and did have friendships but overall this was not the case. Why did they never fully integrate into Hungarian society?

It seems that part of the problem is that Jewish people who adhere to their heritage have a separate lifestyle not only believing that they are a chosen people but that they must follow customs that are absolutely un-Hungarian. Very few Jewish people openly eat pork.

There was no way a faithful Jew could ever eat at a truly Hungarian table for the Hungarians have traditionally loved pork. I’ve learned that the pork slaughter is a favorite Hungarian custom for which friends and family celebrate together out in the country. Often people from the city will visit relatives from the country and spend a few days to enjoy the results of the pork slaughter.

Until recently, Hungary has been known as a country that has a higher population of pigs than of people. Hungarians have been known not only to eat, but also to adore pork as their first choice of meat. Hungarian salamis and bacons (szalonna) are famous not only for their variety but fantastic flavors! Even today, at any meat market or supermarket the first meats to sell out are always the fine cuts of pork. People who visit Hungary take Salami back as souvenir gifts (also paprika powder).

One very ancient and binding tradition with the Jewish people is the covenant. In covenant people held on to a relationship that would last for life and bind them together. A covenant required that people kill an animal and eat the meat together. Jews could not eat the favorite meat of Hungarians and share deep table fellowship with a Hungarian family unless the Hungarians would serve what might be their second choice.

In any culture, ultimate trust is forged as people spend much time together at the table. An old Central and Eastern European Proverb, also quoted in Hungary says that the only way to really know a person is to consume a kilo of salt with them. It takes lots of meat to consume a kilo of salt! What happens if two peoples do not love the same meat?

After many, many, conversations I believe two things contribute to antipathy from certain Hungarians toward Jews.

1. First, there is an economic reason.
2. Second, the two peoples never became the same nation though they were part of the same country. People bond at the table. The Jew could never fully share the Hungarian table.

When people bond, though they may have differences they can understand and accept each other. When there is no bonding, though people may tolerate one another under good conditions deep trust would be lacking because of their differences.

The lack of bonding became evident after the horrors of the First World War and unfair decision and shock of Trianon left Hungary cut up into one third of its territory, in economic depression, pillaged by Romanian looters, and unable to defend itself. The once great Hungarian nation was left with chaos and devastation. Jewish intellectuals also represented a large proportion of those who supported the short-lived and despised Bolshevik regime of Béla Kun in 1919.

Though Jews only made up 6% of the Hungarian population, they held a largely disproportionate share of the remaining wealth in the country after the First World War. The following statistics show the great economic disparity between Jews and Hungarians. Until 1920 among Hungarian professions although Jews were only 6% of the Hungarian population they made up 50.9% percent of lawyers, 46.3% of doctors, 34.3% of editors and journalists, 39.1% of engineers and chemists, 22.7% of actors and directors, and 40.5% of industrial firm owners. Deep resentment was part of the national mood. At this time under these conditions, and with the shock of Trianon, anti – Semitism openly surfaced in Hungary.

In 1920, Parliament passed the historic Numerus Clausus Article 25 of Law XXV that was directed at the Jewish minority. Gyula Gömbös who became Prime Minister in 1932 wrote an essay in 1920 for this purpose suggesting that this was a way to solve the “Jewish Problem.” This law determined that any ethnic group could occupy positions in the university and professions only in proportion to their percentage in the population as a whole. The implementation of this law called for the dismissal of 1500 Jews every six months from universities and professions until the proportion was attained.

The relationship between Hungarians and Hungarian Jews continued to slide downward until the horrors of the 1944-45 Hungarian Holocaust.

Once again, war devastated Hungary and Budapest was bombed into the Stone Age. Once again after World War II, Hungarians had to rebuild their nation and suffer the humiliation of occupation and domination by a foreign regime. Poverty and oppression from 1946 to 1956 seemed to bring unity to all Hungarians who felt they suffered from the occupation. The formerly deep divisions between Hungarian Jews and gentiles that developed from 1920-45 no longer were at the front of the social, political, and economic scene.

However, Hungarians used humor to deal with difficulty. Though antisemitism was nothing like before, people still recognized differences. The following anecdote described the way many saw the Jewish population with an ability to always take the advantageous position even in the worst of times:

In the time of communism, two Jews, two non-communists, and two communists waited in the line at the meat market one morning to buy meat. After two hours, the manager of the market said, “We will not serve Jews today, all Jews go home!” Then after two more hours of waiting, the manager came out and said, “We will not serve non-communists today, all non-communists go home!” Then two hours later the manager came out again and said, “I’m sorry there is no meat today, you also must go home.” One communist said to the other, “Once again, the Jews got the best deal!”

In today’s world, it still hangs in the balance whether antisemitism will once again be an influencing factor in European thinking and politics. Nationalists have become vocal in Europe such as Haider in Austria, Le Pen in France, or István Csurka in Hungary. Those who have openly expressed antisemitic views have also made the headlines. Their followers, though they are vocal, it seems they are few. Voters have not sided with them in great numbers, but they are present.

Hungary is a member of the EU. What happens in Western Europe, became Hungary’s issues as well. Opinions in Europe are divided regarding the standoff in the Middle East between Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat. It seems that Europeans in no way support terrorism but do hold sympathy for the Palestinians and deplore Israel’s hard line retaliation. A large part of economic and humanitarian support for Palestinians has come
from EU money.

It would be safe to say that most Hungarians are not antisemite but more than a few are antipathetic towards Jewish people who live and prosper in Hungary. Is it possible to not agree with Israeli politics and Jewish economic status without being racist? Is it possible to not judge a person from an ethnic group even if there is irritation with tendencies and actions of that certain people group? Finally, in regard to Hungarians and Jews, could it be there in some cases there is resentment and in some cases, envy?

In many cases there is not resentment, but admiration. In one kocsma conversation Ákos mentioned, “I don’t agree with Israel in every case but that does not change the admiration I have for what I have seen among Jews in Hungary. First, I noticed that often when Jewish persons from Hungary identify themselves as Jewish they will say, ‘I am a Hungarian Jew’. I haven’t seen Jews from other European countries so proudly identify themselves as citizens of the country where they come from before they identify themselves as Jews. I love their humor also. I admire their closeness and fellowship among each other- they are more united than we are. In fact I envy that they have such a common experience and I wish I could be on the inside for a while to know what it is like.”

Ákos then told an anecdote regarding a Hungarian Jew who had some pride in being Hungarian. He was entertaining a relative from Israel. They went to the market and the Israeli asked, “What is that? The Hungarian said, “Can’t you see that is an apple?” The Israeli said, “In the kibbutz we grow apples the size of basketballs!” He then asked him about another fruit, “What is that?” The Hungarian said, “That is a pear, what does it look like to you?” The Israeli said, “In the kibbutz we grow pears the size of a large vase!” Then they stopped in front of the watermelons and the Israeli asked, “What is that?” The Hungarian answered, “Stupid, can’t you see it is a pea?”

Jews are returning to Hungary. This time, will Hungarians and Jews ever really bond? How does one avoid crossing the delicate line from criticism to racism to hatred?
You be the judge, my Hungarian reader.

Superstition, the Bible, the Hungarian national anthem, and one’s attitude toward Jews do have something in common.

There are Hungarians who can be very superstitious at times. One’s favorite superstition may be knocking on wood when talking about how things are going well, spitting on money given as a gift, avoiding black cats, or determining whether a man wishes a woman “Happy New Year” before a woman does, or many other village beliefs.

Why does superstition become a part of one’s reality? It is because we do not really believe in what we see- we need rituals. A ritual of superstition, whether or not we know it is true plants itself deep in the soul. It forces us to follow it and have a clear mental green light to proceed with confidence in whatever we believe we need for the superstition.

The reason people follow superstitious rituals is because they want good luck and want to avoid bad luck. What does the Bible say about this? What people call good luck is called blessing in the Bible. The opposite of good luck is bad luck. The opposite of blessing is being under a curse in the Bible.

Every time Hungarians sing the national anthem, often with deep feeling, they ask for blessing upon the Hungarian. According to the Bible this blessing can become a reality. The Scriptures make an explicit promise on one way to receive blessing. It comes from God’s promise to Abraham:

“I will make you a great nation. I will bless you. And make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:2-3 NIV

To bless means to speak well toward others and wish them well with the words in order to bring down upon them the good things that one wishes. It does not mean one has to agree with the position of Israel or a Jewish person or support them when they are wrong. It does mean to wish them the best from the heart and to speak well toward them. To curse means to speak with bad will toward another and bring down evil upon them by the words.

Instead of knocking on wood and other superstitious acts that people do to get luck or avoid bad luck, when something happens to make people worry, why not say a word of blessing toward the Jews? If God said He would bless those that bless the Jews, why not try and see what He will do? The Bible promises that God will bless the one that blesses the Jew. So therefore, may God bless the Hungarian. May God bless the Jew. What do you think? You decide, my Hungarian reader.

Jews, Jewish, antisemitism, nationalism, racism, Hungarian culture