BUDAPEST, Hungary (JTA) — Hungary’s main Jewish organization urged the government and parliament to prevent the honoring of Miklos Horthy, the country’s Holocaust-era ruler.
Horthy had "direct responsibility for the killing and destruction of several hundred thousand Hungarian Jews," the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, or Mazsihisz, said in a statement Wednesday.
The statement was in reaction to the recent decision by the mayor of Kunhegyes in eastern Hungary to rename a street for Horthy.
Horthy, who ruled from 1920 to 1944, was an ally of Adolf Hitler, but the Nazi leader deposed Horthy, fearing he might sign a peace treaty with the Allies. Horthy passed several anti-Jewish laws before his ouster and was in charge when 500,000 Jews under Hungarian control began to be deported to Nazi death camps.
Last year, a statue of Horthy was erected in Kereki in southwestern Hungary and in Csokako, a village in the country’s north, and a plaque in his honor was unveiled in Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city. Last April, a square was named for Horthy in Gyomro, a town near Budapest.
Many in Hungary, where the nationalist Jobbik party is the third largest in parliament, admire Horthy’s consistent anti-communist stance in the face of Soviet pressure in the 1920s and 1930s.
Mazsihisz President Peter Feldmajer said last year in the European Parliament that at a time when “streets and squares are named after Horthy, who stands as a hero for the people, the Hungarian Jewish people feel increasing danger.”
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
