Daily BrewHungarian politician splits with anti-Semitic party after discovering he’s Jewish
It's hard to feel much sympathy for Csanad Szegedi, a former star of Hungary's far-right Jobbik Party.
Szegedi has been forced to resign from Jobbik after admitting he's a Jew, an apparent no-no in the ultra-nationalist party its critics label neo-fascist.
The revelation that Szegedi is Jewish on his mother's side — his grandmother was an Auschwitz survivor and his grandfather a forced labourer in the Nazi war machine — has upended his political career, The Associated Press reported.
A rising tide of nationalism in Hungary, driven in part by economic recession, and Jobbik's strength have alarmed other Europeans.
[ Related: Hungarians hail Horthy as recession fans nationalism ]
Jobbik members are frequently cited for anti-Semitic statements.
Szegedi, in a 2010 interview on Hungarian state TV, blamed large-scale privatization of state assets after the fall of communism on "people in the Hungarian political elite who shielded themselves in their Jewishness," according to Britain's Daily Mail.
That's pretty disturbing in a country where more than 400,000 Jews were deported to Nazi death camps in the latter part of the Second World War.
More than 40 years of communist rule helped suppress candid discussion of Hungary's role in the Holocaust, unlike in Germany and neighbouring Austria. Survivors kept their ordeals to themselves, The Associated Press noted.
In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, Jobbik MP Márton Gyöngyösi challenged Jews' right to talk about the Holocaust because Israel was oppressing the Palestinians under what he termed a "Nazi system."
Asked whether Hungary should acknowledge its role in the Holocaust and apologize, Gyöngyösi said: "Me, should I say sorry for this when 70 years later, I am still reminded on the hour, every hour about it? Let's get over it, for Christ's sake. I find this question outrageous."
So, word that Szegedi, a Jobbik member since 2003 and one of its represenatitives in the European Parliament, is actually Jewish came as a shock to the party.
According to The Associated Press, Szegedi, 30, acknowledged he was Jewish last June following weeks of rumours on the Internet.
Earlier this month, Szegedi met with a senior Hungarian rabbi and reportedly apologized for any statements that may have offended the country's 150,000 Jews, also promising to visit Auschwitz.
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"Had I made any comments in the past years that offended the Jewish community, I ask for forgiveness," he reportedly said, according to an account on the web site.
Jewocity.
But Jobbik's leadership said Szegedi was stripped of his party posts after an audio tape surfaced suggesting he tried to bribe a convicted criminal into keeping quiet about documentation he possessed confirming Szegedi's Jewish ancestry, the Daily Mail said.
"We have no alternative but to ask him to return his EU mandate," said Jobbik president Gabor Vona. "Jobbik does not investigate the heritage of its members or leadership, but instead takes into consideration what they have done for the nation."
Although Szegedi is no longer a Jobbik member, he's kept his seat in the European Parliament so far.
