The decimated, post-Holocaust Jewish population of Eastern Europe is the main concern for a number of Jewish activists in the region, but for András (the S is pronounced like “sh”) Ligeti a representative of Hungarian Union of Jewish Students, it isn’t the number of Jews in Hungary that’s the issue. The more pressing concern, Ligeti said, is the question: “Am I a Jew?”
“The Soviet-influenced government really caused assimilation,” Ligeti said. The government encouraged a repression of unique cultural heritage in the hope of cultivating a uniform, socialist society.
During the socialist era, Soviet influence engineered national opinion against Israel. Many Jews were made to profess their Zionism in secret. Ligeti recalled a story told to him by his father: “When Soviet newspapers reported that the Jerusalem tram was bombed during the ’67 war, he knew everything was okay because Jerusalem had no tram. It was Soviet propaganda.”
The fall of the soviet-style regime brought a Jewish revival to Hungary. Around that time, Ligeti joined Habonim Dror, the international Labor Zionist youth organization. The revival has since lost momentum and Jewish identity has started to fall out of fashion.
Disenchanted youth, disillusioned by a faltering economy, started to care less about their heritage. “Hungary is a country of quick changes to the zeitgeist,” said Ligeti. He cited these sudden shifts as the reason behind the rise of the far-right party, known as Jobbik, in contemporary Hungary. The lack of a democratic tradition and pluralistic institutions left a void for radical “Hungary-First” movements like Jobbik to rise on the national political scene, saids Ligeti.
Jobbik is known for the anti-Semitic rhetoric of its members, even calling on Jews to reject their identity and “become” Hungarian. While this position would illicit calls of commendation anywhere else, the lack of a proactive Jewish leadership allows this language to become part of the discourse with little rebuke, according to Ligeti.
Ligeti lobbied the Jewish federation to create a real strategy to combat anti-Semitism. “The real issue is that they should approach the young generation, not the other way around,” said Ligeti. “It’s a young volunteer group who are monitoring the press about anti-Semitism and political issues regarding the Jewish community.”
Many older Jewish Hungarians don’t have much faith in the ability of Hungarians to combat the far-right elements of their society. “Our grandparents—survivors of the Holocaust—are seeing Jobbik march like they did in the 40s and they are saying to leave. I see democracy [for Hungary]. Maybe not in the next 20 or 30 years. But, if young Jews are leaving, there will be no population in 50 years,” said Ligetti.
Nevertheless, Ligeti believes in the future of Hungarian Jewry. “Budapest has the largest Jewish population per capita in Europe.” He also referenced the many Jewish organizations that do exist in Hungary, including the first Israeli Culture Institute outside of Israel and the largest international Jewish summer camp in central-eastern Europe, called Szarvas. “Hungarian Jewish culture is beautiful. We have a nice history. The government and the Jewish community must do what they can to make Jews feel safe and calm in Hungary,” said Ligeti.
