Kata Bohus History 2013

JEWS, ISRAELITES, ZIONISTS THE HUNGARIAN STATE’S POLICIES ON JEWISH ISSUES IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE (1956-1968) Kata Bohus A DISSERTATION in History Presented to the Faculties of the Central European University in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2013. Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. András Kovács Copyright in the text of this dissertation rests with the Author. Copies by any process, either in full or part, may be made only in accordance with the instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European University Library. Details may be obtained from the librarian. This page must form a part of any such copies made. Further copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the written permission of the Author. I hereby declare that this dissertation contains no materials accepted for any other degrees in any other institutions and no materials previously written and/or published by another person unless otherwise noted. CEU eTD Collection 5 Abstract The dissertation investigates early Kádárism in Hungary, from the point of view of policies regarding Jewish issues, using a comparative framework of other Eastern European socialist countries. It follows state policies between 1956 and 1968, two dates that mark large Jewish emigration waves from communist Eastern Europe in the wake of national crises in Hungary (1956), Poland (1956, 1968) and Czechoslovakia (1968). The complex topic of policies relating to the Hungarian Jewish community, individuals of Jewish origin and the state of Israel facilitates the multidimensional examination of the post-Stalinist Party state at work. It also facilitates the testing of political models of communism, which aim to describe “real socialist” regimes by way of totalitarian or authoritarian characteristics. The dissertation focuses on the main loci of political decision-making in the Party state and explains why and in what context the ‘Jewish Question’ emerged. The main topical areas that are discussed are policies relating to the Hungarian Jewish community, various forms and manifestations of antisemitism, and relations with the state of Israel. The dissertation argues that Jewish policies did not follow the general direction of the Kádár regime’s first decade, which has been described in academic literature as a clear trajectory from orthodoxy to liberalization. Kádárism, while officially relegating Jewish affairs in the realm of religious matters, facilitated the manipulation of the understanding of Jewishness through an institutional power structure that yielded to the personal and group interests of the political elite that operated it. As a consequence, various tensions that had existed between Jewish and non-Jewish Hungarians before the establishment of a communist regime in 1948 repeatedly filtered through the political framework set by the Party state. At the same time, this situation resulted in the repeated, but not systematic discrimination of those who were considered, at one time or another, Jewish. In the long run, this situation led to the survival of antisemitism, but also a distinct Hungarian Jewish identity, both of which CEU eTD Collection powerfully resurfaced after the systemic change in 1989. 6 Acknowledgments I owe so many for their help in writing this thesis that mentioning everybody by name would be impossible. However, I would like to express my wholehearted gratitude to some. Any flaws of this thesis, however, are mine and not theirs. This dissertation was made possible through the generous support of Central European University, the Rothschild Foundation Europe, and the Visegrád Foundation. Roy Rubinovich at the Israeli Cultural Institute in Budapest has been an inspiring and patient teacher, without him I would not have been able to use Hebrew sources. I would like to thank the employees of the archives I worked at throughout the years for their continuous support. Ildikó Józsa, and István Simon at the Hungarian National Archives; Robert Parnica and Örs Lehel Tari at the Open Society Archives in Budapest were particularly helpful, frequently beyond what would have been required. I owe for the remarks, thoughts and leads of several of my colleagues and professors who took the time to talk to me about various parts of the thesis in private and at conferences. Special thanks should be extended to my past and present colleagues at Central European University, first and foremost to Maria Falina, Ferenc Laczó and Katalin Stráner. Professors Viktor Karády and Susan Zimmermann at the Department of History at CEU helped me a lot with their remarks at various points and times on the thesis. László Csősz of the Hungarian Holocaust Memorial Centre, Professor Zvi Gitelman at the University of Michigan, Professor Rebecca Klein- Peishova at Purdue University, Raz Segal at Clark University, and Professor Piotr Wróbel at the University of Toronto were all incredibly helpful with their input. I would also like to thank Michael M. Miller whose thought-provoking M.A. classes locked my attention forever to topics of Jewish Studies; Mária M. Kovács, Head of the Department of Nationalism Studies at Central European University, for her remarks on the initial versions of my PhD application. I am not sure that the proposal would have been successful without those. I am indebted to András Mink at the Open Society Archives for his patient and generous guidance during my research there. Similarly, Professors Guy Laron and Shlomo Avineri were incredible advisors and sources of information during my research stay in Jerusalem. A few lines do not do justice to the extent of help, support and encouragement that I have received from my academic advisor, Professor András Kovács throughout my MA and PhD studies. He has been more instrumental than anybody in forming my academic thinking, research and writing. His extremely to-the-point remarks helped me get through all the difficult stages of writing when the next parts seemed to be impossible to come about. Last but not least, my indebtedness to my family and friends is huge. They have been a source of continuous support and encouragement. Therefore, I dedicate this work to them, my mother, my father and my patient, inspiring companion, Jonathan. Especially Jonathan—we barely knew each other when I started my PhD, but now we CEU eTD Collection are raising our child together. 7 Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 10 1.1. Research Questions ........................................................................................ 11 1.2. Overview of literature and methodology of the dissertation ......................... 13 1.2.1 Interpretations of Soviet communism .................................................. 14 1.2.2. Interpretations of Eastern European Communism ............................... 21 1.2.3. Interpretations of the Kádár regime ...................................................... 26 1.2.4. The State of the Art: Jews under Communism..................................... 31 1.3. Structure of the dissertation, limitations ........................................................ 37 2. The establishment of the Kádár regime and policies towards Jewish issues (1956-1960) .................................................................................................................. 40 2.1. Interpretation of the October events and antisemitism .................................. 41 2.2. Selective retributions against the intelligentsia ............................................. 47 2.2.1. Incarcerating reform-communists ........................................................ 49 2.2.2. Verbal attacks against the ‘populists’ ................................................... 52 2.3. Re-building control: Party and bureaucracy .................................................. 56 2.3.1. Cadres ................................................................................................... 56 2.3.2. The National Representation of Hungarian Israelites (NRHI) ............. 59 2.4. Jewish issues in foreign policies: relations with Israel .................................. 66 2.4.1. Alliance ................................................................................................ 66 2.4.2. Bargaining ............................................................................................ 71 3. The Eichmann trial – the politics of amnesty and amnesia?.......................... 77 3.1. Hungarian political decisions and bloc-level considerations ......................... 83 3.1.1. Dealing with the Israeli criminal court: consultations in the bloc ........ 85 3.1.2 Anti-Zionism: a personal theme? ......................................................... 87 3.1.2. “...that Eichmann killed Hungarian citizens”: the problem of Hungarian attitudes during WWII .......................................................................... 90 3.2. The execution of the policies and propaganda line: the Eichmann trial in the Hungarian press ............................................................................................. 94 3.2.1. Successes: West Germany and Israel as collaborator .......................... 95 3.2.2. Failures: the Holocaust and Zionism .................................................... 99 3.3. Hungarian policies, propaganda and the Eichmann case ............................. 104 4. Friends and Enemies

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