trials in Hungary. But in the
Hungarian trials, anti-Zion-
ism did not assume as much
central importance as, for ex-
ample, in Czechoslovakia,
where it was used to in-
criminate many Jewish Com-
munists who had, in fact,
been fierce anti-Zionists.
Yet even in Hungary, the
Jewish issue was never far in
the background. When the
Kremlin was urging the un-
popular Rakosi to step down
prior to the revolution,
Lavrenti Beria, the Soviet
security boss, told him:
"Listen to me, Rakosi. We
know that there have been in
Hungary, apart from its own
rulers, Turkish sultans,
Austrian emperors, Tartar
khans, and Polish princes.
But, as far as we know,
Hungary has never had a
Jewish king. You can be sure
that we won't allow it."
Imre Nagy, the stop-gap
Premier whom the Russians
executed once the uprising
was crushed, was chosen for
his post largely because he
was not Jewish.
When hard-line Communist
rule was brutally restored
under Janos Kadar, the Hun-
garian government tried to
discredit the revolution by de-
nouncing it as anti-Semitic.
But even though the uprising
did have anti-Jewish over-
tones, it did not last long
enough for pogroms to break
out. Whether they would
have occurred is another
matter.
Nor should it be forgotten
that Jews were on both sides
of the barricades. Two of the
nine leaders of the October
uprising were of Jewish
origin. One Miklos Gimes,
was executed in June 1958
together with Imre Nagy and
Gen. Maleter, the Defense
Minister of the Revolution._
In the 30 years which have
elapsed, Hungary has been
far less antagonistic to Israel
or Zionism than the Soviet
Union or other Soviet bloc
countries. Although Buda-
pest cut diplomatic relations
with Israel in 1967, there is a
considerable volume of tour-
ist traffic between them and
visa restrictions have recent-
ly been waived.
Anti-Semitism still exists
at various levels, as it does in
most countries. One Hungar-
ian diplomat was reportedly
asked to divorce his Jewish
wife if he wanted a foreign
posting. Hungarian film
makers hesitate to deal with
the Holocaust.
Yet Budapest boasts the
only rabbinical training
academy in the Soviet bloc,
numerous synagogues,
kosher butcher shops, and
several other Jewish facilities.
The Hungarian government
together with the World
Jewish Congress, > recently
funded the refurbishment of
the Jewish Museum.
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