Supporters of Jobbik and the Magyar Gárda – and the other “citizen defense forces” that sprung up following the banning of the original Jobbik-linked group – have generally pushed back hard and fast whenever anyone has tarred them with the word “Nazi,” or by association with its most (in)famous human symbol. A good example is the comment thread on this 2009 post about the discovery that a webpage for a local Gárda chapter had approvingly published a quotation widely attributed to Hitler (and credited on the page to “A.H.”).
Which is why I must say I was a bit surprised to see the Hitler look-alike (new Hungarian word for the day: Hitler hasonmás) pictured above in a gallery of photos on Index taken last Friday at the Jobbik-organized event commemorating the 2006 murder in the northeast village of Olaszliszka of a teacher by a mob of local Roma/Gypsies.
Of course, one shouldn’t be shocked to find a Führerdoppelgänger marching alongside a bunch of Gárdistas who look like they’d probably be happy to be mistaken for Sturmabteilungen themselves. But the same commemoration saw speeches by at least three Jobbik lawmakers: Zsolt Endrésik, György Gyula Zagyva and János Volner. I actually thought at first that the műhitler was an agent provocateur sent in by some impish anti-Nazis to make the marchers look bad. Apparently not.
While I wouldn’t necessarily hold any of the three – or Jobbik – responsible for some fruitcake showing up to their party dressed like ‘dolf, the apparent lack of any response on their part does say something. As does what appears a general lack of response around the country as a whole; a web search for “Hitler hasonmás” found this incident buried by a flurry of translated articles about a kitten in an English animal shelter no one wanted to adopt because it looks like Hitler. Sadly for Hungary, it seems that kitty would have an easier time finding a new home here.
