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June 22nd, 2012

Gov’t MP urges all traces of communist past be wiped out

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Not only street names and institutions should be changed; social organisations, companies and the press should no longer carry any vestiges of Hungary’s communist era, a lawmaker of the ruling alliance has proposed to parliament.

Christian Democrat MP Bence Stagel said in a statement on Friday that there was mounting public pressure to eliminate symbols and names associated with the communist dictatorship.

He noted the names of associations and companies such as Kocsolai Voros Csillag Tsz, or Kocsolai Red Star Collective, and the Janos Kadar Foundation, named after the long-standing communist-era leader of Hungary, as examples.

Stagel’s proposal calls for a complete break with ideologies, parties or symbols connected to that regime to be enacted on Jan 1. 2013.

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  • Barney

    Let’s just eliminate all the ex-communists while we’re at it.

  • Leto. مؤدّب

    Hope they’ll start taking a hard line at last against all symbols and names associated with the communist dictatorship.

  • Igazi Magyar

    Both the Communists and Horthy confiscated my family property. Hungary will not be healed until the country faces up to the sins of history by the left, right and center. Fixating on one side just continues cycle and allows the left to do the same to the right in the futures.

    • Leto. مؤدّب

      Tell me about how, when and why Horthy confiscated your family property. :D

      • Igazi Magyar

        Here’s the why: My family apartment was confiscated to support Horthy’s ally, Hitler. That’s how Horthy treated patriotic Hungarians who fought for the country in WWI: stabbing them in the back to support the Nazi war machine.

        • Leto. مؤدّب

          Brilliant reply. :D Your flat was confiscated to support Hitler. :D

  • Bubblicious

    Hey Hungary, How about looking forward instead of backwards? Then you might actually start going somewhere.

  • Nobby Stiles

    “Gov’t MP urges all traces of communist past be wiped out”

    How about starting with knocking down all the ugly panel houses built in the 60s and 70s…

    But seriously, this is a serious revisionism. I find it somewhat akin to the magyarization of the country in the early 1900s. The past is there, in all it’s ugliness, and erasing symbols doesn’t change the past.

  • Leto. مؤدّب

    “How about starting with knocking down all the ugly panel houses built in the 60s and 70s…”

    I wish Hungary could afford doing that some day. BTW, I was astonished to see the very same kind of panel blocks in the UK in a number of places.

    • Igazi Magyar

      They exist in almost every country on the planet.

  • spectator

    Its time for a total overhaul in Hungary, Ladies and Gentlemen!

    From now on everyone and everything who/what could in any way associated with the communist past must be eliminated!

    Let start with the people:

    - Besides all the former- and present communists, their family and children, everybody who ever knew them personally, even laid eyes on them must be eradicated – for the greater good of the nation. Of course, with the “Lex Orban”, “Lex Kövér”, etc., we can guarantee, that our Supreme Leaders can go on unaffected, in spite their past…

    - The color “red” in all of its form must go from Hungary, starting with the paints of course which could be used to color a five pointed star.

    - Leto and his team of experts working on a solution regarding the – so far – used national flag, just as well as the nationalist flag, how to circumvent the problem associated with the hated color of “red”

    - Even the Hungarian language must be purged thoroughly: every word which on any way could be associated with Communism or Socialism has to go. For example the folksong “Az a szép piros hajnal” (That beautiful red dawn) has a very strong connection as we all know.
    Not enough the mentioning of the color of the communist flag “red”, the Hungarian word “hajnal” (dawn) is a direct reference to the infamous “Aurora”, straight from the Russian Proletarian Revolution!

    Of course, we can no longer tolerate such scandalously outrageous post-communist attempts on our magnificent “New Hungary”, can we?

    • justasking

      @spec,

      ‘From now on everyone and everything who/what could in any way associated with the communist past must be eliminated!’

      Well, it would only be fair. All this time and energy was made sure that it was done to H*tler’s regime…might as well do it to the St*linist regime…don’t you think?

      • spectator

        JA, the word “fair” isn’t really appropriate, I guess in this context. There is no fairness involved in piteous revenge-actions, never was.

        Even worse, if we keep going on this path, somebody will find one or other reason again and again, (after all, we still using words of Turkish origin, not to mention dishes!) pretty soon we’ll ending up with no culture, no trust and zero population, not enough to dig the National Grave any deeper…

        What I mean, we should stop this madness sometime soon and move over, because the only “result” we getting out of this kind of nonsense is to end up as total losers.

        Except our glorious leaders, of course, because do not have any illusions, this whole charade going on for only one single reason: keep the population busy with this kind of absurd but emotionally loaded bull*hit, and they won’t notice that the only thing their dilettante government excel is to squeeze them dry of their last Forints and rob them of all, in the name of God and loyalty to their Homeland.

        • justasking

          @spec,

          ‘There is no fairness involved in piteous revenge-actions, never was’

          True, so let it be dropped from all sides.
          ———

          ‘Except our glorious leaders…’

          I know.

    • Leto. مؤدّب

      You seemed to be really upset about the idea of getting rid of things associated with the communist past… :D

      • Cnut

        If spectator thinks the same as me, then it is not about the communist part.

        Throughout history only ideologues and extremists have tried to purge their own societies’ history.

        Just because the communists did it, it doesn’t make it the right thing to do. If you can’t see that, then I feel very sorry for you.

        • Leto. مؤدّب

          “Throughout history only ideologues and extremists have tried to purge their own societies’ history.”

          Ah, you mean like the ones who denazified Germany after WWII?

          • Cnut

            Good point :-)

            I would say that was an exception though.

            Scrubbing the past doesn’t erase it. It still happened and it should be acknowledged and accepted. If the residents don’t mind living on some street named after a commie, then I have no problem with it. If some fishing group wants to call itself the Kocsolai Voros Csillag Tsz it’s fine by me – it’s retro.

            Communism was part of Hungarian history, and it should be reflected in the Hungarian culture (neither forced on, nor forced out of the culture). Purging it completely, to every last name, just seems obsessive, and insecure.

          • Leto. مؤدّب

            Communism as an ideology resulted in very similar dictatorships like Fascism and National Socialism. Okay, there are significant differences, too. For example Communism claimed a lot more human lives and lot more overall damage to the world than the latter two combined.

            “Communism was part of Hungarian history”

            So was Hungarism (Hungarian Nazism). Do you think that should be reflected in the Hungarian culture, too?

          • Leto. مؤدّب

            PS: So if some fishing group wants to call itself the Kocsolai Kaszáskereszt* Tsz then it should be fine by you, too – it’s retro.

            *Scythe Cross = it was a symbol a less well-known Hungarist movement.

          • Cnut

            “So was Hungarism (Hungarian Nazism). Do you think that should be reflected in the Hungarian culture, too?”

            Well, you guys are building statues of Horthy.

            “Kocsolai Kaszáskereszt Tsz” – that’s not retro, it’s old skool.

          • Leto. مؤدّب

            As long as retro is fine with your political side, old skool is fine with mine.

            “Well, you guys are building statues of Horthy.”

            Yeah, thank him nicely by paying tribute to him at one of these statues, and be very, very grateful to him, that old skool was in power in Hungary only for a year after Nazi Germany occupied the country.

      • spectator

        I am really upset about the shear stupidity what getting glorified once again.
        If you start on this path, there is no chance to stop, there is always something what still has to be purged for one or other reason. All I did I tried to call the attention of the few sober minds, how far reaching consequences this notion bear.

        Think about it: quite few in the government can be associated with the communist past without any effort, the majority of the Fidesz-members as well.
        Where- and on what ground can the line drawn?

        Not to mention the whole purpose of this idiocy is to camouflage the incompetence of the government in solving real problems. Since they can’t give any bread to the masses, here is the circus at least, enjoy while it last.

        • Leto. مؤدّب

          Removing street or organization names, etc. associated with the Communist dictatorship is a good step in the right direction, of course, but destroying the circles of MSZP/Gyurcsány’s party and the associated mafia is what the efforts should be focused on.

  • Andy

    So when will they reveal the names of commie spies? Oh, right, that’s half the Parliament including the ruling party.

  • Andy

    Another note: I guess this makes perfect sense. If we can’t even mention K*d*r or R*kosi, then how can Orban be compared to them? Brilliant!

  • Pete H.

    Here’s an idea! How about let’s abolish all remnants of communism and replace them with the symbols and writing of anitsemitics and fascist supporters. Oh yeah, that is already being done. Nevermind.

    Bubblicious’s comment is right on target.

  • Vidra

    Let’s ban any reference also to the athletes and footballers who gave Hungary unparalled success during the Socialist era, and make it a crime of slander against the state to point out there was far greater opportunity for those with a poor background to go to college and be successful than ever exists today. Not everything that happened under Socialism was bad and not everything that happens today is good.
    I can imagine these KDNP God-botherers’ ancestors toadying up to Maria Theresa to demand she does more to destroy any signs of the reform church in the “liberated” province of Hungary.

  • Mark

    Good idea. I would imagine the first thing to be done would be to roll back the state and abolish the nanny state. To this end Fidezs must change from being an interventionist statist party to a party promoting smaller governance and acting as public servants rather than public masters.

  • John Simpson

    Don’t forget the rusty decrepit Russian metro trains :)

    • spectator

      Sell them to some museum, as “relics of the communist era”!
      After all, those still going strong on E-bay :-)

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