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Anna Szalai, “Will the
Past Protect Hungarian Jewry? The Response of Jewish Intellectuals
to Anti-Jewish Legislation”
Following
the passage of the anti-Jewish laws in 1938-1942, which ostracized
the Jews from Hungarian society, Jewish writers, historians, and
literature scholars published articles, anthologies, and yearbooks
in which they tried to demonstrate the Jews’ absolute belonging in
Hungary, their immersion in its culture, and their contribution to
its literature. These publications pointed to the two peoples’
common heritage, finding shelter in this. At the same time, new
literary works appeared, which tried to show the Jews and the
Hungarians that there was a new generation of Jewish artists that
was contributing to Hungarian culture while also preserving their
Jewish tradition.
The article discusses the publications that tried to corroborate the
Jews’ commitment to Hungarian history and culture, relating in
particular to the Hungarian war of independence of 1848-1849 (with
the rise of the first generation of Jewish authors in the Hungarian
language). The article goes on to examine the Jewish topics in the
works of the new generation of Jewish writers on the eve of the
Holocaust. The last part of the article provides a comparative
analysis of a literary anthology published before the Holocaust with
its historical counterpart published after the Holocaust, both
edited by Jenő Zsoldos. The comparison reveals the trauma and
drastic change in the worldview of the Hungarian Jewish
intellectuals that survived the Holocaust. |
