The Fédération Internationale des Resistants (FIR) – Association Antifasciste, the umbrella organization of partisans, veterans of the anti-fascist resistance, deportees, family members, and contemporary anti-fascists, together with the Association of Hungarian Resistance Fighters and Anti-Fascists (MEASZ), the German Association of Victims of Nazi Persecution – Federation of Anti-Fascists (VVN-BdA), and the Austrian Federal Association of Austrian Resistance Fighters and Anti-Fascists, Victims of Fascism (KZ-Verband), condemns the Hungarian government’s handling of the currently largest annual Nazi march on “Day of Honor” in Hungary and the verdict against the German Maja T.
On February 4, the defendant Maja T. was sentenced to eight years in prison in a political show trial in Budapest for allegedly participating in a “terrorist” attack on Hungarian neo-Nazis. The evidence surrounding the physical altercation two years ago did not reveal any direct involvement by the defendant, nor did it support the Hungarian judiciary’s claim that the perpetrators were part of a criminal organization. This is not changed by the Orbán government’s declaration last year – following Donald Trump’s lead – to declare “Antifa” a “terrorist organization.” We would like to remind you that, contrary to a German court order, the defendant was unlawfully extradited to the Hungarian judiciary in a “cloak-and-dagger” operation by the public prosecutor’s office. Even after the verdict, the Hungarian Ministry of Justice is still exerting pressure on the convicted person, who protested against inhumane prison conditions with a hunger strike during the trial. They are only willing to transfer her to Germany to serve her sentence if she waives her right to appeal the court ruling.
The background to the trial was a violent confrontation against the march of international neo-fascist groups that has been taking place in Budapest for many years on “Day of Honor,” which signifies the rehabilitation of the SS, the Wehrmacht, and Hungarian collaborators. The FIR and its member associations have repeatedly protested against this form of historical revisionism and called on the Hungarian authorities to put a stop to such provocations. Events to mark “Day of Honor” are planned again this year in Budapest. While in previous years the city administration has attempted to prevent the neo-fascist gathering by imposing bans and restrictions, this time the police, which is under the direct control of the Orbán government, has banned all anti-fascist protests against this gathering. This even applies to a memorial event with Auschwitz survivor Katalin Sommer, who was supposed to speak at the memorial for the murdered Jewish people on the banks of the Danube. Neo-Nazi activities, in which participants can be seen wearing historical SS uniforms with swastikas and other fascist symbols, have been expressly approved by the police.
Anti-fascist federations from Austria, Germany, and Hungary, which have been campaigning for many years against the rehabilitation of Nazi associations, condemn this decision by the Hungarian government and the security forces directly subordinate to it, which amounts to a reversal of victims and perpetrators, a criminalization of anti-fascism, and a carte blanche for neo-Nazis. For this reason, demonstrations against the ban on the planned protests in Budapest are being held in Berlin, Vienna, and other cities in front of Hungarian embassies and consulates. Many years ago, the FIR’s slogan was “Never again an SS Europe!” – apparently, this slogan is more relevant than ever feared.
