Journal articles, book chapters by Kata Bohus
Yearbook of the Dubnow Institute, 2019
Jewish Lives Under Communism. New Perspectives, 2022
, Hungarian historian Miklós Szabó discussed the problem of prejudice and antisemitism in an inte... more , Hungarian historian Miklós Szabó discussed the problem of prejudice and antisemitism in an interview published on the pages of Hírmondó, the Hungarian samizdat-an illegal under ground journal opposed to the socialist regime. He opined that Hungarian society should react to the so-called Jewish issue in two ways: first, it should not discriminate in any way against those who are or want to be assimilated; second, it has to make it pos si ble for Jews to express their Jewish identity if they wish to do so.1 Szabó correctly noticed that there had been significant changes in the self-definition of Hungary's Jews by the late 1960s. But what exactly did these new Jewish identities encompass, and how should Hungarian society put Szabó's ideas into practice? My study maps the discourses surrounding this shift in identity among Hungary's Jews, the largest Jewish community in East Central Eu rope after the Shoah. After two postwar emigration waves-in 1945-1948 and after the failed revolution of 1956-the Hungarian Jewish Community numbered more than 100,000 people,2 even though the majority were highly assimilated. I argue that the dif erent responses to the "Jewish Question" from among this still sizable Jewish population were not only connected to prob lems of minority politics but were also indicative of key questions about the nature of the future Hungarian democracy and the dif er ent groups within the then-forming Hungarian opposition and proto-parties. Thus, the arguments put forward by the under ground Jewish formations discussed in this chapter engaged in debate not only with the socialist regime but also with its opposition. The "Jewish Question" thus became deeply embedded in the broader structural and ideological po liti cal issues of Hungary.
Blendungen. Geschichtsoptimismus und Katastrophenbewusstsein nach 1945, 2022
On 12 February 1960, General Secretary János Kádár of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (Mag... more On 12 February 1960, General Secretary János Kádár of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt, HSWP) informed the Central Committee-one of the highest structural organs of the omnipotent Party-of a very sensitive issue. Kádár told those present that Minister of Agriculture Imre Dögei had brought forward serious accusations against some of the political body's leading members. He mentioned that, according to Dögei, "revisionists and Zionists were governing the HSWP" and that the Minister had named specific members of the Central Committee who were part of this circle.1 The allegations sounded serious and could potentially end the political careers of those named. However, during the meeting it became clear that the general secretary did not give credence to the accusations and it was Imre Dögei, not the ones he accused, who was removed from his post and, later, also expelled from the Party for his "sectarian" views. Among those listed by Dögei was István Szirmai,2 then a secretary of the Central Committee responsible for the area of Agitation and Propaganda. His supposed involvement in a Zionist group is rather puzzling, for he had been among those in the Party who carried out policies that led to the annihilation of the Zionist movement in Hungary at the beginning of the 1950s. So why was he included in Dögei's list? The answer can be found in the particular relationship between Communism and the so-called "Jewish Question," but also in the development of the Zionist and Communist movements in Transylvania and Hungary before and after World War II. This paper examines the biography of István Szirmai in order to highlight the hidden presence of the Holocaust and Jewish belonging in the political dis-1 Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár (Hungarian National Archives), Budapest (henceforth MNL), M-KS 288. 4/30, Jegyzőkönyv az MSZMP Központi Bizottsága által 1960. február 12-én tartott zárt üléséről [Minutes of the Closed Meeting of the HSWP Central Committee on 12 February 1960]. 2 Ibid., Dobi István kézzel írott feljegyzése a Dögei Imrével történt beszélgetésről [István Dobi's handwritten notes about his conversation with Imre Dögei].
Unser Mut – Juden in Europa 1945–48
Unser Mut – Juden in Europa 1945–48
Unser Mut – Juden in Europa 1945–48
Unser Mut – Juden in Europa 1945–48
Unser Mut – Juden in Europa 1945–48
European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire
European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire
"This is the first ever international comparative study of the mythologies which... more "This is the first ever international comparative study of the mythologies which popular TV series in Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania – made before and after the fall of communism – disseminate in their societies. Popular television broadcasting has had an enormous impact on the general public’s beliefs and values, East and West. From the outset, the communist systems of Central and East Europe used entertainment television programming to instil the regimes’ values in the viewer. And indeed popular television still exerts a major impact on these fairly homogeneous societies. Up to date research about current social values and factors in the formation of individual and collective identity has considerable strategic importance for decision making both in Britain and in the EU. If we are to understand how the populations of the Central and East European countries might react in the current relatively unstable political and economic situation, it is necessary to understand the indigenous political, social and cultural discourse in these countries. Comparison of samples of popular television from the 1970s, 1980s and 2000s provides strategically significant material about how these societies think and rationalize, and what their thinking is rooted in. The study proceeds from the premise that popular television series provide a fertile ground of investigation as mass media reflects and shapes social and cultural values. "
Imre Kertész Kolleg, Cultures of History Forum, 2019
A recent Instagramm project called 'eva-stories', in which a young girl (played by an actress) 'e... more A recent Instagramm project called 'eva-stories', in which a young girl (played by an actress) 'experiences' the Holocaust and documents it on her Insta account received much international attention, both positive and negative. Going beyond the existing critique, the article analyses the stories themselves, their uses of aesthetics as well as the accuracy of their historical representations of wartime Hungary. Based on this analysis, it discusses broader issues of Holocaust education in an age of digitalized communication.
This article presents the publication histories and reception of two diaries in state socialist H... more This article presents the publication histories and reception of two diaries in state socialist Hungary: the world-famous diary of Anne Frank and the much less-known diary of Éva Heyman, the so-called ‘Hungarian Anne Frank’. The analysis shows how Hungary’s Kádár regime (1965–89) tried to thematize Holocaust memory through the publication (or, in Éva’s case, non-publication) of Jewish wartime diaries in the late 1950s and early 1960s. These policies resulted in the emergence of a partial and ideologically loaded Holocaust narrative, but one that should nevertheless not be dismissed as complete fiction. Moreover, in light of this phenomenon, the long-held thesis about the complete tabooization of the Holocaust in state socialist Hungary cannot be maintained.
In this paper, I examine the trial of Adolf Eichmann, its presentation in the contemporaneous Hun... more In this paper, I examine the trial of Adolf Eichmann, its presentation in the contemporaneous Hungarian press, and its effects on the formation of Holocaust memory in communist Hungary. The trial presented a problem for communist propaganda because it highlighted the destruction of Jews as the worst crime of the Nazi regime. While communist ideology’s anti-fascism defined its stance as “anti-antisemitic,” the Marxist-Leninist interpretational framework of World War II—as a conflict between two opposing, ideologically defined camps (fascists and anti-fascists)—made it difficult to accommodate the idea of non-political victimhood, e.g. the destruction of Jews based on racist ideas and not because of their political commitments. Moreover, because of Eichmann’s wartime mission in Hungary, it was clear that the trial would feature a lot of discussion about his activities there. Therefore, the Hungarian Kádár regime devoted much attention to the event both within the Party and in the press.
The analysis concentrates on two aspects: what the highest echelons of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party intended to emphasize in the Hungarian interpretation of the trial, and what kind of interpretation actually appeared in the press. In the end, the party’s political goals were only partially achieved. Control over newspapers simply guaranteed that certain key propaganda themes were included, rather than ensuring that other narratives would be excluded.
I argue that, while the Kádár regime in Hungary did not intend to emphasize the Jewish catastrophe and certainly not to draw attention to its Hungarian chapter of 1944, there nevertheless emerged, as a consequence of the Eichmann trial, a narrative of the Hungarian Holocaust. Through the various organs of the press, this narrative found public expression. Though this Holocaust narrative can be considered ideologically loaded and distorted, some of its elements continue to preoccupy historians who study the period today.
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Journal articles, book chapters by Kata Bohus
The analysis concentrates on two aspects: what the highest echelons of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party intended to emphasize in the Hungarian interpretation of the trial, and what kind of interpretation actually appeared in the press. In the end, the party’s political goals were only partially achieved. Control over newspapers simply guaranteed that certain key propaganda themes were included, rather than ensuring that other narratives would be excluded.
I argue that, while the Kádár regime in Hungary did not intend to emphasize the Jewish catastrophe and certainly not to draw attention to its Hungarian chapter of 1944, there nevertheless emerged, as a consequence of the Eichmann trial, a narrative of the Hungarian Holocaust. Through the various organs of the press, this narrative found public expression. Though this Holocaust narrative can be considered ideologically loaded and distorted, some of its elements continue to preoccupy historians who study the period today.
The analysis concentrates on two aspects: what the highest echelons of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party intended to emphasize in the Hungarian interpretation of the trial, and what kind of interpretation actually appeared in the press. In the end, the party’s political goals were only partially achieved. Control over newspapers simply guaranteed that certain key propaganda themes were included, rather than ensuring that other narratives would be excluded.
I argue that, while the Kádár regime in Hungary did not intend to emphasize the Jewish catastrophe and certainly not to draw attention to its Hungarian chapter of 1944, there nevertheless emerged, as a consequence of the Eichmann trial, a narrative of the Hungarian Holocaust. Through the various organs of the press, this narrative found public expression. Though this Holocaust narrative can be considered ideologically loaded and distorted, some of its elements continue to preoccupy historians who study the period today.
I argue that, in light of the wide accessibility and popularity of Anne Frank’s diary, the long-held thesis about the tabooization of the Holocaust during Communism cannot be maintained. However, the emerging narrative was indeed partial and distorted by communist ideology and the realities of the Cold War. The Kádár regime hoped to gain political advantages and convey certain propaganda messages through the publicity of Anne Frank’s story. Éva’s story, however, was not publicized because it promised none of the political opportunities that Anne’s did, and moreover, it touched upon sensitive issues of Hungarian national memory that Kádár’s regime was reluctant to address.
Anne’s diary was ideologically acceptable, because it could be framed as anti-fascist testimony, in accordance with the communist interpretation of WWII as a fight between Fascism and anti-Fascism. Moreover, Anne Frank’s story was also useful because it stressed the dangers of Fascism, which was actualized to warn against the resurgence of this ideology. This was sought to support the Kádár regime’s narrative of the 1956 revolution as the result of “fascist instigation.” A redemptive image of Communism was evoked to assure audiences moved by Anne Frank’s story that nothing similar would happen again because communists were the guarantee against Fascism, past and present.
The broad international acclaim of Anne Frank’s diary made it universal yet inconsequential for Hungarian history, while Éva’s writing highlighted concrete and local problems that tore to the very centre of Hungarian self-identification. Éva’s diary didn’t challenge the fascist/anti-fascist narrative so much as it undermined any notion that Hungarians were supporting the right side of that division. It suggested antisemitism was a commonly held belief throughout the ranks of Hungarian society before and after Hungary’s German occupation in1944. Éva’s diary also highlighted that the generic communist interpretation of WWII as a fight between Fascism and anti-Fascism was particularly unfit in the Hungarian context, where the communist movement was weak, and resistance negligible. Finally, it suggested other problems with Hungarian society, namely a willingness to act aggressively and unfairly to conquer surrounding territories.
Are these experiences unique in the history of late 20th century Jewish migration waves to Canada? This paper answers the question by the comparative analysis of the emigration and early settlement experience of Soviet Jews in the late 1970s and that of Jews from Hungary who left their country of origin after the revolutionary events of 1956.
Both immigrant groups were characterized by long decades of forced assimilation and as a result, a high degree of acculturation to the cultures of their native countries. Parallel to this, a certain distancing from traditional ways of expressing Jewish identities – mostly forbidden under Communist regimes – but a certain redefinition of Jewishness can be observed among immigrants. Moreover, both immigrant groups had developed a certain defensive mind-set to cope with policies they were subjected to in Central-Eastern Europe, which made it harder to integrate them into their new communities.
During the second part of the 20th century, we should consider the emergence of a new and distinctive Jewish immigrant experience which was closely connected to the immigrants’ previous exposure to Communist doctrine and practice and the huge contrast of these with Jewish community politics in their new country.
Munkácsi Ernő a katasztrófa után alig két évvel megjelent visszaemlékezése a magyar zsidóság deportálásának nehéz, ellentmondásos nézőpontból megírt krónikája. Munkácsi a Horthy-korszakban a neológ zsidó közösség főtitkára, jogász, 1944-től pedig a német nyomásra létrehozott, a német és magyar hatóságokkal kooperálni kényszerülő budapesti Központi Zsidó Tanács főtitkára. A Hogyan történt? a holokauszt tragédiájának fontos korai összegzése és értelmezése, Munkácsi személyes számvetése a Zsidó Tanács felelősségével, válasz az ellenük felhozott vádakra, és helyenként elkeseredett kísérlet a szervezet felmentésére.
Ez a Bohus Kata, Csősz László és Laczó Ferenc történészek jegyzeteivel és kísérőtanulmányaival, valamint korábban nem közölt forrásokkal kibővített új kiadás arra tesz kísérletet, hogy hetvenöt év távlatából visszatekintsen a magyar holokauszt tragédiájára. Munkácsi és a zsidó elit tragikus, valódi döntési szabadságot nélkülöző pozíciója fontos példája az olyan radikális helyzeteknek, amelyben választás és felelősség fogalma értelmezhetetlenné válik, noha súlyuk változatlan terhet ró minden résztvevőre.
„A kora délutáni órákban Budapest zsidósága letépte magáról a sárga csillagokat és elözönlötte a körutakat, ahol hatalmas tömegek sétáltak az őszi nap hanyatló fényében. Budapest zsidó népe azt hitte, hogy megnyerte az életet, pedig soha nem volt közelebb a halálhoz. Négy óra felé elhalkultak a rádiók katonanótái, gyanús híreket közvetítettek, és amikorra az est szürkülete ránehezedett a városra, Budapest zsidósága megtudta, hogy a nácik és nyilasok karmai közé esett.”
The authors provide various interpretations of the relationship between antifascism and Holocaust memory in the communist countries, arguing that the predominance of an antifascist agenda and the acknowledgment of the Jewish catastrophe were far from mutually exclusive. The interactions included acts of negotiation, cross-referencing, and borrowing. Detailed case studies describe how both individuals and institutions were able to use antifascism as a framework to test and widen the boundaries for discussion of the Nazi genocide. The studies build on the new historiography of communism, focusing on everyday life and individual agency, revealing the formation of a great variety of concrete, local memory practices.