Language:
English
Year of publication:
2010
Titel der Quelle:
Patterns of Prejudice
Angaben zur Quelle:
44,3 (2010) 281-303
Keywords:
Zentai, Károly
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
;
War crime trials
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Abstract:
In 2005 the Hungarian government demanded the extradition of Károly Zentai, a suspected war criminal, from Australia, where he had lived since 1950. According to many witnesses, Zentai was guilty of killing the Jewish youth Péter Balázs in Budapest in November 1944. A Hungarian court issued a warrant for Zentai's arrest as early as 1948 but, because the narrative of World War II victimhood was undergoing changes at this time (communists rather than Jews were regarded as the main victims), the judiciary lost interest in the case. Zentai was admitted to Australia under its notoriously lax procedures for screening suspected war criminals, which made the country the best refuge for such people. Australia is now ready to extradite him. Questions to what extent the extradition and possible trial of the elderly Zentai would help promote collective understanding of the "lessons of history" in both countries. In Hungary, the trial can support the concept of a "few bad apples" among the good Hungarian people, and the theory that only Germans are responsible for the Holocaust - both views are increasingly popular in post-communist Hungary. Argues that such efforts nevertheless are necessary for the future, as well as to do justice to the past.
DOI:
10.1080/0031322X.2010.489737
URL:
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