The Hungarian far-right in 1933: The Pécs section of the Turul Association

The other day I found a fascinating pamphlet from 1933. I decided to look around on the website of EPA (Electronic Periodicals Archive and Database), part of the Hungarian Electronic Library (MEK). The Electronic Periodicals Archive has been making available more and more Hungarian periodicals online. As I was browsing among the titles I saw one that truly interested me entitled "Bercsényi Futár." It turned out to be a pamphlet published by the Pécs section of the Turul Association. Miklós Bercsényi was one of the military leaders of the Rákóczi Rebellion (1703-1711) and "'futár" means messenger. As I found out, this was most likely the fourth publication of the association but the three earlier ones have disappeared without a trace. This particular item is a real rarity. Only one copy exists in the archives of the University of Pécs.

To this day Hungarian historiography lacks a serious study of this nationalistic, anti-Semitic organization of university students. We know that it was established in 1919 and that the organization had a very important role to play in demanding the introduction of "numerus clausus" (1920) that restricted the percentage of Jewish university students to 6.2%, that is, their share in the population as a whole. In 1928, when Prime Minister István Bethlen due to international pressure abrogated the 1920 law, the Turul Association demanded the introduction of "numerus nullus." That is, if it depended on the good Christians, no Jew would have been admitted to university at all. The spokesmen of the Turul Association were also "defenders of the race" (fajvédők).

The Association was built up in a pyramid fashion combining Christian and old Hungarian pagan elements. From the little we know about Turul it seems that it was organized along the lines of fraternities headed by a "patron professor" called "magister" and a student "chieftain" (vezér). At least this was the structure of the organization on the regional level.

I was also drawn to the "Bercsényi Futár" for personal reasons because even with a cursory reading of the 30-page pamphlet I found names familiar to me from my childhood. It was especially a shock to discover the name of the father of a classmate of mine from elementary school. Who would ever have thought that Uncle A. belonged to such an odious organization and was capable of writing in a publication that beckoned: "Antisemites, Join the Turul!" Or what about the locally famous professor of internal medicine, János Ángyán, who was one of the magisters? The printer responsible for this pamphlet was situated in the Varga Garage on Rákóczi Street; if I recall correctly, this was the garage where my father had his car serviced. It turned out that the medical students were especially active. Their fraternity, named after Csaba, youngest son of Attila the Hun, even had an office not far from where I spent my childhood. I asked my cousin who still lives in Pécs to look at the pamphlet in the hope that she could identify more people than I did. Indeed, she came up with a teacher known for his sadistic cruelty. She found another doctor whom even my mother visited in his private office in the 1970s and 1980s. She also recognized the names of several store owners who advertised in this rag. One has the feeling that only certain people paid for an ad in a publication that declared: "Buy at our advertisers because then you buy at a Christian store."

The pamphlet was dedicated to Count Lajos Szapáry, Lord Lieutenant of the Counties of Baranya and Somogy, who in the 1920s was a member of the Hungarian Parliament. His speech at the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Trianon was boilerplate. First and foremost, Szapáry repeated that the new borders drawn along ethnic lines are not acceptable to them. They want the restoration of Greater Hungary. "This is the program of all of those who joined the Turul Association." Then the other familiar slogan from the present far-right: "We, orphaned Hungarians, are without relatives." The most important aim of the Hungarians is "to survive," to make sure that Hungary doesn't disappear from the face of the earth. Szapáry seems to have been an admirer of Gyula Gömbös, "our great leader." From what I managed to find out about Lajos Szapáry, it looks as if he moved even farther to the right after 1930. In the 1920s he was a loyal follower of István Bethlen.

The pamphlet tries to recruit more university students although, according to the Bercsényi Futár, "the majority of the medical students are members." In the Csaba Fraternity there were 20 university professors (patronus/patroni), 158 doctors (dominus/domini) and 153 medical students (brothers-in-arms). The number of doctors is truly staggering. One has the feeling that with the exception of Jewish doctors all doctors in Pécs were members! According to the Bercsényi Futár the medical students receive "compulsory military training." Well, that military training must have been undercover, illicit activity because the terms of the peace treaty allowed only a very small professional army. Csaba Fraternity promised to the students that the organization is fighting for their interest and they "want to have a fatherland without parasites." We know, of course, who the parasites were.

Although the medical school seemed to be the most active, the students of arts and sciences also had a fraternity named after Árpád while the law students organized themselves into another fraternity called Verbőczy. István Verbőczy was a jurist and legal scholar in the sixteenth century. More about him here. It is clear where the sympathies of these people lay. They quite openly sided with "the fascism of Mussolini and the brown shirts of Hitler." The Nazi movement is greeted enthusiastically; an anonymous writer called it "the imposing manifestion of German racist energy."

And finally, there was a brief announcement about the appearance of a city publication edited by Lajos Esztergár, city counselor and later mayor of Pécs. He was responsible for social welfare questions. From the publication one could learn that in 1933 unemployment in the city was 49-51%. Twelve thousand people were in such deep poverty that they had to rely on public assistance. The city set up, at Esztergár's urging, a series of workshops for unemployed people. That announcement also carried a personal note for me: my father was hired in 1932 to head the project. While the extreme right complained about "parasites," there were others who tried to concentrate on the really important issues: the economic crisis and extreme poverty.

Comments

[Mark]

"To this day Hungarian historiography lacks a serious study of this nationalistic, anti-Semitic organization of university students."

You've hit here on a more general problem in the historiography, which is that the radical right still remains relatively poorly covered (though I admit things have been getting better in the past decade - this year, for example, Osiris have produced a valuable edited collection on the Hungarian right as a whole in the first half of the twentieth century - and there have a number of really interesting article length studies). To date the best monograph-length study of the Arrow Cross is only available in German, and was published twenty years ago (for a monograph-length study in Hungarian we have to go back forty-three years!) Given the contemporary relevance and the very really parallels between today and the 1930s, it is a shame that the historiography is so poor.

[Eva S. Balogh]

Mark: "You've hit here on a more general problem in the historiography, which is that the radical right still remains relatively poorly covered"

I must admit that I was astonished that nothing has been written about Turul. Not even in Andor Ladányi's old book about university students between 1919-1921! It's time for some young historian to start cracking! Fascinating subject.

[Gábot]

Actually the author in the collection mentioned by Mark published other pieces on specific events related to Turul and the university youth and the article itself was derived from a dissertation project. An archivist from the Zala Megyei Levéltár wrote a dissertation on the far right from an electoral perspective covering the tiny and not so tiny parties, their dissolution and merger etc. There is another dissertation in the making on the far right concerning their views and ideologies and the author published articles in Kommentár. It is far from being comprehensive but the topic is not so unpopular as it seems. However, what really lacks is a reconsideration of the right and the far right in the light of the results and products of fascism studies of the last decades. For example, astonishingly, one would hardly find a reference to Roger Griffins theory or to its critique etc., although personally I think it would be enlightening not only regarding interwar far right but even for understanding and interpreting the contemporary right as well.

[Mark]

Gábor: "the author in the collection mentioned by Mark published other pieces on specific events related to Turul and the university youth and the article itself was derived from a dissertation project."

Just for information, though the article doesn't substitute for a book-length study it is very useful, especially on the Turul's ideology. The reference is:

Róbert Kerepeszki, “A Turul Szövetség”, in, Ignác Romsics, A Magyar Jobboldali Hagyomány, 1900-1948, (Osiris: Budapest, 2009), 341-76

Gábor: "An archivist from the Zala Megyei Levéltár wrote a dissertation on the far right from an electoral perspective covering the tiny and not so tiny parties, their dissolution and merger etc."

Zoltán Paksy's work on electoral behaviour and the radical right is really outstanding and I think gives us real insight into who voted for the far right. It is a regional study though, and concentrates on western Transdanubia.

That having been said we are dealing with fragments, and the study of the radical right still sits in the shadow of the study of the inter-war mainstream right where considerable progress has been made in the last two decades. There is a need for work that covers the ground, as well as that which is narrowly focussed on its component parts.

I'm not too impressed myself with Griffin's work, but there is a need for greater engagement with the international literature. This isn't just because there is real scope for comparison with Italy, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, and Germany (which there clearly is), but because the international literature on the Hungarian right itself is scarcely referred to. Though Rudolf Paksa in his article on the far right in the 1930s in the book mentioned above does cite Margit Szöllösi-Janze's book on the Arrow Cross, it is rarely referred to in Hungary (and unavailable, as far as I know in Hungarian), despite the fact that it is the best available monograph on the movement. Furthermore, other innovative work, like Paul Hanebrink's on the churches and nationalism in inter-war Hungary doesn't seem to have sparked much debate in Hungary (though it certainly deserves to).

[Gábor]

Another strange aspect of this topic is that once there were attempts even for a comparative and theoretical study in Hungary, for example Ormos Mária's attempt (alone or with Miklós Incze) but somehow it faded away.

As for Hanebrink's book, at least I have read a very critical review of it from Pál Hatos, although I was also surprised that it has not incited too much interest. I fear church and nationalism bound together is a too sensitive topic for many...

[Turul]

Why label them Fascist or radical, just because the Turul believed in an alternative History which may have truth to it and the fact that they loved their ancestory, why in Hungary is this so Taboo? what are you trying to protect on this website?

[Sandor]

Turul (in Hungarian: turo): "Why label them Fascist or radical, just because the Turul believed in an alternative History which may have truth to it"

That is, my dear Turul (if this combination is possible at all), because people, who believe in alternative history, alternative order, alternative truth, and alternative society are commonly called nazis. We, humanity, have our own "version" of these things and the nazis have an alternative. That is why we call them nazis. Now, we do mean it as an insult and I hope, you will take it as such. However, if you are unhappy about being insulted for your stupid believes, you also have an alternative: you can get some education, so you would know what the fuck you are talking about, and then you can join humanity and understand what is happening in the world. That would go a long way to reduce the insults.

"why in Hungary is this so Taboo? what are you trying to protect on this website?"

Well, it is not a taboo, per se, it is just too embarrassing to say silly things like this, so, people with any sense don't feel like making an ass of themselves by doing so. And, as you might suspect, what we are trying to protect is common sense.
I know, you have never heard of it, nor would you be interested in it, that is why we are protecting it from you and your ilk.
I trust, you are satisfied with this answer.

[dissertation buy]

Thanks a lot for a bunch of good tips. I look forward to reading more on the topic in the future. Keep up the good work! This blog is going to be great resource. Love reading it.