Hungarian anti-semitic party leader discovers he's a Jew whose grandma survived Auschwitz

argentine soccer fan · Aug 16, 2012

His racist political party immediately threw him under the bus. I love it when these things happen

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Hungary-far-right-leader-discovers-Jewish-roots-3787234.php

This file photo dated on June 7, 2009 shows Hungary's far right party, Jobbik's, Csanad Szegedi, left, and Krisztina Morvai, right, celebrating their entry into the European Parliament after the European parliamentary election in Budapest, Hungary. Szegedi, who was notorious for his incendiary comments on Jews, acknowledged in June that his grandparents on his mother's side were Jews. After resigning last month from all his party positions he was also asked by Jobbik to give up his seat in the European Parliament as well.
Click to expand...

Dr. Wankler · Aug 16, 2012

I was going to put that in the weird news thread, but forgot about it. Best headline of the year though: Anti-Semitic Head of Racist Party Discovers He's Jewish.

Crimen y Castigo · Aug 16, 2012

I bet it rained on his wedding day.

>..ducks thrown tomatoes...<

QuakeAttack · Aug 16, 2012

Made my day. Does he hate himself now?

JohnR · Aug 16, 2012

He's one stupid Jew.

Barbara · Aug 16, 2012

Humanity is doomed.

argentine soccer fan · Aug 16, 2012

Heartbreaking story though. The poor guy spends a lifetime establishing his racist credentials, and when his efforts finally pay off and he makes it into the European Parliament, his ancestry betrays him.

Maybe Spielberg can do something with it.

song219 · Aug 16, 2012

It's the real-life version of the Dave Chappelle skit where the blind KKK leader discovers he's Black.

onefineesq · Aug 16, 2012

And all of the sudden I am dying laughing at the similarities to the Chapelle Show skit in which a blind man was a KKK member, of course not realizing that he was Black. And upon learning that he was, he promptly divorced his wife, as he didn't want to be married to a "N****r lover". Oh gosh .... Dave Chapelle. Why did you have to go crazy and give up your show?!

Dang, while I was working, song219 beat me to it! LOL

cleansheetbsc · Aug 16, 2012

How good is it to go through your miserable life and then one day discover you are one of the chosen people? Like winning the lottery if you ask me.

ceezmad · Aug 16, 2012

Well if Adam and Eve is right, we are all Jewish right?

Cascarino's Pizzeria · Aug 16, 2012

Sounds like some kind of Jewish plot to me. Someone check into this guy's past.

TheSlipperyOne · Aug 16, 2012

Aren't Jews pretty self-loathing anyways?

Naughtius Maximus · Aug 16, 2012

TheSlipperyOne said: ↑

Aren't Jews pretty self-loathing anyways?
Click to expand...

Only the self-loathing ones...

minerva · Aug 16, 2012

He's goin to have to get circumcised now. Ouch!!

Auriaprottu · Aug 17, 2012

In what universe can someone have a grandmother who's a Holocaust survivor and not know about it? Not comparing these two in terms of importance, but it's like having a grandmother who was at Woodstock- it's got to come up in conversation at some point, particularly if your own claim to fame is bashing rock music.

erick · Aug 17, 2012

Karma is a b**ch.

argentine soccer fan · Aug 17, 2012

Auriaprottu said: ↑

In what universe can someone have a grandmother who's a Holocaust survivor and not know about it? Not comparing these two in terms of importance, but it's like having a grandmother who was at Woodstock- it's got to come up in conversation at some point, particularly if your own claim to fame is bashing rock music.
Click to expand...

Apparently the Holocaust was a taboo subject in communist Hungary. From the article:

Szegedi's experience is not unique: The Holocaust was a taboo subject during Hungary's decades of communist rule that ended in 1990, and many survivors chose to keep their ordeals to themselves. Russian far-right firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky was anti-Semitic until he acknowledged in 2001 that his father was Jewish.
Click to expand...

cleansheetbsc · Aug 17, 2012

Auriaprottu said: ↑

In what universe can someone have a grandmother who's a Holocaust survivor and not know about it? Not comparing these two in terms of importance, but it's like having a grandmother who was at Woodstock- it's got to come up in conversation at some point, particularly if your own claim to fame is bashing rock music.
Click to expand...

My mother only told me a few years ago that she was at the Beatles show at Shea Stadium in 1965 when she was 19. She had to babysit her younger cousin. Didn't think the Beatles were a big deal. It only took nearly 40 years to get that out of her.

yossarian · Aug 17, 2012

onefineesq said: ↑

And all of the sudden I am dying laughing at the similarities to the Chapelle Show skit in which a blind man was a KKK member, of course not realizing that he was Black. And upon learning that he was, he promptly divorced his wife, as he didn't want to be married to a "N****r lover". Oh gosh .... Dave Chapelle. Why did you have to go crazy and give up your show?!

Dang, while I was working, song219 beat me to it! LOL
Click to expand...

I've seen Chapelle do stand-up since he gave up his show. He talks a lot about that during his routine, and he's far from crazy.

Chris M. · Aug 17, 2012

Hey Szegedi, just a little reality check. With one Jewish grandparent, you are just as Jewish as I am. And that would have been more than enough to head to the ovens. Your kids too. Your grandkids would have been safe if they didn't get infected with any additional Jewish blood, however. So, the next time you want to spew some hate, think about your lot in life if you actually got what you advocate for.

bigredfutbol · Aug 17, 2012

Auriaprottu said: ↑

In what universe can someone have a grandmother who's a Holocaust survivor and not know about it? Not comparing these two in terms of importance, but it's like having a grandmother who was at Woodstock- it's got to come up in conversation at some point, particularly if your own claim to fame is bashing rock music.
Click to expand...

One common theme of the Communist nations of Eastern Europe--virulent antisemitism was rife, even when there were hardly any Jews left.

Bulgaria is the same way. My wife's Grandparents were kind people who taught her by example to be tolerant of and sympathetic to Gypsies and Pomaks (Slavic Bulgarian Muslims) despite widespread prejudice. But her Grandfather tried to teach her that "the Jews" were just evil and not to be trusted. She never understood why this otherwise kind-hearted man was so spiteful and hateful towards a people who practically didn't exist in Bulgaria anyway.

Fast-forward to the late 20th Century; one of my wife's best friends has a kid, wants to name him Simon--but her parents put their foot down, explaining "No grandson of mine is going to have a Jewish name." She relents, gives him a Slavic name instead. This is in 1999.

But what's happening in Hungary is scary. Jobbik are truly and unabashedly racist, and they are busy using their parliamentary majority to rewrite the constitution and rig the courts to make Hungary a democracy in name only. They had already hired an independent firm to test the DNA of several ministers for Jewish or Roma ancestry. They're unapologetically racist and nationalist, and they are in charge of one of the "new democracies" of Europe.

Funkfoot · Aug 17, 2012

bigredfutbol said: ↑

But what's happening in Hungary is scary. Jobbik are truly and unabashedly racist, and they are busy using their parliamentary majority to rewrite the constitution and rig the courts to make Hungary a democracy in name only. They had already hired an independent firm to test the DNA of several ministers for Jewish or Roma ancestry. They're unapologetically racist and nationalist, and they are in charge of one of the "new democracies" of Europe.
Click to expand...

Shouldn't this be in the "where is the conservative utopia?" thread?

Chris M. · Aug 17, 2012

bigredfutbol said: ↑

One common theme of the Communist nations of Eastern Europe--virulent antisemitism was rife, even when there were hardly any Jews left.
Click to expand...

I was just in Vilnius. There were over 300,000 Jews there before WWII. There are 5,000 today.

bigredfutbol · Aug 17, 2012

Chris M. said: ↑

I was just in Vilnius. There were over 300,000 Jews there before WWII. There are 5,000 today.
Click to expand...

"The strangest thing--they all just just left!"