ADC says “No” to statue of Nazi sympathiser
Australia’s B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has urged the Hungarian government to halt its plans to erect a life-size statue honouring Bálint Homan, a well-known antisemitic minister and Nazi supporter.
Balint Homan
Homan was actively involved in the passing of anti-Jewish legislation in Hungary and in the deportation of more than 80,000 Hungarian Jews to the death camps. He was convicted and jailed for war crimes and died in prison.
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC,said: ” We condemn this project in the strongest possible terms. This decision is wrong on so many levels and sends a horrible message.
Homan played an infamous and pivotal role in the systematic persecution and deportation of Hungarian Jews and never expressed any remorse for his evil deeds. There can be no justification for honouring such a figure and erecting this memorial is not only an insult and an affront to the memory of Holocaust victims, survivors and their families, but indirectly encourages further discrimination and intolerance against Hungarian Jews.
The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban now has an opportunity to show that it is committed to genuinely countering the rise of antisemitism, and to demonstrate that the hateful actions of individuals like Homan will never find acceptance and a place in Hungarian society.”
