“The world is a dangerous place to live in; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
(Albert Einstein – refugee from Nazi Germany)

Monday, October 29, 2012

Radnóti March 2012



The 4th Radnóti March: remember and remind

Civilians initiated again, for the fourth time, a ~17-kilometre rally on Friday, the 9th November 2012 in Budapest from Parcel 298 of the cemetery "Új köztemető"(a) to the Danube.
  • in remembrance of the Night of Broken Glass(1) (a.k.a. Reichskristallnacht), a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and in parts of Austria on the 9-10 November 1938; 
  • on the occasion of the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism(2);
  • in remembrance of the Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti(3), murdered by Hungarian Nazis (Arrow-Crossers (4)) in fall 1944 (5);
  • to draw attention to the scandal of Parcel 298(a);
  • to draw attention to the fact that Hungarians have thrown away democracy in 2010(6)in favour of the omnipotence of the far-right political power Fidesz (cooperating with Jobbik behind the scenes);
  • to draw attention to the fact that Hungary has been breaking her own law including the Paris Peace Treaty(7) for more than 20 years.

A group of civilians will march throughout the whole way. The same rally took place also the last two years, i.e. on the 9th November 2010 and 2011 while the date of the first rally was 23 October 2009. The first two rallies ended at the Shoes, however, in 2011, the route was extended to the house where Radnóti lived for a while. Like last year, the marchers will lay a wreath at the Plaque of the poet(d).

Cemetery maps can be found here: http://antifa-hungary.blogspot.com/2010/10/radnoti-march-2009-cemetery-maps.html
The route map with stations is here: http://antifa-hungary.blogspot.hu/2012/10/radnoti-menet-2012-program-es-utvonal.html


The organizers ask and will be thankful for any kind of help .
Contact:


Stations of the march with (planned) times:
  • Parcel 298 of the Cemetery "Új köztemető"(a), Address: Budapest X., Kozma utca 8. - Start time: 10:00
  • Halting-place at the crossing of Kőbányai út and Kőrösi Csoma Sándor út: ~11:30-12:00
  • Halting-place at the crossing of Kőbányai út and Könyves Kálmán körút: ~12:30-13:00
  • Plaque Little Warsaw(b), Address: Budapest VIII., Népszínház utca 46: ~13:30-14:30
  • Monument of Hungarian Jewish inmates of forced labour camps(c), Address: Budapest VII., Bethlen Gábor tér 2: ~15:00-16:00
  • Plaque of Ferenc Koszorús(d), Address: Budapest VII., Károly körút 3: ~16:30-17:00
  • Shoes on the Danube Promenade(e), Address: V., Kossuth Lajos tér 4. ~17:30-18:00
  • Plaque of Radnóti Miklós(d), Address: Budapest XIII., Pozsonyi út 1. Final station: ~18:30-19:00
For details of previous marches see:
____________________
Sources:
(1) Night of Broken Glass: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht
(2) International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism
http://www.unitedagainstracism.org/pages/infon9_11.htm
http://www.unitedagainstracism.org/pages/underframeInternationalDayAgainstFascism.htm#99
(3) Miklós Radnóti: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikl%C3%B3s_Radn%C3%B3ti At this link you may find further links pointing to English translations of some of Radnóti's poems.
(4) Arrow-cross: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_Cross;
(5) Although the generally accepted date of Radnóti's execution in Abda is 9 November 1944,(3) this has recently been questioned by Tamás Csapody, a jurist, sociologist, expert in bioethics and behavioural sciences who spent many years with analysing documents of the death march of the inmates of the Bor labour camp. In his book (Csapody Tamás: Bori munkaszolgálatosok. Fejezetek a bori munkaszolgálat történetéből. Budapest, 2011, Vince Kiadó; for a summary in English see: http://bhiweb.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/summary2011-11-09.pdf). Csapody argues that the exact date of the execution is, as yet, unknown and it could happen sometimes between early November 1944 and February 1945. Nevertheless we believe that on 9 November, the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism it is appropriate to commemorate Milkós Radnóti, a victim of these horrific ideas irrespective of the fact whether this was the day of his death or not.
(6) 2010. Hungary: democracy is over, http://antifa-hungary.blogspot.com/2010/05/hungarian-parliamentary-election-2010.html
(7) Treaty of peace with Hungary, signed at Paris, on 10 February 1947: http://antifa-hungary.blogspot.com/2011/10/paris-peace-treaty-1947.htm

(a) The parcel 298 is the spot of the scandal: mass murderers (Hungarian Nazis - Arrow-Crossers) are buried here and their graves have been handled by various governments since about 20 years like the those of national heroes, funded by state money. The scandalous story is documented (unfortunately, only in Hungarian) here: http://298.nolblog.hu. For some information in English see: Thomas Ország-Land: How the Murderer of a Poet Became a Hero in Hungary, Outlook, Canada's Progressive Jewish Magazine, Nov./Dec. 2009, p.15: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/outlook/current_issue/Nov-Dec%2009/Holocaust%20Lit.pdf
(b) Memory of the (Little) Ghetto uprising; Photos about the spot: http://www.photoblog.com/utazo/2008/11/13/
(c) A memorial of the Jews who lost their lives in World War II as Hungarian inmates of forced labour camps; more in Hungarian: http://www.szoborlap.hu/7351_a_zsido_munkaszolgalatosok_emlekmuve_budapest_baraz_tamas_2009.html
(d) Ferenc Koszorús was an officer of the Hungarian army who stopped the deportation of Jews in Budapest with his troupes on the 9th July 1944; more in Hungarian: http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koszor%C3%BAs_Ferenc
(e) Shoes on the Danube Promenade: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoes_on_the_Danube_Promenade
(f) Miklós Radnóti plaque: http://hu.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=F%E1jl:Mikl%F3s_Radn%F3ti_plaque_Bp13_Pozsonyi1.jpg&filetimestamp=20110221180105

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