As a rising star in Hungary’s far-right Jobbik Party, Csanad Szegedi was notorious for his incendiary comments on Jews: He accused them of “buying up” the country, railed about the “Jewishness” of the political elite and claimed Jews were desecrating national symbols.
Then came a revelation that knocked him off his perch as ultra-nationalist standard-bearer: Mr. Szegedi himself is a Jew.
Following weeks of Internet rumours, Mr. Szegedi acknowledged in June that his grandparents on his mother’s side were Jews – making him one too under Jewish law, even though he doesn’t practise the faith. His grandmother was an Auschwitz survivor and his grandfather a veteran of forced labour camps.
Since then, the 30-year-old has become a pariah in Jobbik and his political career is on the brink of collapse. He declined to be interviewed for this story.
Kind of like the gay-bashing secret gays who turn up in our politics once in a while. Good metaphor for a lot of modern life, huh?
