Following the stormy scenes which occurred in the Hungarian Parliament yesterday, resulting in the removal from Parliament of twelve Social Democratic deputies and two opposition leaders, the capital of Hungary is going through intense political excitement which endangers the existence of the present Hungarian cabinet under the premiership of Count Bethlen.
Although the crisis has as its cause the economic and political structure of present-day Hungary, its immediate background is the anti-Jewish atrocities committed by members of the anti-Semitic Awakening Magyars.
An important part in the excitement in Parliament was the interest displayed in the trial of Marffy, executive secretary of the Awakening Magyars. He is being tried for arranging an anti-Jewish conspiracy, one detail of which was the throwing of a bomb at a synagogue in Budapest over a year ago. The Awakening Magyars have sent a letter to the chief of Police, threatening to bomb the police headquarters if Marffy is convicted. It is felt that if Marffy is acquitted the resignation of the present government is inevitable.
Count Bethlen, who was believed to be an opponent of the Awakening Magyars and who was responsible for the suppression of their terroristic anti-Jewish activities, was accused by Deputy Talin, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, of “playing a double game”.
“The Prime Minister has managed to impress the moderate opposition and the progressives that he is a bulwark against the excesses of the Awakening Magyars and that he intends to suppress these enemies of order and progress. It is clear now that he is linked to the Awakening Magyars and has secretly supported them all along”, Deputy Talin stated in parliament.
A general strike of the workers was threatened following the forcible removal of the opposition from Parliament. Budapest resembles a besieged city. Gendarmes and military guards occupy the bridges and main thoroughfares. Mounted police patrol the working class districts.
An attack on the residence of Admiral Horthy, the Regent of Hungary, was threatened by the workers. “Horthy is incriminated”, they declared.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
