Cult springs up around WWII leader

They came in droves — war veterans and far-right politicians, Hussars on horseback and guardsmen in camouflage. About 1,000 people gathered in this village over the weekend to unveil a bronze bust of Admiral Miklos Horthy, Hungary's ruler between 1920 and 1944.

Most Hungarians view Horthy as an authoritarian who dragged Hungary into a disastrous alliance with Adolf Hitler and was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews in the Holocaust.

But as Hungary struggles to fend off recession and nationalist sentiment rises, there is a growing movement to recast Horthy as a patriotic hero who stood up to the Soviet Union and only reluctantly threw in his lot with Hitler. And critics say the populist government of Viktor Orban is doing little to stop the cult that has sprung up around the wartime leader.

The Horthy era began with Hungary trying to recover from the trauma of losing much of its territory after defeat in World War I. It ended with Hungary's troops fighting on Hitler's side in World War II. Admirers see in Horthy a leader who tried to find space for Hungary to maneuver between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and cracked down on domestic fascists and communists alike.

"We want to clarify Horthy's role in history. He was a conservative, patriotic Christian politician," said Gyorgy Furesz, the mayor of Csokako. "Horthy's message to us is that even in the most impossible situations we have to persevere for the interests of the nation and the country."

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1776Patriot

Hitler was a christian too.
- michael
  
  He was only a Christian in human form, not in Godly form
- petroskhan1262
  
  Really? Hitler followed the teachings of Christ? I'd love to see documentation of that, since history paints such a radically different picture. Poor guy must be so misunderstood by the world, if what you're saying is true.
  - daves
    
    "The Reich sees in Christianity the unshakable foundation for the ethics and morality of the Volk." German Chancellor Adolf Hitler in his State of the nation address 1934.
    
    The declaration "Gott Mit Uns" appears on Nazi Military uniforms. See http://nobeliefs.com/mementoes.htm
    
    Adolf Hitler's religious views http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler's_…
    - petroskhan1262
      
      Again, like so many atheists attempting to discredit and insult Christianity, you point to what Hitler SAID, without regard to what he DID.
      
      Odd how when it comes to Hitler, you simply take his word for it, despite all evidence to the contrary. You have nothing to support the contention aside from propaganda and speeches he made. You have no proof that he actually followed any of the teachings of the Bible, or Christ, and the clear evidence of his behavior and actions proves the opposite.
      
      Let's say you know a man. He constantly insults you, physically assaults you, attempts to steal from you, and in all ways belittles you at every turn. BUT…he claims that he is your best friend, and dearly loves you. According to the nonsensical position you've taken with regard to Hitler, you would believe this man, and tell others that he was, in fact, your best friend.
      
      Let's face it. You, like so many others, are presenting everyone to whom you spout this gibberish with only two options. You are either a gullible moron, believing anything you're told when all proof is to the contrary, or you are a liar, stating what you know to be untrue for the sole purpose of insulting others.
      
      Which are you?
- Evermyrtle
  
  Christian means believing in CHRIST JESUS, AND THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD AND OUR SAVIOR, but more that that, it means CHRISTLIKE as well, and it take both to make your a Christian. Hitler was no Christian. There was nothing in his life to indicate he was a Christian
- Eileen
  
  Hitler was deeply emerged in the occult. He had to consult his horoscope before making decisions. Consulting fortune tellers is against the christian religion.
garry williamson

he looks like LBJ
Esteban Cafe

Wasn't Hitler was Christian out of convenience, much like Constantine? Also, this is the first string I've seen end in Reductoi ad Hitlerium…at the START.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_Hitlerum
- Evermyrtle
  
  He may have claimed to be a Christian for a desire for some advantage.
msjallen

Believers in Jesus Christ cannot be indwelt by demons and I believe Hitler was since he had such great power over the German people. If he was not indwelt he certainly was greatly influenced by demonism and he was involved with the occult. Even though he was of the Catholic religion, it does not make him a Christian for they are not taught salvation as the Bible teaches it. I have met and talked with a great number of Catholics and not one knew how to have eternal life through Jesus Christ but through being good and producing good deeds and going through rituals that have no meaning to them. Ritual without reality is meaningless.
- red nig
  
  Hitler was a New Ager and a channeller. His ascended master was Lucifer. Look up the Rainbow Swastika for more info, if you can still find it the way the secular humanists have tried to grind it to a halt.
red nig

Hitler was a New Ager and a channeller. His ascended master was Lucifer. Look up the Rainbow Swastika for more info, if you can still find it the way the secular humanists have tried to grind it to a halt.

Horthy looked at two versions of communism and chose Hitler as the more palatable, as did many other dictators. Had he insisted on being neutral, Hungary would still have been overrun, but the USSR would not have enslaved the nation as they did. Not without a lot of protest from the West.