Former governor Miklós Horthy’s memorial plaque was unveiled in the Reformed College of Debrecen in front of an audience of 200 on 19 May.
The plaque was found in a disused warehouse. Research revealed that the marble plaque was first placed on the wall of the college some time between 1938 and 1943, as a tribute to Horthy who was a student of the college in 1877 and 1878. An engraving on the back of the plaque, that was reconstructed by computer analysis, reveals that it was 5 students who removed the plaque from the wall in 1947.
Before the tablet was unveiled, groups of demonstrators appeared in front of the college who had loud arguments with other groups on Horthy’s side. Meanwhile, MSZP was holding a press conference in front of the building. MSZP spokeswoman Kata Kormos called the Horthy-era one the most shameful periods of the 20th century – an era framed by white terror and the catastrophe at the Don River and characterized by the oppression of Jews and social distress.
The demonstration ended without any serious atrocities. But as the leading French liberal newspaper, Le Monde wrote in a report, “the ideological clashes between the left and the right wings” are still going on.
Source and photos: MTI
