Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The Simon Wiesenthal Center has condemned a far-right commemoration in Hungary of a World War II battle in which speakers lauded a wartime pro-Nazi Hungarian leader.
A report on the feol.hu website said a Waffen-SS veteran who was scheduled to speak at Saturday's memorial in the city of Szekesfehervar did not attend for health reasons. The Wiesenthal Center said the event was "another blatant attempt to honor and glorify the perpetrators of the Holocaust."
Last year, international criticism caused a foundation to cancel plans to erect a statue in Szekesfehervar of a Holocaust-era minister who helped draft anti-Semitic laws.
The Wiesenthal Center's Mark Weitzman said authorities' failure to condemn the event, considering that Hungary is currently chairing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, was "an exercise in political and historical hypocrisy."
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
