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Living Mitteleuropa in the 1980s: a network of Hungarian and West German Intellectuals

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 19; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13507486.2012.719005

1469-8293

Victoria Harms,

Central European national history

Abstract This paper investigates the parallels between intellectual biographies and the conceptual re-emergence of Central Europe in the 1980s. It contextualises the origins of a distinct vision of the region within the life experiences of non-conformist intellectuals in East and West Europe. By the 1980s, these intellectuals had developed a transnational informal network which facilitated the flow of ideas across a porous Iron Curtain. A closer look at the biographies of György Konrád and György Dalos as well as Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Karl Schlögel makes this network, its specific understanding of Mitteleuropa in the 1980s, and the ideas subsumed under this umbrella term apparent. Subordinated to a later narrative of European Union integration, the concept has lost its original character as a possible alternative to the bipolar world – that is, Western capitalism and Eastern socialism. This paper re-constructs Mitteleuropa through the biographies of its creators, and recalls moments of mutual influence. Additionally, it looks at historical narratives competing with Central Europe in the 1980s and scrutinises its legacy today. It therefore contributes to the history of ideas, and is part of the emerging field of New Cold War Studies. Keywords: Central Europeintellectual biographiestransnational networkhistory of ideasnew Hungary Acknowledgements This paper has greatly benefitted from Constantin Iordachi's comments as panel chair. I would also like to thank my thesis advisor Árpád von Klimó as well as István Rév for their continued support. Thanks to Andrew Behrendt for indispensable help and comments. Notes 1. Ash, 'Does Central Europe Exist?' 16 October 1985. 2. CitationKundera, 'Un occident kidnappé ou la tragédie de l'Europe Centrale.' 3. For the re-evaluation of Europe and the exclusion of Russia in this debate, see for example, CitationThum, '"Europa" im Ostblock. Weiße Flecken in der Geschichte der europäischen Integration.' 4. CitationMagris, Danubio; Hanák, A kert és a műhely; CitationLukács, Budapest 1900. 5. For an overview see CitationBeller, 'Introduction,' 1–25. For a critical assessment see CitationGluck, 'Afterthought about Fin-de-siècle Vienna. The Problem of Aesthetic Culture in Central Europe,' 264–70. 'Central Europe' attracted interest among US and West European academics; exhibitions like 'Wien 1900: Traum und Wirklichkeit' were hugely popular in Vienna, Barcelona and Paris, but never crossed the Iron Curtain. 6. 'The "Habsburg factor" seems to be an important ingredient in assessing the chances of the democratic and market-oriented transition and of a successful "reconnection" with the European Union (EU) countries.' CitationRupnik, 'Europe's New Frontiers: Remapping Europe,' 92. 7. The Hungarian Közép-Európa translates into the German Mitteleuropa. This term, though, carried the notion of German hegemony. In 1915, CitationFriedrich Naumann conceived of the same region as one at Germany's disposal. Nazi ideology operated along similar lines. Nazi geopolitical considerations developed into the 'Drang nach Osten', the truculent drive for 'Lebensraum'. As will become clear later, Hungarian intellectuals were aware of these predecessors. The role of Germany played a significant part in the debate about Mitteleuropa. Hence, the German term used here calls attention to this legacy. For more, see 'The Hungarian view' in this paper. 8. On 28 June 2011, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accompanied Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to unveil the hyperrealist statue of a 'country boy against the evil empire', Ronald Reagan, on Budapest's Szabadság tér – a square already charged with conflicting symbols. An illuminated touch screen provided information in Hungarian and English about the 'country boy's' successful struggle. For more on the event: Pethamp;#Citationx151;, '"A világot megváltoztató" Ronald Reagan elindul a szovjet emlékmű felé.' 9. CitationAutio-Sarasmo and Miklóssy, 'Introduction. The Cold War from a New Perspective,' 2. 10. CitationAutio-Sarasmo and Miklóssy, 'Introduction. The Cold War from a New Perspective,' 2, 3. 11. CitationPimlott, 'Is Contemporary Biography History?' 31–41; CitationRotberg, 'Biography and Historiography: Mutual Evidentiary and Interdisciplinary Considerations,' 305–24. 12. For an intriguing discussion, see CitationLa Capra, 'Rethinking Intellectual History and Reading Texts,' 245–76. 13. Pimlott, 'Is Contemporary Biography History?' 39. 14. Pimlott, 'Is Contemporary Biography History?' 39 15. Rotberg, 'Biography and Historiography,' 306. 16. Rotberg, 'Biography and Historiography,' 306, 308. 17. CitationBrett, 'What is Intellectual History Now?' 116–18. 18. For an informative historiography considering the various meanings attributed to Central Europe in Hungary, Poland and Romania, see CitationJanowski, Iordachi and Trencsényi, 'Why Bother about Historical Regions? Debates over Central Europe in Hungary, Poland and Romania,' 5–58. For the debate about the two German states and a possible unification within a Central European framework, see CitationBetz, 'Mitteleuropa and Post-Modern European Identity,' 173–92. 19. CitationJaworski, 'Die aktuelle Mitteleuropadiskussion in historischer Perspektive,' 529–50. 20. CitationJudt, 'The Rediscovery of Central Europe,' 23–54. Compare with CitationJudt's autobiography: The Memory Chalet, 165–77. 21. CitationAsh, 'Mitteleuropa?' 1–21. 22. Beller, 'Introduction,' 8. Beller refers to this interpretative scheme also found in Hanák's work as the 'Schorskean paradigm'. 23. Todorova, Imagining the Balkans (1997). 24. CitationAsh, Mertes and Moisi, 'Let the East Europeans in!', 24 October 1991; CitationKovács, 'Westerweiterung: Zur Metamorphose des Traums von Mitteleuropa,' 2002; Author's interview with CitationJános Mátyás Kovács, 30 June 2010; CitationTamás, 'Not Just Not Russia,' 843–4. 25 Szũcs, Va´zlat Euro´pa ha´rom to¨rte´neti re´gio´ja´ro´l (1981). First published abroad: Les trois Europes, with a foreword by Fernand Braudel (1985). 26. CitationNeumann, 'European Identity, EU Expansion, and the Integration/Exclusion Nexus,' 141–64. Rupnik, 'Europe's New Frontiers: Remapping Europe,' 91–114. 27. See, for example, CitationBunce, 'The Visegrád Group. Regional Cooperation and European Integration in Post-Communist Europe,' 240–84. CitationGedeon, 'Hungary. German and European Influences on the Post-Socialist Transition,' 101–48. 28. For an interesting exchange on the role and significance of the Visegrád Group, see CitationBugajski, 'Visegrád's Past and Future,' 60–4, followed by the response from CitationJeszenszky, 'Visegrád – Past and Future,' 20–3. 29. Rupnik, 'Europe's New Frontiers: Remapping Europe,' 92. 30. CitationWolff, Inventing Eastern Europe, 14–15. 31. In fact, the East German state security, known by its abbreviation Stasi, was particularly worried about Konrád's participation in international peace and disarmament meetings. Employees informally monitored his movements in East and West Berlin. See the report 'Information on Directions of Attacks, Means and Methods at the "Second Conference for European Disarmament" in West-Berlin (9–14 March 1983) by the Ministry for State Security', MfS HA XX/AKG No. 5351 in Federal Commissioner for the Files of the State Security of the Former GDR, BStU 000321–00329. For more on the international peace movement, see CitationKaldor, Global Civil Society: An Answer to War. 32. CitationKonrád, Antipolitik. Mitteleuropäische Meditationen. 33. It should be noted that 'Yalta' played a huge symbolic role in the dissidents' historical perception. See also CitationKis, 'Das Jalta-Dilemma in den achtziger Jahren,' 153–64. However, as Tony Judt points out, in the negotiations about a post-war order, 'Yalta mattered little.' Nothing was decided here that had not already been on the table in Casablanca (January 1943), Teheran (December 1943) or Moscow (October 1944). Judt, Postwar, 100–2. 34. It should be noted that 'Yalta' played a huge symbolic role in the dissidents' historical perception. See also CitationKis, 'Das Jalta-Dilemma in den achtziger Jahren,' 153–64. However, as Tony Judt points out, in the negotiations about a post-war order, 'Yalta mattered little.' Nothing was decided here that had not already been on the table in Casablanca (January 1943), Teheran (December 1943) or Moscow (October 1944). Judt, Postwar, 100–2, 94. Unless titles are in English, this and all following translations from German or Hungarian are the author's. 35. For more on Antipolitics, see CitationFalk, The Dilemmas of Dissidence in East-Central Europe: Citizen Intellectuals and Philosopher Kings, 298–305. Also CitationDalos, 'Antipolitik,' 23. 36. Konrád, Antipolitik, 52. 37. Rupnik, 'Central Europe or Mitteleuropa', 1991. 38. Konrád, Antipolitik, 52, 143. 39. CitationKonrád, 'Mein Traum von Europa,' 193. 40. CitationDalos, 'Befreit die Sowjetunion von ihren Satelliten. Entwurf einer mitteleuropäischen Konföderation,' 1–11. 41. CitationDalos, 'Befreit die Sowjetunion von ihren Satelliten. Entwurf einer mitteleuropäischen Konföderation,' 1–11, 6. 42. Kossuth's considerations need to be taken with a grain of salt. The exiled statesman never reconciled the ideals of 1848 and Hungarian sovereignty with the interests of nationalities living within the Hungarian kingdom. In the end, he was a child of his times, and his federation plans symptomatic of the decline of nineteenth-century liberalism in face of the rise of nationalism. 43. To those who criticised the dissidents as dangerously naïve and provocative, he replied cynically: 'The consequences of such irresponsible and unrealistic thoughts we do not know yet. However, where decades of action by those responsible and realistic have taken us, we do know.' Kossuth's considerations need to be taken with a grain of salt. The exiled statesman never reconciled the ideals of 1848 and Hungarian sovereignty with the interests of nationalities living within the Hungarian kingdom. In the end, he was a child of his times, and his federation plans symptomatic of the decline of nineteenth-century liberalism in face of the rise of nationalism, 11. 44. Paetzke, ed., Andersdenkende in Ungarn, 1986. Among many other Hungarian authors, Paetzke has translated much of György Konrád's work. CitationPaetzke offered Suhrkamp these interviews he had conducted on his own initiative. An insider in opposition circles, he barely finished before being expelled from Hungary in 1985. Interview with the author, 24 November 2011. 45. Futáky, ed., Ein Kommunistisches Wunderland? Küß die Hand, Genossin. 46. 'Ungarn. Aktien für Genossen,' Der Spiegel 40 (3 October 1983): 180–5. Der Spiegel was not the only Western publication that displayed contradictory images of Hungary. See, for example, 'Hungary Building Freedoms out of Defeat,' Time Magazine, 11 August 1986. 47. Kontler, Millennium in Central Europe. A History of Hungary, 443. 48. Speaking with László Kontler, the translation emulates the Hungarian alliteration. Cultural productions were quite arbitrarily divided into supported, tolerated and promoted art. Kontler, Millennium in Central Europe, 445. For more on cultural policies, see, for example, Szábó, 'Kádár's Pied Piper.' 49. Sari Autio-Sarasmo regrets that so far no comprehensive study deals with Siemens' or any other West German company's investments in Eastern Europe prior to 1989. Siemens was not the only Western company consenting to joint ownership: in 1968, the Coca-Cola Company had sealed a similar deal. Levi Strauss opened its own store in 1978, and in 1986, MacDonald's held 50% of the Bábolna-McDonald's Gyorskiszolgáló Étterem Kft before opening its first restaurant on 29 April 1988. For a very brief history, see the website of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industries and Commerce: http://www.ahkungarn.hu/ueber-uns/geschichte/. 50. Kontler, Millennium in Central Europe, 453. 51. Gough, 'Mitteleuropa-Man,' 195–205. For more on this 'dilemma', see CitationMink, 'Kádár's Shadow,' 2007. 52. The literature knows two terms for a then-young group of Marxist scholars under György Lukács' patronage: the Lukács School or Budapest School. Absolved from siding with the revolution in 1956, Lukács focused on his philosophy, which merged Marxism with neo-Hegelianism. Commonly, Ágnes Heller, Ferenc Fehér, György Márkus, Mária Márkus, Mihály Vajda and András Hegedűs as well as the early works of János Kis and György Bence are associated with this school. Until the death of Lukács in 1971, the party tolerated their undogmatic Marxist theorising and they published freely and held highly respected academic positions. For more, see Falk, The Dilemmas of Dissidence, 122–5. 53. For a contemporary news report, see 'How the "Budapest School" Lost the Power of the Pen,' Times, 27 July 1973. 54. CitationDalos, Archipel Gulasch, 27–35. 55. See, for example, the Amnesty International News Release from 12 October 1973 or the exhaustive article 'Poet Cast in Role of the Victim,' The Guardian, 13 October 1973. In Open Society Archive: HU OSA 301-0-3. 56. Dalos, 'Der Haraszti-Prozeß und seine Folgen,' 27–35. Sociography has a distinct tradition in Hungary that goes back to the 1930s. It resembles the Russian narodniki movement. Sociologists would go into the countryside or later into the factories and give a narrative account of the conditions there. 57. Dalos, 'Der Haraszti-Prozeß und seine Folgen,' 27–35. Sociography has a distinct tradition in Hungary that goes back to the 1930s. It resembles the Russian narodniki movement. Sociologists would go into the countryside or later into the factories and give a narrative account of the conditions there, 30. 58. Konrád, Szele´nyi. The intelligentsia on the road to class power (New York: HBJ, 1979). 59. CitationKonrád's first book still appeared officially in Hungary: A látógátó (1969). It appeared in English first as The Case Worker (1974). 60. His mother was a porter and his grandmother a housemaid. The reader may suspect certain similarities between the main character, Robert Singer, and the author in György CitationDalos, Die Beschneidung. 61. See the copy of the letter by János Kádár to György Lukács, 22 February 1972. FOS Bremen [copy from National Archive Budapest], Box F186, 'Politikai archivum. 1968–1973.' See Citationalso Szilágyi, 'Dalos György,' 74. 62. There he befriended contributors and editors of the New York Review of Books, among them Susan Sontag. His trip to the United States left a deep mark on his mindset, which partly explains his distinct rejection of anti-Americanism prevalent in large parts of the Western New Left. Author's interview with György Konrád, 24 July 2009. 63. Author's interview with CitationBarbara Richter (2008), long-time programme director. 64. Miklós Mészöly had been a fellow in 1974, Miklós Haraszti became one in 1978, Péter Esterhazy in 1980, Péter Nadás in 1982 and István Eörsi in 1983. For a complete list of DAAD fellows please refer to http://www.berliner-kuenstlerprogramm.de/de/gaeste.php. 65. During his many trips to East Germany, he befriended some of the most active oppositionists there: Gerd Poppe (born 1941) and Klaus Schlesinger (1937–2001). As Hungary was one of the few destination East Germans could travel to, these two returned the visits. They engaged their Hungarian friends in vibrant discussions in Konrád's country home. Notably, Rudolf Bahro's The Alternative (1977) was a matter of debate. For details, Dalos, 'Von Berlin nach Berlin und zurück. Ein literarischer Reisebericht, geheimdienstlich untermauert,' 231–51. 66. Author's interview with György Dalos, 9 June 2009. See also Szilágyi, A Hétfői Szabadegyetem és a III/III. Interjúk, dokumentumok, 74–5; CitationBöll, 'Vorwort,' 5–8. 67. CitationKaube, 'Obituary for a Journal,' 12 June 2008. Enzensberger had founded the Kursbuch. It has been the only journal Suhrkamp ever maintained. 68. See for example, CitationEnzensberger, 'Berliner Geheimplätze II,' 190–7. While Enzensberger was on a study trip to Moscow, the notorious 'Kommune 1' set up camp in his West Berlin apartment. 69. For more, see CitationKovács, 'Marx a negyedik évtizedben,' September 1998. 70. CitationJudt, Postwar, 567. 71. For relevance and reception of Bibó's life and work, see the papers for 'István Bibó and the History of Hungary in the 20th Century,' Conference Centro Studi sulla Storia dell'Europa Orientale, Trent, 26–27 October 2001, http://mek.niif.hu/02200/02224/02224.htm. 72. See CitationPaetzke, 'Ungarische Kulturpolitik zwischen Verbot und Toleranz,' 9–11. 73. Dissident intellectuals revered his 'integrity as well as democratic and patriotic credentials.' Kontler, Millennium in Central Europe, 464. 74. CitationBibó, Die Misere der osteuropäischen Kleinstaaterei, 1992. Originally published in 1946 as A kelet-európai kisállomok nyomorúsága. 75. CitationBibó, 'A Márciusi front tíz esztendeje,' 1990. 76. His reputation also derived from the fact that he had been the last acting minister in the Imre Nagy government during the Hungarian revolution of 1956. For more on Bibó's influence on the Democratic Opposition, see Falk, The Dilemmas of Dissidence, 261–6. 77. The essay first appeared in samizdat. The feedback had Enzensberger change some aspects, but his characterisation of the populists remained. See CitationChalmers and Lumley, 'Enzensberger's Europe,' November–December 1989. 78. CitationEnzensberger, Europe, Europe, 96. For more background on the denouement of these essays, see the Interview, Enzensberger, NLR, Nov.–Dec. 1989. 79. Illyés, Die Puszta. Nachrichten von einer anderen Welt, 1985. The title here is the English version published by Chatto & Windus in 1971, already translated in 1969. Thanks to Andrew Behrendt for this information. 80. Author's interview with György Dalos, 9 June 2009. 81. For the twentieth anniversary of the meeting, János M. Rainer edited and organised the presentations, referenda and discussion documents. CitationRainer, A monori tanácskozás 1985. június 14–16. 82. CitationÁrpád von Klimó points out that until 1920, Hungary was not a sovereign entity, but part of the Habsburg Empire. He explains the parochialism of a nationalist and often anti-Semitic reading of the Treaty of Trianon in relation to the memory of 1956. CitationVon Klimó, 'Trianon und "1956" – Öffentliche Erinnerung in Ungarn,' 2007. 83. Falk, The Dilemmas of Dissidence, 137. 84. Enzensberger, ed., 'The Other Half of Europe,' September 1985. 85. Among them Richard Swartz, Timothy Garton Ash, Richard Wagner, Martin Pollack and Hans Mommsen. 86. Interview with CitationGyörgy Konrád, 24 July 2009. 87. CitationJeri Laber, co-founder of Human Rights Watch, describes the absurdity of her travels through socialist Eastern Europe with Karl von Schwarzenberg, scion of an illustrious noble family, and President of the International Helsinki Federation. His appearances guaranteed attention. Laber, The Courage of Strangers, 243. 88. Gyula Horn was the under-secretary at the Foreign Ministry at the time, and was in charge of the official forum. He went on to become Hungary's first post-change Socialist Prime Minister in 1994. Horn also received the protests of the participants, when the conference room that they reserved in the Hotel Duna Intercontinental was no longer available, supposedly due to water leakage. See CitationMink, The Defendant: The State, 43–8. 89. See collection of newspaper clippings in the Open Society Archive, Budapest, Hungary. HU OSA 318-0-5-Box 2; File: Cultural Symposium 1985 Oct Budapest. 90. CitationKonrád, 'The Reform of Censorship?', 62–77. HU OSA 318-0-5-Box 2. 91. From 1973 to 1986, Csurka (*1939) worked for the newspaper Magyar Nemzet. In 1969 and 1980, he received the official Attila József Award. Today, his fame derives more from his demagoguery in the 1990s, than his literary accomplishments in the 1970s. He died in February 2012, after his controversial appointment as artistic director of the New Theater. 92. CitationAsh, 'The Hungarian Lesson,' 5 December 1985. 93. Populist concern for human rights usually diminished when it no longer concerned the Hungarian minorities abroad but those minorities within Hungary like the Roma. Mink, The Defendant: The State, 123–36. 94. Dalos, 'Sorge mit der Freiheit. Resümee eines Berlin-Aufenthalts (1984/85),' 117–18. 95. For instance, excerpts of 1985, Dalos' curious continuation of George Orwell's 1984, appeared first in the West German weekly Die Zeit – an arrangement made by Enzensberger. Author's interview with CitationGyörgy Dalos, 9 June 2009. 96. Konrád recalls that Schlögel was the only reviewer 'who really understood what it was about'. See author's interviews with György Konrád, 24 July 2009, and with CitationKarl Schlögel, 22 June 2009. 97. See his later analysis Partei kaputt. Das Scheitern der KPD und die Krise der Linken. 98. CitationSchlögel, Moskau lesen (1984), republished in an extended edition in 2011 by Carl Hanser, Munich. Translated into English in 2005. 99. CitationSchlögel, 'Die Mitte liegt ostwärts,' 7: 'Das Problem rührt daher, daß 'Mitteleuropa 'tatsächlich nicht mehr existiert. Zwischen Ost und West gibt es kein Niemandsland, sondern nur einen Todesstreifen. […] Das war es: Mitteleuropa, so geisterhaft es zunächst daherkam, koennte die Alleinherrschaft des Ost-West-Denkens in unserem Kopf gefährden.' 100. Schlögel, 'Die Mitte liegt ostwärts,' 60. 101. Schlögel, 'Die Mitte liegt ostwärts,' 60, 18. 102. The appreciation of urban spaces directed both to Walter Benjamin, whose flaneur was the epitome of cosmopolitan lifestyle. See Konrád, 'Von Schelmen, Harlekinen und Hochstaplern – Budapester Marginalien (1986).' Schlögel retraces Benjamin's Moscow Diary in the last chapter of Moscow (2005). 103. It should be noted that out of 180 participants, in a continued effort to bridge the divide, György Konrád did take part as the only representative of the Democratic Opposition. 104. The Democratic Opposition was a comparatively small community, whose members were already involved in various time-consuming activities, such as the production of samizdat (particularly Beszélő), the Alliance for the support of the Poor, and most recently the Network of Free Initiatives. 105. For other examples, see CitationGal, 'Bartók's Funeral: Representations of Europe in Hungarian Political Rhetoric,' 440–58. 106. CitationKicsatari, 'Annus Mirabilis. A Year in Photos. Part 1,' 44; CitationDeme, 'Perceptions and Problems,' 308. 107. See CitationDienstag, 'The Pozsgay Affair: Historical Memory and Political Legitimacy,' 51–66. 108. For an insightful background report and analysis of the decision-making process in the spring and summer of 1989, see CitationOplatka, Der erste Riss in der Mauer. September 1989 – Ungarn öffnet die Grenze, 2009. 109. Rainer, 'Regime Change and the tradition of 1956', 211–232. 110. Mink, The Defendant: the State, 92. 111. In the case of Konrád, his decision to remain in Hungary was turned into 'evidence' that he had struck a deal with György Aczél, 'the' cultural ideologue. Aczél's ancestors also happened to be Jewish. See CitationDalos, 'György Konrád und seine Akten,' 9 August 2009. 112. CitationVasary, 'Comrades, it's Over! The Election Campaign in Hungary 1990,' 3–6. 113. Many concluded that Antall thought of the Hungarian minorities in neighbouring countries as part of the Hungarian nation, thus provoking strong reactions against such 'revisionism'. For a balanced assessment of Antall's talk about Trianon and Transylvania see, CitationKende, 'The Trianon Syndrome: Hungarians and Their Neighbors,' 475–92. 114. György Konrád lent his reputation to a more or less non-partisan, grassroots movement called the Democratic Charter. It opposed the government's anachronistic and damaging policies as well as the rise of nationalism. Participants feared the democratisation process stagnated, particular when the 'Media War' erupted in 1991/2. For more, see for example, CitationBozóki, 'Intellectuals in a New Democracy,' 173–213. 115. 'The possibility for a spiritual-psychological welding [of the Jews and non-Jews] came to an end with the Soviet Republic, the Horthy era, and especially the Holocaust. Naturally there always were and will be [Jews like] Antal Szerb, [Miklós] Radnóti, […], Ottó Orbán, György Konrád, […] but one feels ever more resolutely nowadays that reverse assimilationist tendencies are surfacing in the country: liberal Hungarian Jewry wishes to "assimilate" the Magyars in style and thought.' Csoóri, Nappali Hold. Quoted in Randolph L. Braham, 'Hungary', The World Reacts to the Holocaust (Baltimore and London: John Hopkins UP, 1996), 215. 116. The German TV channels ARD/WDR documented the event as 'Funeral of Election Campaign?' Among others, CitationIstván Csurka, Imre Konya, Lájos Für and Péter Boross (who represented Antall and became the Prime Minister's successor after his death in 1993) – all members of the MDF's old guard attended the funeral. 117. CitationPók, 'Der Kommunismus in ostmitteleuropäischen Nationalgeschichten,' 2008. 118. CitationKovács and Seewann, 'Ungarn. Der Kampf um das Gedächtnis,' 824. 119. CitationHanebrink, 'Transnational Culture War: Christianity, Nation, and the Judeo-Bolshevik Myth in Hungary, 1890–1920,' 55–80; CitationAblovatski, 'The Central European Revolutions of 1919 and the Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism,' 473–89. 120. CitationCsurka, 'Néhány gondolat – angol fordítás,' 46. 121. For a balanced assessment, see Klimo´, "Hungary", 2010. 122. Szilágyi, 'Dalos György,' 1999; CitationDalos, Vom Propheten zum Produzenten, 1992. 123. CitationTamás, 'The End of Radical Philosophy,' 1999. HU OSA 203-13-1 DVD 135. 124. Admittedly, in November 1989, the SZDSZ (and FIDESZ) gained a major 'electoral' victory in the Four-yes-referendum (Négy-igenes népszavás). Voters were asked about the timing of elections for the presidency and the parliament. The two liberal parties felt disadvantaged. They feared continuity of the regime as the popular reform Communist Pozsgay was likely to become President in an early direct re-election. The Alliance advocated postponing presidential elections until after parliamentary elections. It would give the new parties sufficient time to pick a competitive candidate and stage a campaign. Common wisdom has it that this referendum prevented Imre Pozsgay from becoming President. During this referendum, SZDSZ gained momentum making their agenda a matter of public debate. 125. CitationKontler, Millennium in Central Europe, 470. 126. Such a position was not new to Konrád: From 1989–93, he was President of the International PEN club. Susan Sontag, a close friend since his early stays in New York in the 1970s, was President of the PEN American Center at the same time. In 1989, Sontag and Konrád were both in Berlin, as she had become a DAAD fellow. At the Academy, Konrád often participated in public debates that shaped the image of the 'New Berlin Republic'. For instance, he vehemently intervened in the search for an appropriate design for a Holocaust memorial in Berlin. For more on his pronouncements, see Klaus, 'Ein Antipolitiker in Berlin,' 1998. 127. Interestingly, the last chapter is a re-print of the prescient 1985 article he published in the Kursbuch. CitationDalos, Der Vorhang geht auf. Das Ende der Diktaturen in Osteuropa. For the quote, see the press announcement, Leipzig Book Fair, 1 March 2010. The year before, in 2009, Karl Schlögel received the Leipzig Award for similar reasons. 128. Deutschlandradio, 'György Dalos beklagt schwindendes Interesse zwischen Ost und West,' 17 March 2010, http://www.dradio.de/dkultur/sendungen/thema/1145186/. 129. Karl Schlögel vividly recalls the attacks from the Left. Yet the revered editor of Die Zeit, Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, thanked him for his depiction of the former German East along non-partisan lines. Interview with the author, 22 June 2009. At a 1987 panel, the Hungarian-born journalist Paul Lendvai, usually a fervent devotee of Mitteleuropa, compared the Austrian with the West German perspective. The latter would narrow down to a discussion of the two German states, he lamented. CitationLendvai, 'Was Mitteleuropa sein kann,' 86–91. 130. Népszabadság online, 'Konrád György is elhagyja az SZDSZ-t, Retkes "nyegle modora" miatt,' NOL, 13 July 2009, http://www.nol.hu/belfold/konrad_gyorgy_is_elhagyja_az_szdsz-t__retkes__nyegle_modora__miatt. 131. 'I owe my life to the Russians, amongst the people of the world Russian literature exerted the biggest influence on me, I am clueless about the Russians' European role for world peace. Contemplating about us without reflecting on them would be ridiculous.' Konrád, Antipolitik, 125. 132. Rév, 'Underground,' 283. See also the Terror House's website: http://www.terrorhaza.hu/en/exhibition/1st_floor/room_of_gabor_peter.html. Next to the entrance of Gábor Péter's (head of the ÁVH 1945–52) former office, visitors find the description framed with a pair of scissors, representing the tailor, which in Hungary had historically been a Jewish profession. 133. For more see for example, CitationUngváry, 'Belastete Orte der Erinnerung,' 2009. 134. Only after stark criticism did a separate and laudable Holocaust Museum open on Budapest's periphery. For an insightful analysis of the Terror House Museum see: Rév, 'Underground,' 2005. 135. For more of the party's profile and structural changes, see CitationKiss, 'From Liberalism to Conservatism: The Federation of Young Democrats,' 739–63. 136. CitationArato, 'Orbán's (Counter-) Revolution of the Voting Booth and How it was made Possible,' 24 April 2011. The fact that the FIDESZ participated in the Roundtable Talks seems irrelevant for Orbán's narrative. 137. CitationHankiss, 'Transition or Transitions?' 2007. 138. For more on Orbán's policies, see CitationKornai, 'Taking Stock,' Népszadbadság, 6 January 2011. For a critical review directed at an American audience, see CitationDéak, 'The Threat,' 28 April 2011. 139. Fellow intellectuals from all over Europe and North America – among them Timothy Garton Ash, Adam Michnik and Václáv Havel – have joined the online petition www.iprotest.hu, 'An Appeal to the European Institutions' against the government plans for a new Media Authority and a new Constitution.