Hungary Town Won’t Name Square for ‘Quisling’ Leader Miklos Horthy
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A town on the southeast outskirts of Budapest has reversed a 2012 decision to name its main square after Hungary’s Nazi-allied World War II leader Miklos Horthy.
According to the Hungarian news agency MTI, the mayor of town of Gyomro said it had been a “mistake” to rename “Freedom Square” in honor of Horthy, who ruled Hungary from 1920 to 1944. He apologized to “anyone hurt by it,” MTI said.
The local council has voted that from June 1 the square will simply be known as “Main Square.”
Naming the square for Horthy had resulted from a motion by a local councilor from the far-right Jobbik party and had sparked local protests.
The state’s distortion of its Holocaust history, including the role of the Horthy’s regime, are among the reasons being offered by the country’s Jewish organization for boycotting official events marking the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust in Hungary.
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