“Wass is a figure who should be condemned, not glorified,” says Center official
The SimonWiesenthal Center is calling for the cancellation of a program that glorifies a notorious World War IIâera Hungarian writer and Nazi collaborator.
Mark Weitzman, the Wiesenthal Center’s Director of Government Affairs said that the program—scheduled for later this week at the HungarianHouse in New York – will, “celebrate Albert Wass, who has been described by prominent historian and Holocaust survivorProfessor Randolph Brahama, as a ‘notorious antiâSemite’ who collaborated with the Hungarian fascist regime during World War II'.”
Wass, who received an Iron Cross, fled with the Nazis at the end of the War. Today, his writings can be found on a majorneoâNazi website.
"Although the Hungarian government has denied any connection with this program, the fact that Hungary is the incoming Chair of theInternational Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) makes it all the more important for the Hungarian government to officially repudiate any glorification of a writer so closely linked withantiâSemitism and the persecution ofEurope’s Jews during the Holocaust,” added Weitzman, who is thechair of the IHRA’s Committee on AntiâSemitism and HolocaustDenial.
“This is an opportunity for Hungary to forcefully demonstrate that it is totally aligned with the IHRA’s goals and that it denouncesintentional efforts to excuse or minimize the impact of the Holocaust or its principal elements, including collaborators and allies of Nazi Germany,” Weitzman concluded.
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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400.000 members. It is an NGO atinternational agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament.
