Keep Quiet

There was a skit in the Dave Chappelle Show where he (African American if by any chance you don't know him) is a high ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan! Now that sounds very far fetched and for obvious reasons you'd think that is out of the realm of any real possibility. Than again in the last couple of years a lot of things that seemed unbelievable happened.

And one of those things (though not as visually obvious as the funny Chappelle bit) is getting depict here. It is tough to imagine on more than one level. One being I can't even begin to identify with someone as biased as the man who is depicted here. And then the script gets flipped (if there ever was a flip, here it is) and the guy who was racist as can be, has to change his tune. But is it believable? Can a person change that radically? Or is he having an agenda? Those are questions that might not be answered fully with an ending that may leave you with more questions that you'd like to have. Then again it is up to you, the viewer to decide if a person can be forgiven - without questioning his or her motives ...

This film relates the story of Csanad Szegedi, in previous years a rabid anti-Semite and right-wing Hungarian nationalist, who rose to positions of power in various radical anti-Semitic groups in Hungary, while even winning a seat in the European Parliament.

However, upon being confronted with his own previously unknown Jewish heritage, Szedgedi would have to decide whether he would denounce his previous views and eventually embrace his new found Jewish ties. Would he even be accepted by the Jewish community and forgiven for his past words and deeds?

This is all presented in this fascinating and powerful documentary, directed by Joseph Martin and Sam Blair. I believe it's especially relevant in today's times, not only here in America but throughout the world with the rise of extreme and dangerous alt-right and neo-Nazi groups.

So the basic story is a good one: Leader of anti-Semitic right wing political party in Hungary learns he is Jewish. Seemingly overnight, Csanad Szegedi becomes an Orthodox Jew, complete with tefillin and yarmulke. He is transformed from a Holocaust denier into a leader of Jews, or at least that appears to be what he aspires to.

Many Jews in the film had trouble with this person, a convert in the deepest sense of the word, deigning to preach to them. Personally, I had the same reaction. But the explanation I think applies to why he'd do this relates to something about Mr. Szegedi in general: there's something superficial about him. For one thing, and this is a shortcoming of the film makers, too, why didn't anyone bring out the fact that from the day before he found out he was a Jew to the day after, nothing changed? That his world came crashing in on him was based on, what? All the lies and hateful rhetoric he believed and promoted? He was the same person from one day to the next. All that really changed was his knowledge of his ancestors. Therein lies the definition of racism/anti-Semitism: hatred is based on what one believes are the features of a group, not individuals. This is hardly new or profound, but I wish it had been expressed in the film.

The other aspect of Mr. Szegedi's experience I found fascinating was similar in that again, his personality and character were the same pre-Jew and post-Jew: he thrived on leadership and fame. Why couldn't he have learned he was a Jew and gone on to live a quiet life at home with his family? No, he had to be up on a stage with a microphone not long after making his so-called change. The way I see it, he remained the same person almost exactly, though hopefully his portrayal of himself as having become sympathetic to Jews in general and Holocaust survivors specifically is true and lasting. His answer, when asked if his change was going to last, seemed honest: I don't know, he said. Nor should he, given how apparently well he adapts to new circumstances!

One other thing I find fascinating is that here is Mr. Szegredi, the child and grandchild of Jews who were denying their Jewishness and their history, presumably in order to live peacefully in their community. Then he grows up to be the ultimate denier of Jewishness, a Holocaust denier. Of course his denial stems from a different place than that of his mother and grandmother, but at the same time, it's almost as if what they were aiming for was accomplished in the extreme, right there in their own family!