Summary
Summary

Summary/Abstract: It seems that the events of the last few years have never allowed us the luxury of dealing in our introductory editorial notes only with matters of direct relevance to the content of our journal. In this context in this issue we study the new Hungarian constitution, brought to life earlier this year, from what might be called a Jewish perspective, or perhaps we should say rather from that Hungarian perspective that must ask if being Jewish Hungarians means we are not included in the body of the Hungarian nation. From reading in the preamble the reiterated insistence on the historical Christian essence of Hungary we cannot understand this emphasis otherwise than as a not so subtle distancing from Jewish Hungarians, since in this country there are no significant other religious entities, either now nor in the past. This is unfair as well as ahistorical, particular in light of the Jewish contributions to Hungarian culture and society, and in this context we must understand one million souls, since the spirit and the accomplishments of those who were annihilated is a living reality. Nor does this square with historical experience since the responsibility of a majority of the Hungarian nation cannot be avoided in events ranging from the German occupation in 1944 through the destruction of a great part of Hungary Jewry in 1944-45 and to the expelling of the German (Swabian) population from 1945 through 1950. While we agree that for a nation to have a healthy existence and future it needs self awareness rather than a sense of guilt, nevertheless to achieve this it must first achieve catharsis by facing its past crimes. When after the turn Múlt és Jövô was revived we considered this issue as one of our prime tasks, although today we must report with resignation that we have not achieved any significant success in this direction.

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