Paris, 21 October 2011

In a letter to Hungarian Prime Minister Vikter Orban, the Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, reported that, according to Hungary's ATV television, "the outlawed 'Magyar Guada', (Hungarian Guard) movement, on 16 October visited the Auschwitz - Birkenau concentration camp in Nazi uniforms, performing 'Sieg Heil' salutes and lauding Adolf Hitler."

Samuels added that "they reportedly posed against the backdrop of the notorious "Arbeit Macht Frei" entrance to the extermination camp with swastika scarves and World War II Hungarian fascist banners." 

The letter suggested that "Hungary's neo-Nazis are seeking a higher profile beyond threats against Jews and the persecution of Roma at home. At the site in Poland, where over 400,000 deported Hungarian Jews were murdered in 1944, they have desecrated contemporary Hungary's good name." 

The Centre urged the Prime Minister "to launch an immediate investigation, arrest and prosecute the perpetrators and to vociferously condemn their acts." 

"Turn this disgraceful episode into an opportunity to crackdown on the hatemongers and institute a policy of zero-tolerance for hate in Hungary" concluded Samuels.