Csanad Szegedi: Leader of Anti-Semitic Group Learns He's Jewish

Jobbik Party Leader Csanad Szegedi Finds Out He's Jewish

Csanad Szegedi was the leader of Hungary's far-right Jobbik Party, the only national political group to campaign with openly anti-semitic imagery and messages. Szegedi's leadership came to an awkward end when he found out that he was Jewish.

Szegedi's grandparents on his mother's side were Jewish: as per Jewish law, that makes Szegedi a Jew as well, whether or not he practices the religion.

Not only is Csanad Szegedi Jewish, but he's the descendant of Holocaust survivors. After he was confronted with evidence of his lineage by convicted felon Zoltan Ambrus, Szegedi tried to bribe Ambrus to keep the revelation secret, but to no avail.

Szegedi then spoke with his grandmother, who revealed the truth. Szegedi's grandparents kept their religion a secret from their children and grandchildren; anti-semitism was (and still is) a fact of life in Hungary, as was the case in most of Eastern Europe.

For someone who was basically a neo-Nazi, this is a huge thing to deal with. Szegedi met with Rabbi Shlomo Koves, who said, "Csanad Szegedi is in the middle of a difficult process of reparation, self-knowledge, re-evaluation and learning, which according to our hopes and interests, should conclude in a positive manner. Whether this will occur or not is first and foremost up to him."

Csanad Szegedi resigned from his leadership role in Jobbik, which promptly severed ties with him.