Review: A Christian town faces its sins in post-war Hungary in “1945”

America Magazine ^ | Nov 2017 | Raymond A. Schroth S.J.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

That this film is called “1945” means many things. World War II has just ended, and a little town in Hungary—where the Soviets still tool around in jeeps—has not made the psychological transition from a German-occupied country to a post-war community where democracy is supposed to take root. The cross over the dirt highway entering the town signals that it is Christian territory and the joyous atmosphere of the day in which the the town clerk István’s (Péter Rudolf) son will marry the lovely Rózsi (Dóra Sztarenki) signifies a bright future for a town that has survived Nazi occupation.

The long road into town, bereft of traffic, stretches to the horizon, guarded by trees on both sides. Two men, a bearded father and a slender son, dressed formally in black, accompanied by a horse-drawn wagon carrying two wooden boxes containing, they say, a perfume shipment, walk, almost march, silently side by side. What is really in those boxes? Who are they? What do they want?

They are Jews.

Their presence stirs up panic. “Jews are coming.” “How many?” “What do they want?”

Written and directed by Ferenc Török, based on the short story “Homecoming” by Gábor T. Szántó, “1945” is a movie is set in an era where “it appears that there is still a chance of setting forth on a sunny path to the future at the same time as exploring a year the dark memory of which still lives on among us,” the producer says.

[2banana]

In post WWII late 1940s - Hungary is run by communists in communism.

There is no private property.

And the communists are not going let two rich capitalists make a whole town homeless...

[BobL]

Powerful stuff. Reminds me of when Helen Thomas, who thankfully is rotting in hell now, said that the Jews in Israel need to ‘go back to where they came from’.

Richard Cohen, not exactly a Tea Party type person, absolutely BLASTED her by recounting a bit of post-WW2 history, specifically the mini-genocides against Jews that took place after the war was over, and this time it was NOT the Germans doing it.

Here’s his piece on it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060702583.html

[RitchieAprile]

one moving sight is the Danube quayside bronze shoes monument in Budapest representing where the Arrowcross embarked Jews for Auschwitz. no Nazis needed. plenty of Hungarians were pleased to see them forced out.

[BobL]

True. People kind of know that...you don’t get nearly as far as Hitler did without some serious support from locals.