Thursday, March 6, 2008

The Lighter Side of Ethnic Struggle


Irredente: muses, as ever.

"However, Zoltán Várady, a Catholic priest who experienced his being Hungarian intensively, had a completely individual initiative. He developed a new form of greeting to deepen patriotic feelings, which he published in a special booklet in 1938. The detailed description, the adjoining poems and the included photograph tell us that in order to greet someone in an irredentist was the person must make a small step forward with his right foot, lift his right hand with the open palm turned inwards and with a friendly look say "Resurrection!" or "Justice!", to which the other person will answer with similar motions "May God grant it!". With this Várady wanted the irredentist idea to reach every Hungarian and "the flames in the souls" to burn "the indifference in the hearts and the obstacles of new and imaginary borders..."


[Zeidler, Miklós. "Irredentism in Everyday Life in Hungary During the Interwar Period." Regio: Minorities, Politics, Society. Vol. 2, No. 1 (2002), 71-88]