Hungarian neo-fascists vandalized a Jewish community center in Budapest on Wednesday during a nationalist march in the center of the capital to commemorate the 1956 uprising against Soviet occupation.
Dozens of far-right activists converged at the Aurora community center — which was closed at the time — plastering the building with neo-Nazi stickers and setting fire to a rainbow flag at the entrance, local media outlets reported.
Adam Schönberger, the Aurora center’s director, told Budapest news hub Indexthat “dozens” of supporters of the far-right Legio Hungaria organization were involved in the vandalism. He said he had been alerted to the outrage, in which no one was injured, by residents of a neighboring building.
On its website decorated with Nazi-style iconography, Legio Hungaria said that Wednesday’s march was a “tribute to our predecessors, who fought against the oppressive red terror at the cost of their lives, their blood and their freedom, and a protest against the continued spread of new leftist ideas.”
A short-lived revolution against Soviet rule in Hungary began on Oct. 23, 1956 — a date seen by many Hungarians as a milestone in their struggle for freedom. Far-right groups have regularly attempted to exploit the anniversary since the collapse of communism 30 years ago.
Founded by the Hungarian-Jewish group Marom, the Aurora center opened in Budapest in 2014 “to connect cultural programs, civil and activist organizational work, community building and fun in an open community.”