ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how fascist memory emerged in opposition to waning legacies of liberal memory. After a brief overview of the authoritarian regime of post-1920 Hungary, its pro-fascist faction, and new forms of antisemitism, the chapter follows the trajectory of journalist István Milotay, a founding figure of the pro-fascist press in interwar Hungary. The chapter explores his turn from more traditional patterns of social hierarchy toward fascist mass politics: while the former centered on the landed elites of a predominantly rural country, fascism led him to overcome class prejudices and see peasantry as a “racial resource” for national rebirth. Exploring Milotay's travel reports on rural life, the chapter argues that Eszter Sólymosi's fascist memory emerged from interpretations that rendered her rural origin a source of political appropriation. Her new image, crafted by Milotay and the pro-fascist press, carried multiple meanings that promised national renewal in response to the consequences of the Great War, economic crisis, and perceived cultural decline. The chapter argues that for pro-fascist intellectuals, Eszter's rediscovery helped counter liberal—and especially Jewish—memory and push toward fascist transformation.
