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Eva Krekovicová, Zuzana Panczová
the Jew as a coward and traitor who could not be a patriot or a hero and, thus, not
even a proper soldier: "After all, the Jew never spilled his blood for a homeland, a
nation, and freedom. Or, have you ever read anything about Jewish heroes? The Jew
only hucksters, deceives his country, and for good money will even do the work of a
spy” (Slovensky obrdzkovy antisemitsky kalenddr na rok 1886: 44). In Cernokñaënik
there appeared a cartoon on this theme, depicting an incompetent Hungarian army,
which would eventually be led by the Jewish sachter (ill. 202). Another cartoon inti¬
mates that the Jew can adapt his language and dress but on the inside will continue
to pursue his own interests (ill. 205)."*
The 1880s were notable also for a great increase in the granting of noble titles
to newly rich Jewish families, which can be explained as a means by which Prime
Minister Kalman Tisza sought to ensure their financial and political support. This
granting of equal rights to Jews, along with their elevation to noble status, made
the prime minister a target for both Magyar and Slovak critics, who called him a
Jewish lapdog. National Anti-Semitic Party propaganda expressed this most clearly:
“Christians! Count the beggars in the streets, count the graves and crosses in the
cemeteries, and then count the Jews in their mansions and palaces, and draw your
conclusion!””
This state of affairs was also visually reflected in Cernoknaénik, with cartoons of
“false members of the upper classes.” This was portrayed either by combining Jewish
physical marks (large, bent noses) and names” with imitations of the superficial signs
of the “upper classes” (dress, hairstyles, and manners); and for more effective satiri¬
cal contrast, the image of the Orthodox Jew was also used. In the case of a cartoon
of the Orthodox Jachter as a member of the Upper House of the Hungarian Parlia¬
ment (ill. 207), this had little to do with reality,” but the image reveals the internal
character of the given scene, emphasizing the conservative conviction that however
hard assimilated Jews and liberal politicians might try, the Jew does not belong in the
nobility and will remain always “only” a Jew. To this depiction were added further,
more general attributes of “foreignness,” such as filth or stench (ill. 208).
18 This attitude was also expressed by conservative Slovaks like S. H. Vajansky, who was of the opinion
that “scattered among nations everywhere, they are the living negation of nationality; residing in differ¬
ent homelands, they are the living negation of patriotism ... They can be taught Magyar, but this will
not make Jews into Magyars any more [than] Jews can be made into Slavs” (For more on this point, see
Vajansky 1881: 289-292, cited in Rybäfovä 2010: 78).
19 Slovenskÿ obrézkovÿ antisemitsky kalenddr na rok 1886: 44.
20 Given names were taken from Hebrew but always altered into local forms that would be comical for
Slovaks: Smulo (Izmael), Srülo (Izrael), Slojmo (Salamún), and so on.
2! "The leader of the Pest Jewish community, Ignác Hirschler, was a close friend of the minister of
culture and education, Baron J. Eötvös, and became the first Jewish member of the Hungarian House
of Magnates. He was not, however, Orthodox. He was a reformist, assimilated Jew, as were four other
Jews in the House of Magnates and approximately fifty representatives in the lower house of parliament
between the Compromise of 1867 and the fall of the monarchy. Orthodox Jews were apolitical and did
not enter parliament, see Rybáfová (2012: 32).