Backyard revolution. Mass violence, antisemitism and the populist state in post-World War II Hungary
Backyard revolution. Mass violence, antisemitism and the populist state in post-World War II Hungary
On Thursday, October 16, 2025, at 6:30 p.m., the book presentation "Backyard revolution. Mass violence, antisemitism and the populist state in post-World War II Hungary" will take place in the Contemporary History Library.
Program:
Welcome
Markus Stumpf | Contemporary History Library, University of Vienna
Introduction
Regina Fritz | Department of Contemporary History, University of Vienna
Book presentation
Péter Apor | Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest
Commentary on the book
Ota Konrad | Professor of modern history at Charles University, Prague
Panel discussion
Péter Apor | Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest
Ota Konrad | Professor of modern history at Charles University, Prague
Regina Fritz | Department of Contemporary History, University of Vienna
Jan Rybak | Jewish Studies Program, Central European University Vienna
Afterwards we invite you to wine and bread
About the book
"Backyard revolution" contributes in-depth sociocultural histories of the popular antisemitic pogroms that shook Hungary in the spring and summer of 1946. Expanding the scope of investigation of serial mass violence toward Jewish communities beyond the cases in Poland suggests that antisemitic violence was general in postwar Central and Eastern Europe and that it spoke to central components of popular notions of society and politics.
The book considers collective violence as a particular form of political participation and examines post-Holocaust antisemitic violence as one of its perverse ways. Drawing on previously unknown archival sources, Backyard Revolution explores how collective violence produced categories and divisions in society and how these in turn attempted to shape the institutions of the state. It further addresses the political participation of powerless groups and highlights components of everyday life and resistance that engendered power structures and hierarchies.
Setting the genesis of communist dictatorships at the crossroads of popular expectations toward the state, anchored to the culture of the everyday, and elites' attempts to mobilize mass support, Backyard Revolution has implications beyond regional borders and adds to the understanding of growing populist governance worldwide.
About the Author
Péter Apor is a permanent research fellow at the Research Centre for the Humanities, Budapest and author of Fabricating Authenticity in Soviet Hungary. His research focuses on the history of empires and colonialism in the Cold War, the politics of memory in post-1945 Europe, and the mechanisms of collective violence and ethnic hatred. Currently, he co-directs the Austrian-Hungarian joint research project “Tackling Empire: The Post-Imperial and the Colonial in Austria and Hungary, 1918-1939.”(in cooperation with the University of Vienna)
A cooperation of
Contemporary History Library, Vienna University Library
Department of Contemporary History, University of Vienna
Jewish Studies Program, Central European University