An Open Response to Dezső Szabó

József Patai

1914

Dear Sir, [ . . . ]

We can talk about a Jewish racial or religious sentiment, but this is in perfect harmony with the Jews’ Hungarian national sentiment, which is not a patriotic slogan but a very delicate issue. Sitting in the garden of a college in Oxford I became elated when I suddenly heard Hungarian words among the sycamore trees. This is my…

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Creator Bio

József Patai

1882–1953

Born József Klein in Gyöngyöspata, Austro-Hungarian Empire (today in Hungary), József Patai was brought up in a Hasidic family affiliated with the Belz and later Satmar Hasidic communities. After receiving a traditional education, Patai left Hasidism and pursued a modern education, receiving a doctorate in 1907 from Péter Pázmány Catholic University in Budapest. In 1911, he founded the Jewish cultural journal Múlt és Jövő (Past and Future), which became the main platform for non- or post-assimilationist visions of Jewish cultural identity and revival in a Hungarian Jewish community that was not only profoundly assimilated to Hungarian language but also generally deeply identified with Hungarian nationality. A leader of Hungarian Zionism, Patai immigrated to Palestine in 1939. He published poetry in Hebrew and translated Hebrew works into Hungarian.

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