From Ásotthalom to Custodela
European Solidarity in Hungary

3,677 words

László Toroczkai

On the 19th and 20th of December, 2015, I attended a nationalist gathering in Ásotthalom, a small Hungarian town on the Serbian border and a crisis point in the Middle Eastern/African invasion. I first heard about the gathering from the mayor of Ásotthalom himself, László Toroczkai, as I stood among tens of thousands at the conclusion of the Warsaw 2015 Independence Day march on November 11th. He had been invited by Ruch Narodowy, Poland’s nationalist party, to speak about his role in fighting the invasion and to announce his invitation to all pro-European activists to join him in Ásotthalom to see the town for themselves.

 “You Feel as If You’ve Known Them for a Long Time”

When I arrived in Budapest my contact was waiting for me, a young guy who works for one of the Jobbik MPs. With him was a Dane who told me that this was the first time he had ever actively been to a pro-European event. We entered the car where another comrade, this one from Austria, was waiting to go to Ásotthalom.

The journey from Budapest to Ásotthalom took some two hours. As we started to approach the town, we saw a calm and peaceful place: vast, underpopulated, and foggy. It was only a few degrees colder than Warsaw, but you could certainly feel it a lot harder. There were countless acres of trees and roads that seemed endless in the thick fog. Locals sometimes greeted us, sometimes stared at us, but usually ignored us. It had the mysterious atmosphere of a horror movie.

Our first impression of Ásotthalom itself was that it was very peaceful and calm. It has the charms of many small towns: a well-paced lifestyle and an amicable community where the locals know and trust each other. It was difficult to believe this was the same place we saw in photos and videos being invaded and trashed by Third-Worlders.

We arrived at our accommodation, which was either a hostel or some kind of student dormitory. This was apparently one of two options for accommodation, the other being a ranch a bit outside of Ásotthalom, where some people had already arrived. Either way, it seemed like the three of us were the only people there. That, along with the fact that the internet didn’t work and the porter spoke no English, only intensified the sense of isolation from the rest of the world. It was a rather surreal feeling, but something every city dweller needs to experience every now and again.

At around eight a couple of Jobbik members came around to pick us up and take us to a dinner, which was to take place in the ranch where the other activists were staying. We drove through the town, eventually going off the road and through a rough trail in the forest. Before long we arrived at our destination, a homey-looking estate which consisted of two buildings. Also on the property was a lake, apparently several meters deep, and some outdoor cooking equipment.

We entered the dining room where no more than a dozen people were sitting and chatting while being served by a couple of female hosts. I instinctively sought out another native English speaker to sit next to, for I knew that being from the Anglosphere we would have much in common.

The atmosphere at the dinner was similar to that of many pro-European and Identitarian events. That is, one of solidarity and camaraderie. As Richard Spencer once put it, you start talking to someone and you feel as if you’ve known them for a long time. Perhaps it should come as no surprise, as we nationalists and Identitarians tend to browse the same websites, read the same books, listen to similar music, and even enjoy similar movies. In no other events can you jokingly say “It’s the current year!” in response to some contemporary aberration and expect laughs, or discuss the latest Occidental Observer article.

After half an hour or so of merry conversation, hearty Hungarian food, and a bit of wine, the man of the hour, Mayor László Toroczkai came in and addressed us, telling us what we were to expect for the weekend. He advised us that the following day we would have a workshop where we would discuss matters of importance to Europeans, after which we would have lunch before visiting the (in)famous fence. After this we would be treated to a dinner as well as a Hungarian folk show. I believe I speak for everyone when I say that the good mayor had already won our respect and admiration for his fine work in saving his town from becoming a Third-World wasteland, so we were indeed very excited to finally meet him.

Hungarian Turanism

The next morning we got up bright and early to make our way back to the ranch for breakfast. As I sat inside the ranch I decided to take the opportunity to ask some of the Jobbik guys about Hungarian Turanism. For anyone who doesn’t know, Hungarian Turanism is an ideological movement (and also, to an extent, a scientific movement) that links the Magyars (Hungarians) with Turkic and Central Asian peoples. The idea that Hungarians are an Asiatic people may seem absurd to White Nationalists (it certainly seemed and continues to seem absurd to me), however, there is a degree of truth to this. Like Finnish and Estonian, Hungarian is a Uralic language. The original Magyars hailed from the area of the Ural Mountains. Eventually, they settled in present day Hungary. Not being an expert on genetics I cannot comment on how much genetic continuity there is between these original nomadic invaders and the modern day Hungarians, though judging by their appearance it seems minimal, if at all existent.

However, according to the attendees from Jobbik this link between the ancient Asiatic Magyars and today’s Hungarians is anything but negligible. One told me of how various Hungarian myths and legends had parallels with other Turkic cultures. He also advised me that Hungarian folk music, dance, and costume also bore some resemblance to that of the Turkics. One interesting anecdote that he told me was of a battle between various European forces and the Turks. The Hungarians showed up in battle on the side of the Christian Europeans, and when they faced the Turks in battle their uniform was “the same” as that of the Turks. I was skeptical, especially since if the Hungarians are a Uralic people, they are not a Turkic people.

I cannot comment further on Hungarian Turanism. Most of the literature is in Hungarian and not available in English. The Hungarians who have studied this topic know infinitely more about this than myself. I will add, however, that while those that I met see a link between Hungary and the East, they unanimously agreed that these links do not justify inviting actual Turks into Europe, any more than the ancient connection between Europeans and Iranians, Kurds, or Indians means that those people should be allowed to migrate into Europe.

The Migrant Assault on Ásotthalom

At another location, we listened to the mayor tell the story of how he had fought for his town. When the migration crisis first began, he was alone in opposition. Curiously, even the people of Ásotthalom wanted to help the migrants, which they assumed to be good-natured people in need of a helping hand. But the people of Ásotthalom soon wised-up and realized that what was happening was not a migration of refugees but an invasion. They had been “red-pilled” by reality. The mayor made it clear that at least 80 percent of the migrants were men of military age, and nearly all came from Islamic countries, initially mostly from Kosovo, but also from the Middle East.

Eventually, the situation with the migrants became essentially what we have all seen in the photos and videos. The migrants flouted the laws of the country, stole, threw garbage everywhere, fought among themselves, and fought with the police. Mayor Toroczkai even said that on one occasion a fight near his house resulted in one migrant being stabbed to death by another.

During this time the Hungarian border was barely protected at all. The European Union insisted that Hungary was not allowed to stop the flow of people coming in, and the government refused to listen to Toroczkai, who agitated endlessly for the government to do something about the issue. But the mayor persevered, sending government officials letters and photos, talking to journalists, and demanding a military presence to secure the border.

Eventually the government caved in to Toroczkai’s demands. A fence was built, now with the enthusiastic support of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (who Toroczkai had labeled a “liberal” before the crisis). Border guards were sent to secure the area, and Toroczkai was allowed to form his own police force, which had nearly the same rights as the official police force (they can carry guns, arrest people, etc). Toroczkai said that the day the fence was built was the “happiest day of my life.”

The refugees reacted predictably to the fence, that is, with violence and rioting. But this wasn’t Britain or France. This was Hungary. Their insolence was only met with repression, and eventually the migrants had to look for alternative routes, now having to move through Croatia, which the mayor said he hoped would do the smart thing and control its borders as Hungary had done. While Hungary has been hounded by the EU for defending its borders, it has found support among the other members of the Visegrád Group — that is Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia — all of which have sent police personnel to assist with the situation.

The mayor concluded by stating the need for an alternative media, one that exposes the massive shortcomings of multiculturalism, from high immigrant crime to Islamic terrorism. He stressed that this must be not just a Hungarian project, but a European one, and that all Europeans must work together to save Europe. Furthermore, he said that we in the room were the “chosen ones” — chosen to help save Europe and to create a Europe of sovereign nations, as opposed to a landmass of interchangeable economic cogs.

Custodela: Towards a Pan-European Nationalist Media?

Well, there had to be a catch. Surely we couldn’t expect to just get all that hospitality and tasty food for nothing. We too had to do our part to help save Europe! But as one of the other attendees mentioned, the mayor made a smart calculation: only the most driven radicals would make their way to an isolated part of another country just before Christmas in order to go to a pro-European event. Therefore, it wasn’t unwise to assume that at least some among us would be keen on such a project (myself included).

After his speech we moved to a nearby location to discuss the matter in more detail. There, we deliberated the specifics of the project, how it would function practically, what its exact purpose would be, etc. Without going into too much detail of the discussion, we agreed that “Custodela” (Latin for protection) was to be the name of the project, and that the goal would be to expose the flaws of multiculturalism and mass immigration. While the attendees of the Custodela meeting were encouraged to be the representatives of Custodela in their respective countries, it would be a project that absolutely any patriotic European could contribute to.

When the discussion concluded it was time for lunch, which consisted of chicken broth and delicious Hungarian goulash, something that we would have the opportunity to taste repeatedly throughout our visit. We ate heartily with a renewed sense of optimism that something was happening. As many people in the Alt Right have said before, 2015 has been a year of fortune for us, and it does indeed seem as if the wind is finally blowing in our direction. I certainly felt that this was the case, and I don’t think I was the only one.

The Great Fence of Ásotthalom

After lunch we visited the main attraction, the Great Fence of Ásotthalom. It was a wonderful sight; not a single invader was to be seen on the vast plains behind the fence (take that, Trump doubters!). All was quiet and calm.

The major explained that the fence was constantly being patrolled, not just by Hungarian forces, but also by Polish, Czech, and Slovak personnel. Every few kilometers were thermal camera towers that monitored the border 24 hours a day. Any breach of the fence is considered a felony and results in deportation and a ban from the Schengen Area, with the possibility of jail time before deportation.

The fence doesn’t look as impressive as the wall on the Israel-West Bank border, but it certainly gets the job done. As I recall Orbán saying some time ago, the issue of the refusal of European elites to control Europe’s borders is not one of impossibility, but only a lack of will. Consistently our elites have failed to do anything productive to secure our borders against Third-World immigration, showing only token resistance against mass migration while constantly being pushed back, claiming that to secure borders would be both xenophobic and impossible. We now know that the first part is leftist demagoguery, and the second part has also been proven wrong.

After the mayor finished telling us about the fence, we admired it for a little longer before going back into town. We drank tea and ate Hungarian pastry while enthusiastically discussing the events of that day. The mayor also asked a few people to do a video to promote Custodela. They read lines in different languages, talking about defending Europe.

Identity & Folkways

To finish off the day we were invited for a Hungarian folk show and dinner. This was the highlight of my stay. Not just because Hungarian music is very pleasant to the ears. Not just because Hungarian folk dancing is highly entertaining to watch with its leg-slapping and hand-clapping. Not just because we were served great Hungarian food again. But because that night in a way epitomized what nationalism should be about: not hate, but love for one’s culture and people. Instead of just rallying to a negative identity — we are Hungarians because we are not these Third-World immigrants who are swarming in — these Hungarian nationalists showed us an integral and beautiful part of their culture: their music, their dance, their traditional clothes, their food, etc. I found this to be the most impressive part of the weekend, and I was envious as the Polish nationalists back home had not attempted to promote traditional Polish culture in such a way.

Things such as folk music and traditional food may seem trivial and archaic to an enlightened cosmopolitan leftist who has supposedly overcome his nation in order to become a “citizen of the world.” But such things are not trivial at all. When a Lithuanian, for example, lives in Lithuania his whole life and is exposed to Lithuanian food, music, literature, etc., he forms an unconscious bond with all other Lithuanians as they all ultimately share the same common experience.

In today’s age this is gradually dissolving as we are all exposed to the same mind-numbing pop music and Hollywood films, and eat the same poisonous garbage which is just as cheap and mass-produced. In today’s age of decadence we must reassert that these shared cultural experiences not only still have value, but are infinitely more valuable that what rootless cosmopolitanism has to offer, purely because it is our own.

I spent the rest of that night chatting with Polish and British nationalists, finding yet again that I have far more in common with the latter. After some lively conversation and quite a bit of drinking, it was, regrettably, time to head back to the hostel.

The last day arrived. We went back to the ranch for a quick breakfast before being invited to Catholic mass by the mayor. The mayor had many nice things to say about the priest, who had supported him from day one. He told us an interesting anecdote: the priest had been told by an archbishop to resign from his church due to his support for mayor Toroczkai. Toroczkai did not allow this to pass and advised the archbishop that if he were to remove his priest, he would not arrange any protests, but he “wouldn’t be able to stop them from happening.” The archbishop caved in, telling the priest that he was “lucky to have powerful friends.”

Not being particularly religious — and not being able to understand Hungarian — I decided to enter the church only for a few minutes before going on a walk through the misty town with a few other comrades. We returned just when the mass had finished and just in time to meet the priest. He was a very upbeat guy, warmly smiling all the time. He shook our hands happily and exchanged a few words with the mayor.

After this, the mayor took us to a museum where he would tell us a bit about the town. On the way he introduced us to a guy who he said had six children, stating that this was “the perfect model for all Europeans.” I agreed.

The museum was a rather smallish wooden building with four wooden figures outside. The mayor explained that the first one represented Sandor Rozsa, a Hungarian Robin Hood figure who stole from the rich. He was a hero to nationalists as well as communists. The second figure was that of a woman who dressed as a man and killed abusive men. Basically, a feminist hero. The third figure represented an old woman deemed to be a witch. Toroczkai explained that the town had been a center of witch executions back in the old days, and that even as recently as in the sixties a woman was accused of being a witch and subsequently almost killed before the police saved her. I smiled as I heard this, for it reminded me of my initial impression of the town: a mysterious place with a dark secret. I do not recall who the fourth figure represented. We went through the museum looking at various artifacts related to Ásotthalom and Sandor Rozsa.

Afterward we went back to the ranch where we had lunch and debriefed. I sat near Toroczkai and listened to him talk about various things that had happened during his tenure as mayor. He told us about how he once sent a suspicious Arabic language Facebook page link to the police, a page which included the phone numbers of several Hungarian people smugglers that lived in Ásotthalom. The smugglers in question were family — three brothers — who received large amounts of money to bring people in through the Serbian border. They were arrested and are now sitting in jail “for a long time.”

The mayor mentioned that they also operated a pizzeria, which he wanted to demolish as a sort of symbolic gesture. I suggested it would be better if he took over the business himself, as the act of a nationalist taking over a business previously owned by people assisting in the destruction of Europe would be a far more amusingly ironic ending. The mayor also mentioned going head to head with some farmers who brought in gypsies as opposed to whites to work on their farms, though this is all I recall from that conversation.

After lunch we debriefed and summarized what we intended to do: To create a patriotic news network that would work on providing an alternative to the leftist media and expose the truth about multiculturalism and mass-migration. We then gradually started to say our goodbyes and went on our way.

Afterthoughts

The idea of Custodela, a patriotic pan-European news network, is a step that the nationalist movement must take. To be sure, nationalist news outlets already exist; the New Observer reports on news and provides original content, and various other outlets exist in non-English speaking countries. But just as the conspiracy to destroy Europe is international, the counter-movement must become international as well. Poles can’t fight only for Poland any more than the French can fight only for France. For even if one country manages to successfully throw off the shackles of the hostile elite, they will find themselves in the precarious position of being a “rogue nation” in an increasingly hostile environment. Hence, just as nationalist political parties make alliances, so must nationalist news outlets work together to spread information far and wide, so that a person in Hungary knows about the rape epidemic in Sweden, or a Ukrainian knows about no-go zones in France.

I sincerely hope that this will not be one of those occasions where a bunch of us radicals got together to discuss how we’re going to change the world, only to see in six month that nothing has happened. Mayor Toroczkai has certainly proven himself capable of getting things done, so I am cautiously optimistic. I will do what I can in this project, though I admit that everything is still in the theoretical stages. However, as stated before, 2015 (the former current year) has been a generous one for us, especially in regards to the information war. Our enemies are finding it harder and harder to dismiss us as neo-Nazis or white supremacists, and as they overreach themselves with ever more bizarre condoning of the unnatural, they only make it easier for us to counter their propaganda.

Lastly, my optimism is greatly enhanced by the fact that this was my second trip to Hungary, largely for the same reason (pro-European gatherings), and things this time couldn’t have been more different from the first. Instead of being persecuted and forced into clandestine activities by the government, this time it was the government (albeit a local government) that invited us in. There was no interference from anyone, either governmental or otherwise. This is a welcome sign that we will now increasingly be able to openly organize to save our people.