A posztháborús állapot reprezentációja Szeleczky Zita sajtómegjelenéseiben, népbírósági perében és magánlevelezéseiben
The Representation of the Postwar Period in Zita Szeleczky’s Press Appearances, Lawsuit and Private Letters

Summary/Abstract: From 1936 to 1944, the Hungarian star world created a unique tabloid environment in both the print press and film production. Zita Szeleczky (1905–1999), one of the most popular Hungarian actresses of the 1930s and 1940s, was on the one hand called the little sister of the nation, and on the other hand, politically stigmatised on several occasions for her clumsy career planning and self-expression. The latter was due to the fact that, from the first years of the Second World War onwards, the actress made a number of objectionable decisions out of naivety, vanity or resentment. Her death was reported in the printed press and she was condemned as a war criminal in absentia. In the present study, we have not sought to comment on any of this, but have merely supplemented the factual information available in the press and in the People’s Court documents with relevant details from the private correspondence of 1946 and 1947, which illustrate the experiences and opinions of the actress and her colleagues. Zita Szeleczky’s career and fate were shattered, and she had to start her life anew during the post-war years. As a result of our research, it can be concluded that the main details of the actress’s character assassination were drawn from the antecedents of Zita Szeleczky’s People’s Court trial, from the articles examined in chronological order in 1945 and from the trial material. In addition, the post-war condition is reflected in several examples of Zita Szeleczky’s private correspondence from the period under study. Following her character assassination, her break with fate – the trauma she had suffered – she must have continued to fear that Italy would extradite her to Hungary and would have to execute her sentence. She also tried, partly with her colleagues and partly on her own, to launch her international career, which was not initially very successful, mainly due to post-war tensions in 1946 and 1947.

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