Istvan Szabo's Stasi Past

On Sunday, Hungarian film director Istvan Szabo revised his explanation for his activity as an informer. He said he allowed himself to be recruited by Hungary's communist-era secret police to save himself and his university studies, and not to save a friend, as he had initially claimed. Author György Fekete discusses Szabo's moral responsibility. "All those who have commented on this affair have quite rightly pointed out that perhaps Szabo's life work, which focuses mainly on the relationship between the individual, talent, artists and power, could never have been so deep and plausible were it not for his activities as an informer, about which he remained silent for so long. Is it like trying to square the circle if we insist that we can continue to revere Szabo for his humanist life's work? Well, then we must use our common sense and our ability to empathise. This time, we, too, must suffer – not just the artist."

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