He earned a master’s degree in History and History of Eastern Europe at the University of ELTE, Budapest. He gained the dr. univ. degree in History in 1979, he received his PhD (kandidátusi) degree in History in 1993. Karsai defended his habilitation thesis (‘venia legendi’) in 1999. In 2014 the Hungarian Academy of Sciences awarded him the Higher Doctorate (DSc) title.

He has been researching the history of the Hungarian Roma and Jewish Holocaust, the history of the Hungarian extrem right-wing movements, mainly the Arrow Cross Party.

He is the leader of the Yad Vashem Archives Hungarian Research Group from 1994. He was the chief historical adviser of the first Hungarian Holocaust exhibition, Bp., IX. Páva street 39. (2003-2006). Member of the advisory board of the EHRI (European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, 2010-2015).

He has been invited by several research institutes and universities in Israel and North-America as research fellow and visiting professor, including the Yad Vashem International Institute for Holocaust Studies, Jerusalem, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, Columbia University in the City of New York.

He is the author of 7 books and editor of several other volumes, as well as a number of scholarly articles.

Curriculum Vitae

Prof. dr. László Karsai

Place and date of birth: Budapest, 20. 09. 1950.
Office address: Dr. Karsai László, Department of Contemporary History, Hungary, H-6722 Szeged, Egyetem u. 2
Tel.: (+36) 62-546-795, fax: (+36) 62-544-464
E-mail: karsai@hist.u-szeged.hu

Education and degrees

Academic employment

Fellowships

Conference papers

1.) 6-10. October 1991. Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv University: “International Seminar on Identity Revival: Studies on East European Jewish Life History.”
The title of my paper: The Holocaust in the Hungarian Press 1989-1991.

2.) 21-23. October 1991. Budapest. “Magyar-zsidó együttélés és ennek középeurópai háttere 1848-1991.” [Hungarian-Jewish Coexistence and its Central-European Background, 1848-1991.]
The title of my paper: Magyarország a Holocaust után. [Hungary after the Holocaust]

3.) 13-14. December 1991. Budapest. “Kisebbségkép a tömegkommunikációban” [Minorities in the Mass-Media]
The title of my paper: Antiszemiták és antiszemitizmus a magyar sajtóban 1989-1991. [Minorities in Mass-Media; Anti-Semites and Anti-Semitism in Hungarian Press 1989-1991]

4.) 23-27. May 1992. Szeged, Hungary. JATE BTK [University of Szeged]: “Teaching Modern European History: Experiences and Prospects”
The title of my paper: Textbooks on the Shoah.

5.) 18-20. June 1992. Paris. CNRSS: “Anti-Semitism in Formerly Socialist East-Central Europe: Historical Roots and Recent Developments”
The title of my paper: Some Problems of the Historiography of the Hungarian Jewish Shoah.

6.) 4. August 1992. Budapest. MTA TTI [Institute for History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences]: “Non-Discrimination and Minority Rights”
The title of my paper: Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest.

7.) 23-27. November 1992. Brussels. Fondation Auschwitz: “Histoire et mémoire des crimes et génocides nazis”
The title of my paper: Debates on the Shoah in the Hungarian Press 1989-1992.

8.) 5-7. April 1994. Budapest. “Nemzetközi tudományos konferencia a magyarországi Holocaust 50. évfordulóján” [International conference, Holocaust in Hungary, 50 years after.]
The title of my paper: Magyar tankönyvek a Holocaustról [Hungarian Textbooks on the Holocaust]

9.) 10. April 1994. Tatabánya, Hungary. TEDISZ [Teljes Evangéliumi Diák és Ifjúsági Szövetség &ndash Full Evangelical Student and Youth Union]: “Ne menj tovább barátom” [Do not go further, my friend]
The title of my paper: A magyar Holocaust az Endre-Baky-Jaross per tükrében [The Hungarian Holocaust in the Endre-Baky-Jaross Trial]

10.) 22. May 1994. Washington D.C. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: “Holocaust in Hungary”, seminar.
The title of my paper: A Szálasi rendszer és a zsidók [The Szálasi Regime and the Jews]

11.) 26. June 1994. Veszprém, Hungary. TEDISZ: “Ne menj tovább barátom” c. konferencia.
The title of my paper: Búcsú Csurka Istvántól [Farewell to István Csurka]

12.) 19-23. September 1994. Vienna. “International seminar on the European Gypsy Holocaust”.
The title of my paper: Gypsy Holocaust in Hungary.

13.) 27. November 1994. Budapest. TEDISZ: “Ne menj tovább barátom!”
The title of my paper: Nyilasterror, zsidóüldözés, embermentés [Arrow Cross-Terror, Persecution of the Jews, Rescue]

14.) 12. February 1995. Los Angeles. UCLA Sunset Conference Center: “The Last Episode of the European Jewish Holocaust”.
The title of my paper: The Liberation of the Last Ghetto.

15.) 20. April 1995. Rome. Universitá degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”: International conference.
The title of my paper: Dall’emancipazione fino all’Olocaust Storia degli ebrei in Ungheria nei secoli XIX-XX.

16.) 2-5. November 1995. Vienna. Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen: Political Justice in Post-War Europe, International Conference.
The title of my paper: People’s Courts and Political Justice in Hungary 1945-1946.

17.) 8-10. November 1995. Prague. International Society for Human Rights: Racism Yesterday and Today.
The title of my paper: Racism and Anti-Semitism in Hungary 1919-1995.

18.) 11. December 1995. Berlin. Technische Universität Berlin, Das Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung; International Conference: “Solidarität und Hilfe”.
The title of my paper: Jews and Gentiles in Hungary 1938-1945.

19.) 21-23. March 1996. Seattle. Washington University: “The Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989”;
The title of my paper: The radical right in Hungary 1989-1995

20.) 3-4. November 1997. Budapest. Pro Helvetia Svájci Kultúralapítvány: “Die Schweiz, Ungarn und der Zweite Weltkrieg”
The title of my paper: Bűn és büntetés, népbíróságok Magyarországon 1945-1948.

21.) 4-5. February 1998. Strasbourg. Európa Tanács – Fédération Nationale des Déportés et Internés Résistants et Patriotes: “Conservation et ouverture aux chercheurs des archives des camps et concentration et du génocide: étude particuliére du SIR d’Arolsen”.
The title of my paper: Inventaire, conservation et consultation des archives des camps de concentration et du génocide: législation nationales, pratique du SIR et expérience d’Arolsen.

22.) 7-9. October 2003. Berlin. Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung der Technischen Universität Berlin: „Ungarn und der Holocaust”.
The title of my paper:   The Persecution and Deportation of the Hungarian Roma.

23.) 17-20. March 2004. Washington, D. C. USHMM: „The Hungarian Holocaust, 60 Years Later”.
The title of my paper: The Fateful Year 1942 in the Reports of the Hungarian Diplomats

24.) 16-18. April 2004. „A holokauszt Magyarországon európai perspektívában”.
The title of my paper: A magyarországi zsidótörvények és -rendeletek, 1920-1944.

25.) 11-13. December 2006. Paris. Sciences Po-CERI: „Rescue Practices facing Genocidal Situations. Comparative Perspectives (Armenian Genocide, Holocaust, Rwandan Genocide)”.
The title of my paper: Hungarian Righteous Among the Nations in Front of the People’s Courts.

26.) 2. April 2009. Paris. Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3: „Le new consensus sur le fascisme. De la réligion en politique á la réligion politique”.
Előadásom címe: Szálasi Ferenc, the New Messiah of the (Hungarian) Truth.

27.) 26-28. January 2010. Acco, Israel. Western Galilee College: „The Future of Holocaust Testimonies”.
The title of my paper: The Hungarian Jewish Councils as Reflected by the DEGOB Protocols.

28.) 26-27. May 2010. London. University College London, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies. School of Slavonic and East European Studies: „Antisemitism in Hungary and Poland”.
The title of my paper: Regent Horthy and the Holocaust: New Questions, Old Answers.

29.) 17-18. November 2011. Uppsala, Sweden. Uppsala University, The Hugo Valentine Centre: „Fascism on the Periphery”.
The title of my paper: Ferenc Szálasi and the Arrow Cross Party-Hungarist Movement.

30.) 26-27. January 2012. Paris. Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris 3: „La montée des populismes en Europe”.
The title of my paper: Droite, extrême-droite et populismes en Hongrie, 1990-2011.

31.) 30. October 2012. Oslo, Norway. Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities: „International Symposium on Raoul Wallenberg: Man Amidst Inhumanity”.
The title of my paper: All the time he was saving people, whomever he could… Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest.

32.) 17-20. December 2012. Jerusalem. Yad Vashem: „The End of 1942. A Turning Point of World War II. and in the Comprehension of the Final Solution?”
The title of my paper: The Holocaust as Conveyed in the Hungarian Press of 1942.

33.) 7-9. April 2013. Berlin. Moses Mendelssohn Center, Potsdam – Deutsches Polen-Institut, Darmstadt in cooperation with Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand Berlin and Centrum Badań nad Zagładą Żydów IFiS PAN, Warszawa: „Jewish Resistance and Non-Jewish Helpers in Hungary”.
The title of my paper: The Jewish resistance to the Nazi policy of extermination in Europe 1933-1945.

34.) 17-18. April 2013. Miskolc, Hungary. Miskolci Egyetem, BTK, Történettudományi Intézet: „Zsidók és keresztények az évszázadok sodrában. Interpretációk egy témára”.
The title of my paper: Zsidó ellenállók, törvénysértők.

35.) 24. April 2014. Budapest. MTA-HDKE: „Bűn, felelősség, emlékezet. A magyar holokauszt – 70 évvel később”.
The title of my paper: Információk a holokausztról a magyar sajtóban, 1941-1944.

36.) 14-15. May 2014. Szeged, Hungary. University of Szeged–Yad Vashem: „The Hungarian Holocaust, 70 Years After”.
The title of my paper: The Hungarian Holocaust in International Context.

37.) 19-20. Februry 2016. New York. Columbia University: „Aftermath: Repression, Participation and Retribution in East Central Europe. International Conference”.
The title of my paper: People’s Courts and Revolutionary Justice in Hungary after World War II.

38.) 2-3. October 2017. Bratislava, Slovakia. Comenius University: „Image of the Enemy in Europe During World War II.”
The title of my paper: „Jews, Niggers and Indians Carpet Bombed Hungary” – The Image of the Enemy in the Hungarian Press During World War II.

39.) 6-8. December 2017. Warsaw. Institute of National Remembrance: „The Nations of Occupied Europe Facing the Holocaust”.
The title of my paper: Hungarian Jews Under Nazi Occupation, 1944-1945.

40.) 25-26. April 2018. New York. City University of New York–Museum of Jewish Heritage: „The Future of Holocaust Research”.
The title of my paper: Holocaust and Holocaust Memory Policy in Hungary and Poland.

41.) 9-11. July 2018. Jerusalem. Yad Vashem: „Your brother’s blood cries out to me”– International workshop.
The title of my paper: Arrow Cross Terror in Budapest, 15 October 1994-13 February 1945

42.) 10-11. December 2018. Jerusalem. Yad Vashem: „Searching for Each Other: Survivors attempts in the Post-War Period to Locate Missing Relatives and Friends” – International workshop.
The title of my paper: „And How Long it Takes My Run Amok?” The Post World War II Diary of dr. Pál Deák.

43.) 21-25. July 2019. Yad Vashem-United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: „Religious Institutions and Jews in Hiding During the Holocaust” – Research workshop.
The title of my paper: The Hungarian Catholic Church During the Holocaust.

Monographs and edited volumes

A nemzetiségi kérdés Franciaországban [The Minority Problem in France] Budapest: Kossuth, 1983. 165 pp.

Flamandok és vallonok. [The Flemish and the Walloons] Budapest: Kossuth, 1986. 200 pp.

A Szálasi per. [The Szálasi Trial] (Co-author: Elek Karsai) Budapest: Reform, 1988. 766 pp.

A cigánykérdés Magyarországon 1919–1945. Út a cigány Holocausthoz. [The Gypsy Question in Hungary 1919–1945. Toward the Gypsy Holocaust] Budapest: Cserépfalvi, 1992. 197 pp.

Kirekesztők. Antiszemita írások 1881–1992. [The Exclusionists. Anti-Semitic Writings 1881–1992] Budapest: Aura, 1992. 212. pp.

Befogadók. Írások az antiszemitizmus ellen 1882–1993. [The Welcomers. Writings against Anti-Semitism 1882–1993] Budapest: Aura, 1993. 256 pp.

Az Endre–Baky–Jaross per. [The Endre–Baky–Jaross Trial] (Co-author: Judit Molnár) Budapest: Cserépfalvi, 1994. 650 pp.

Holokauszt. [Holocaust] Budapest: Pannonica, 2001. 426 pp.

A magyar Quisling-kormány. Sztójay Döme és bűntársai a népbíróság előtt. [The Hungarian Quisling Government. Döme Sztójay and his accomplices in front of the People’s Court] (Co-author: Judit Molnár) Budapest: 1956-os Kht, 2004. 964. pp.

Az árpádsáv tegnap és ma. [The Árpád-stripes Yesterday and Today] (Co-authors: Attila Pandula, Péter Sipos and Pál Závada; edited by Judit Molnár) Budapest: Holokauszt Emlékközpont, 2011. 78 pp.

The Kasztner Report: the report of the Budapest Jewish Rescue Committee, 1942–1945. (Co-author: Judit Molnár) Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2013. 393 pp.

Vádirat a nácizmus ellen: Dokumentumok a magyarországi zsidóüldözés történetéhez 1944. október 15. – 1945. január 18. [Indictment against Nazism: Documents regarding the Persecution of Jews in Hungary 1944–1945] (Co-author: Elek Karsai) Budapest: Balassi, 2014. 1190 pp.

Szálasi Ferenc. Politikai életrajz [Ferenc Szálasi: A Political Biography] Budapest: Balassi, 2016. 524 pp.

Szálasi Ferenc naplói (1942–1946) [Diaries of Ferenc Szálasi, 1942–1946] Budapest: Magvető, 2016. 852 pp.

Szalai Pál. Politikai életrajz. [Pál Szalai: A Political Biography] Budapest: Raoul Wallenberg Egyesület, 2022.

Full list of publications

He has been researching the history of the Hungarian Roma and Jewish Holocaust, the history of the Hungarian extrem right-wing movements, mainly the Arrow Cross Party. He is the leader of the Yad Vashem Archives Hungarian Research Group from 1994.

As a Professor emeritus, he is currently not teaching. He has been teaching history of Nazism, Fascism, Bolshevism, history of Europe in the 20th century, history of the Holocaust and WWII at the University of Szeged (1975–2017)