Budapest's Jewish past

EDGAR ASHER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

Today's Jewish traveller in search of the remnants of once-thriving communities will find that a visit to the Hungarian capital of Budapest will give an insight into a Jewish community that, before the Second World War, numbered in excess of 230,000. However, not everyone is aware that the Jewish presence in Budapest was first established on the west bank of the Danube.

Recent archeological digs in the Castle area of Buda have revealed the remains of a medieval synagogue. The synagogue, which can be visited today, could be better described as a prayer room divided by two gothic pillars. On the upper part of the wall one can clearly see the remains of Jewish symbols and Hebrew inscriptions. At the entrance to the garden leading to the synagogue are placed a collection of contemporary tombstones taken from a former Jewish cemetery. Although the synagogue cannot be described as visually spectacular, its significance should not be underestimated, as it points to an established Jewish community that existed alongside the often tempestuous development of the Hungarian nation. The excavation of the synagogue continues today.

The Jews who settled in Buda came principally from central Europe. In the early years, life was very hard for them, as the local people regarded them as foreigners. It was not until much later, during the latter part of the 18th century, that Empress Maria-Theresa signed a Tolerance Decree that granted Jews the same rights as Christians. During the second half of the 19th century, the Jews of Buda began to move to the other side of the Danube, to the modern town of Pest. It was a very active and productive community and the Jews of Pest played their full part in Hungarian society. Jewish writers, poets, artists, actors and intellectuals contributed fully to Hungarian society generally. The Jews also established large engineering plants and factories.

In 1854, work began on the Great Synagogue in Dohany Street. It remains to this day the second largest synagogue in the world. The synagogue, which was designed by Viennese architect Ludwig Forster, took five years to construct. Its two onion-domed towers resemble minarets, and the whole design structure is full of Byzantine and Moorish influence. The richness of the interior fittings reflects the high standard of living enjoyed by the Jews at the time of the synagogue's construction.

Adjoining the Great Synagogue is the Jewish Museum. Apart from describing the demise of the Jewish community during the war, the museum houses one of the finest collections of Judaica to be seen anywhere in the world. The museum is built on the site of the small house where the founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, was born in 1860.

During the apex of Nazi terror in October 1944, the Germans overthrew the Horthy government and the remaining Jews of Budapest were herded into the ghetto adjoining the synagogue. Fortunately, the treasures of the museum for the time remained untouched. The infamous Hungarian Arrow Cross fascist party, which had taken upon itself the murder, deportation and rounding up of Budapest's Jews, was not particularly interested in ransacking the museum. They were involved with far more sinister work. For example, between December 1944 and January 1945, the Hungarian Arrow Cross shot 20,000 Jews and threw their bodies into the Danube.

As the Jews were being rounded up and sent to the death camps, two non-Jewish women employees of the museum quickly and efficiently started removing as many exhibits as possible, including priceless stained-glass windows. They wrapped everything in brown paper and hid the artifacts in a nearby attic. They did this at a risk to their own lives. Many years after the war ended and the remnants of the Jewish community returned, the two women asked to see a senior Jewish representative of the community and took him to see the treasures that they had saved. For this deed, the two women were named as "Righteous Among the Nations," by Israel's Holocaust memorial organization Yad Vashem.

Adjoining the Great Synagogue is a sombre graveyard. In modern times, it is not usual to place a cemetery alongside a synagogue, however, this cemetery is special and is the exception to the rule. It holds the remains of hundreds of Jews who were rounded up outside the synagogue during the war and shot dead by the members of the Arrow Cross. It was decided after the end of the war to establish a memorial to the murdered Jews and headstones were erected with the names of the victims.

A walk through the Jewish district beside the Great Synagogue gives an impression of what the ghetto must have looked like. It is unfortunately very run down as the communists did nothing to rebuild the damaged or destroyed buildings, as was the case in most parts of the country. After the fall of communism in the 1989 Hungarian revolution, the remaining Jews began to enjoy a renaissance in Jewish life and institutions and were able to reclaim Jewish property.

At the back of the Great Synagogue is a courtyard where stands the Weeping Willow Monument. This stainless steel sculpture by Imre Varga is a representation of a willow tree. Each silver leaf is inscribed with the name of a Hungarian Jew who was murdered by the Nazis. The memorial was dedicated in 1987 and a large part of the money for the project was donated by the film actor Tony Curtis, whose parents came from Hungary.

A little further on into the ghetto is the memorial to Carl Lutz. Lutz was a Swiss diplomat who, as his country's vice-consul, arranged for almost 50,000 Jews to be put under Swiss protection and thus able to go to Palestine in 1944. Even after this date, he continued to forge documents to save Jews whenever he could and he remained in Budapest until the Soviet invasion in January 1945 when he fled with his wife back to Switzerland. Lutz was also honored by Yad Vashem in 1965 for saving more than 150,000 Jews. In 1975, Carl Lutz died at the age of 80.

The other name associated with the saving of Jewish lives is that of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. Wallenberg also worked in Budapest during the war years and risked his life by issuing false passports and safe passage to many Hungarian Jews. After the end of the war, when the Soviets entered the city, Wallenberg tried to negotiate with them to ensure that the liberated Jews were treated properly. The Soviets suspected that he was a German spy and he was called to the Soviet army headquarters in Debrecen in the east of the country. Wallenberg thought that his diplomatic status would protect him, but unfortunately he was wrong and two days later he disappeared without a trace. Wallenberg has also been honored by Yad Vashem for his bravery.

Edgar Asher is with Isranet News and Media Service.

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