Orban Admits Hungary’s ‘Shameful’ Holocaust Role
January 26, 2015Many Hungarians chose “bad instead of good” in helping deport Jews to Nazi death camps, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Monday in his first acknowledgement of his country’s complicity in the Holocaust.
“We were without love and indifferent, when we should have helped, and very many Hungarians chose bad instead of good, the shameful instead of the honorable,” Orban said at a memorial in a Jewish cemetery in Budapest on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp, according to AFP.
The Holocaust was a “national tragedy for Hungary and irredeemable loss for the Jewish community,” he said.
Some 600,000 Hungarian Jews perished during the Holocaust, most deported with the aid of local gendarmerie to Auschwitz after Germany occupied Hungary in March 1944.
Approximately half a million people or every third victim in Auschwitz was a Hungarian Jew.
Unlike Hungary’s president Janos Ader, Orban had not explicitly acknowledged Hungarians’ role in the deportations before Monday.
During events to mark the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust last year his government was accused by Jewish organizations of “whitewashing history.”
The government sparked particular anger by commissioning a statue that honors “all victims of the German occupation of Hungary”, and which shows an eagle attacking the Archangel Gabriel, a Hungarian symbol. Orban denied it was a Holocaust monument.
The head of the main Jewish group Mazsihisz, Andras Heisler, however called Orban’s presence at the service Monday an “important demonstration” that “Jews have been part of the Hungarian nation for centuries”.
Similar posts
-
Israel Has The Most Moral Military In The World
April 10, 2024In the heart of a region often riddled with conflict, Israel stands out not only for its technologi...
-
The Resilience of the Israeli People
April 2, 2024Visitors from around the world have seen Hamas's October 7th Massacre's destruction in southern Isr...
-
Israel: Small Size, Big Impact
March 21, 2024Nestled along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, Israel is a land of immense historical sig...
-
Israelis Are Fighting For Their Lives
February 21, 2024By Jonathan S. Tobin The world looks a lot different from Kibbutz Kfar Aza than it does in the U...
-
Over 2 Million Arabs Live In Israel
January 23, 2024In the complex landscape of the Middle East, where diverse cultures and identities intersect, Israe...
-
'Fauda' Star Idan Amedi Injured Fighting in Gaza
January 8, 2024Despite the severity of his injuries, Amedi's father assured Israeli news channels that his life is...
-
Israel Is A Great Country To Live In
December 28, 2023Nestled at the crossroads of the Middle East, Israel stands as a vibrant and dynamic nation, offeri...
-
Women's Empowerment in Israel
December 15, 2023In recent decades, Israel has witnessed a remarkable evolution in the status and empowerment of wom...