Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE JEWS OF BUDAPEST
Jews have lived in Hungary since the 9th century AD; Budapest's large Jewish com-
munity in particular steadily contributed to Hungary's scholarly, artistic and commer-
cial progress. After WWI, from which Hungary emerged the loser, Jews were blamed
for the economic depression that followed and the territories lost. In 1920 the notori-
ous Numerus Clausus legislation came into play, limiting to 5% the number of Jewish
students admitted to universities. Jews fared better in Hungary in the lead-up to WWII
than in other eastern European countries, despite Hungary being Germany's ally, but
pressure was put on the Hungarian government to adopt Jewish laws (based on the
Nazi Nuremberg laws) in 1938, 1940 and 1941, which progressively stripped Jews of
property rights, the right to belong to various professions and even to have sexual in-
tercourse with non-Jews.
Following Hungary's occupation by German forces in March 1944, Jews were forced
to wear a yellow star of David and their movement within the city was severely restric-
ted. In July 1944 about 200,000 Jews were moved into 2000 homes within Erz-
sébetváros, which became the main ghetto. Though more than 15,000 Budapest Jews
had already died before the German occupation - worked to death in labour camps or
as service personnel accompanying Hungarian troops - they had managed to avoid
mass deportation. Then, just 10 months before the end of the war, about half of Bud-
apest's Jewish population was sent to Auschwitz and other camps. At the same time,
agents of neutral states were working to save Jews by moving them into protected
houses within Budapest. Nevertheless, the gangs of the fascist Arrow Cross Party, in
power from mid-October 1944, roamed the city in search of Jews, killing them indis-
criminately.
Soviet troops liberated the two ghettos in Budapest on 16 January 1945. When oth-
er Jews returned from labour camps and came out of hiding, it transpired that the
prewar Jewish population of Hungary (about 750,000) had been reduced by about
two thirds. Still, Budapest Jews fared better than their brethren in the provinces, who
were almost all deported to the camps. The Jewish population further dwindled after
the war, due to emigration, but there has been a renaissance of Jewish culture and
music in Budapest since the fall of the Iron Curtain. The Jewish Summer Festival
(zsidonyarifesztival.hu) is a week of music, exhibitions, cuisine and more, with a num-
ber of events held at the
Great Synagogue
. Other important Jewish sites include the
Holocaust Memorial Center
and the traditional Jewish businesses that survive in Erz-
sébetváros, where you can also find a number of kosher restaurants.
But while there has been a revival of Jewish culture in Budapest, there has also
been a resurgence of openly expressed anti-Semitism. In November 2012, Márton
