State Secretary Bence Rétvári spoke at the Holocaust Memorial Center about how Jewish culture and community life are thriving in Hungary today, with the foundation being that the community members live safely. He also mentioned that there are two approaches to Holocaust education in the National Core Curriculum: one concerns the Holocaust itself, and the other presents the causes leading up to it. One is for the reparation and remembrance of the victims, and the other, presenting the leading causes, is a ‘security step’ for the future. The goal is for those who learn about this era to recognize the signs previously seen in history around the world, knowing that it did not happen overnight but was a series of steps that led to one of the greatest genocides in humanity,” said Bence Rétvári.

He emphasized the importance of discussing the Holocaust because, over the past two years, mass anti-Semitic demonstrations were held with the permission of authorities in Western Europe. In contrast, no anti-Semitic or anti-Israel demonstrations are permitted by authorities in Hungary.

“In Germany, Israeli flags were burned, and an average of five crimes against Jews occurred daily; in the Netherlands, a Holocaust memorial was vandalized; in London, Israeli flags were torn down, trampled, and burned; in France, shots were fired at a synagogue; and in New York, the number of anti-Semitic crimes doubled,” listed Bence Rétvári.

He added that recently, due to the war, anti-Semitic expressions have become more extreme, and many Western European countries do not prevent them, while decisive action is needed. “They say they are trying to keep these events under control, and we say these events must be prevented,” he stated.

This is also why, according to the Jewish Policy Research survey, Hungary is one of the safest countries in Europe for the Jewish community. “We would like to maintain this,” he said, adding it is important that every community feels safe in Hungary, because “if we make an exception for one, there will be another community that will not feel safe.”

Source: MTI