Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research in Hungary
The Hungarian government has assumed responsibility for what happened during World War Two and its collaboration with the Nazi government. It is facing its own history. Close cooperation with international organisations is vital for Hungary, therefore it became a member of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research in 2002 during the French Chairmanship, and chaired the organisation in 2006.
| During the Hungarian Chairmanship, the main aim was to further cooperation with member countries, to further the enlargement of the ITF, to lay the grounds for the establishment of a permanent secretariat. It was very important to strengthen the cooperation with other international organisations like the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR), the United Nations, the Conference for Jewish Material Claims against Germany and the Council of Europe. Hungary approached strategically important countries from the South-European region to attend the plenary meetings. As a consequence, some of these countries later gained observer or membership status. In this period of time the Sub-Committee on the "Roma Genocide" was established to further education and research in this topic. |
Education
It might be difficult today for our youngsters to understand what happened during World War Two and to realise that it was not the private operation of a small band of criminals, but that it was rather the climax of a lengthy process. The programmes of the Holocaust Memorial Center aim at helping individuals understand these events.
We understand that the responsibility for what happened must be borne by Hungary's political leaders, its intellectuals and a significant segment of its society. It was not our sin, but we - as a nation - are obligated to confront it. There is no collective guilt here. Nor does it make any sense to talk in such terms. The descendants of people who lived 60 years ago cannot be held responsible for what happened then, but personal responsibility still exists.
We consider that it is our responsibility to remember and to say in a loud and clear voice that the tragedy that took place in 1944 and 1945 was the result of the complicity, envy, cowardice, sinfulness and evil will of thousands of people. We cannot base our study of the past on a refusal to remember and on new lies. We must, therefore, tell what happened in this country 64 years ago. We must tell future generations that, more than six decades ago, Hungarian citizens persecuted, humiliated and murdered other Hungarian citizens because of an evil and groundless ideology. This must be done so that words of intolerance and defamation will never lead to the slamming of freight car doors ever again.
Remembrance
The Hungarian government is committed to furthering education, research and remembrance of the Holocaust. The establishment and official opening of the Holocaust Memorial Centre in 2004 gave us the opportunity to own a place of remembrance and memorial. Since its existence, the centre has established a strong educational programme and closely cooperates with the institutions of the member countries of the ITF.
Research
In the summer of 1849, Bertalan Szemere, Hungary's Prime Minister, threw his political, intellectual and moral weight behind conferring equal rights on Hungarian Jewry:
"There is no religious community that has not produced heroic figures who have fought in our struggle for liberty and which has not produced victims of that struggle. However, you will find it very difficult to think of any religious community that could match the Jews in loyalty and in strenuous efforts on behalf of our national war. The declaration of equal rights is the necessary outcome of our birth as a nation. When we apply this principle to the members of the Mosaic faith, we are not only fulfilling our fundamental civic and human obligations; we are also awarding them the prize they deserve for their patriotism."
