Bitter-sweet story of the Danube
November 20, 2008 11:32Budapest seduces with its beauty - a fairytale castle, ornate fin-de-siecle cafes, a gorgeous stretch of riverfront. And what heartening signs of Jewish life: an 80,000-strong community with more than 20 shuls and an annual festival of Jewish culture.
But seeing Shoes On the Danube, a graphic Holocaust memorial, kills appetite for the pastries which tasted so delicious earlier in the day. Dozens of Jews were dragged to the river in the final months of the Second World War, tied into groups and dispatched into the river with a gunshot. The cast shoes of varying sizes serve as a potent reminder of the zeal with which collaborators rid Hungary of the majority of its Jewish population.
The paradox is not so much the contrast between antisemitic past and tolerant present, but the passion with which Jewish Hungarians embrace a country which brutalised its Jews throughout the centuries.
"Siding with the Axis actually protected Hungary's Jews for most of the war," explains Budapest guide Kati Forras, daughter of native Holocaust survivors. "Yes, there was a lot of antisemitism fanned by the Arrow Cross Fascist party, but Hungary's leader, Horthy, resisted calls for deportations - and was successful until the Germans entered Budapest in 1944."
But yet another paradox emerges: Horthy, a declared antisemite who, after his five years of resistance, stood by as 550,000 Jews were killed by the Gestapo and Arrow Cross, made one final stand, halted the deportations and saved the country's remaining 100,000 Jews.
Raoul Wallenberg and other diplomats played their own part in the rescue effort, but when Horthy was overthrown, no-one could save the 15,000 Jews killed and thrown into the Danube by locals shortly before the Russians arrived.
So why, having had to be wheeled back into the city in a barrow suffering from typhus, did Kati's mother decide to stay? "Like many other Hungarian Jews, my mother was assimilated," explains Kati. "She always felt Hungarian culture was hers too; she loved Hungarian literature and art."
So the teenage survivor stayed. And Kati also sees her future in Hungary.
"I cannot explain what makes me feel comfortable to live here," she says. "I just love this city, its history, architecture, culture, its whole atmosphere.
"Every time I visit the Jewish memorials as a guide, I feel emotional for all the suffering of my parents' generation. But I am aware of how much Hungarian Jews have contributed to the vibrant life of today's Budapest. To me, it's the co-existence of the two cultures, Hungarian and Jewish, over the centuries, that makes the city so appealing."