On Sunday at a Holocaust commemoration in front of the House of Terror Museum in Budapest, Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog said that hate cannot be the foundation for building a country – either in Budapest, Tapolca, the northern Borsod region of Hungary, or anywhere.
Mr. Balog said that racial hatred can only lead to wrong answers. He said that Holocaust commemorations should strengthen inner freedom – leading to freedom of thought against any worldly power – which teach us that all of humanity stems from the same bloodline.
He added that such a stand – which under a dictatorship can bring with it the risk of death – requires inner freedom. Mr. Balog said that while the culture of Holocaust remembrance is alive and the topic is debated in its human rights aspects, nowadays Christians are being killed for their faith, Jews are slaughtered in broad daylight and Hungarians are being imprisoned on the periphery of Europe.
Mr. Balog said that extreme parties “offering false answers based on race or class” are making headway in many European countries. He said these organizations seek to present an acceptable image, but cannot offer any real answers.
Speakers at the commemoration event also included Mária Schmidt, Director of the House of Terror Museum, and it was attended by politicians, public servants and leaders of NGOs.