Dr Csaba Latorcai, Deputy State Secretary for Priority Social Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office delivered a speech at the Uránia National Movie Theatre on the Memorial Day of the Victims of the Hungarian Holocaust. This year the memorial day fell on Saturday, and bearing in mind the laws of the Jewish faith, the commemoration was held today. The film Dawn Fever by Péter Gárdos was shown in the cinema as part of the event.
In addition to the pain of mourning, the film proclaims the value of human life above all. In defiance of the inhumane dictatorships of the 20th century and at the expense of our efforts as well as those of our grandparents and parents, we succeeded in regaining our freedom 26 years ago. As a result, the task has fallen on us to equally alleviate the wounds caused by the Holocaust, the World Wars and totalitarian regimes, and to remedy them as far as possible. After the dark decades of oppression, we could only embark on this enormous job 26 years ago, even though it should have started in 1945. Communist leaders used every possible means to prevent the revival of Jewish communal and religious life, and during the decades of dictatorship they even nationalised a significant proportion of the assets of the survivors who returned from the death camps. Consequently, those who benefited from and used these assets often became the leaders and servants of the oppressive communist regime. In a number of cases, they even transferred these usurped assets to their heirs.
It was with a view to healing these historical wounds that the Government of Hungary initiated a bowing of the heads before the victims of the Holocaust in 2014 and a tribute to the victims of the Gulag in 2015, while this year is a memorial year dedicated to commemorating the 1956 revolution and freedom fight.
Thanks to the measures of the Government, Jewish culture is thriving in Hungary today, and everyone can proudly profess their Jewish identity. They need not fear that they could sustain any disadvantage or atrocity on this score, in contrast to a number of countries in Western Europe.
Mr Latorcai pointed out that it is our joint responsibility to make this corner of the world which God has entrusted to us prosperous: by paying our respects to the innocent victims and the heroes who saved human lives, with faith in the future and in the Creator, and by uniting our efforts.