It is hard to believe that we have reached the end of this epic adventure. This, our final day of touring started with a free morning for us to sleep in a bit and explore Budapest on our own this Shabbat morning. Leasa and I chose to go to the central market, looking for local souvenirs we could bring home with us as a reminder of our time in Budapest. Apparently many others in our group had the exact same idea because we ran into most of our group while wandering the crowded aisles of this HUGE market.
We then went to a local Christmas market (again with many in our group) to experience this taste of local flavor. To be honest I had never heard of a Christmas market before but enjoyed the spirit of the upcoming holidays, especially in front of this beautiful cathedral.
We then met as a group with Agi and Ron and walked through Liberty Square, first stopping at the Memorial for the Victims of the German Occupation.
There are two sides of this memorial, one made by the government (ordered by Victor Orban in 2014) and the other brought forward by the people as a protest by citizens outraged at the falsification of history manifested in the monument. The people’s protest suggests that the monument declares that the Hungarians have no responsibility in the deportation and murder of almost 500,000 people, mostly Jews, but also gypsies, gays and dissidents at nazi death camps.
At first, the government would take down the people’s protests, but, after a while, because of the persistence of the Hungarian people, the government stopped removing items recognizing that new pieces of the protest memorial would appear as quickly as the government could take down the old ones. I am so glad they allowed for these to remain as the people’s memorial is way more personal and meaningful than the governmental memorial. It also shows the power of the people, even in a government when people feel that they have no political voice, their persistent cries have been heard.
We walked by the US Embassy, a statue honoring US President George Bush (senior) and US President Ronald Reagan, as we made our way towards the stunning Parliament Building.
How amazing to see this impressive structure close up, and we discussed more of the political atmosphere in Hungary with the current government in power.
Our next stop was one that I have been waiting for. Quite honestly, the whole reason I chose to bring our group to Budapest was to be able to see this memorial, the Shoes on the Danube, a memorial to the victims shot into the Danube river by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944-45. This memorial which was erected in 2005 is, perhaps, the most impactful memorial I have ever seen. It is simple, empty shoes on the banks of the river that represent the many people whose nameless grave lies somewhere in the strong current of the river below. The only thing left of these victims are these empty shoes, each telling a different story of a victim that deserves to be remembered. Who did these shoes belong to? What was their story? What were their passions? Were they in love? The tragedy grows as the questions multiply.
We gathered as a group for a brief moment to memorialize what’s we were seeing. Ron lit a memorial candle on behalf of us all, and, after singing a prayer for peace, I asked everyone to find a single shoe that they will take on as “their shoe.” My hope is to take the enormity of the memorial down to one specific story, one specific victim. Much like when we are at the Western Wall in Israel and we each pick a stone in that wall that is “our stone,” finding “our shoe” is a way of personalizing the overwhelming tragedy. I found so many shoes that I connected to, especially seeing many with yellow ribbons following the October 7 attack on Israel.
The memorial is powerful, but the amount of people visiting the memorial was also powerful. There were crowds that made it difficult to get up close to the shoes. So many people to remember, and so many people remembering. It was a powerful moment in a line of powerful moments on this trip.
Leaving the memorial we headed back to the hotel for a discussion with a Gibor Gyori, senior political analyst at the Hungarian think tank Policy Solutions, who tried to, in a very short time, paint an overall picture of the political scene in Hungary, and also shed light on the historical Jewish story there.
There was so much information shared I had a hard time keeping up. We learned that Hungary has a history of being occupied and that has impacted their view of their own history. Their national anthem, when translated to English, talked about how terrible history has been for them. There is a sense of being oppressed. He also spoke of how they have not made good political choices. For example, in World War 2, they intentionally chose to ally themselves with the Axis powers, allying themselves with Hitler, and when they changed directions, he occupied and brought the Holocaust to Hungary.
He spoke of how their Prime Minister Victor Orban seems to get more conservative year by year. There have been many amendments to the constitution since 2010, small changes that together add up to huge changes. Some of these changes have been to laws that work in the government’s favor, gerrymandering and the like that gives the ruling party advantages that many deem unfair. There have been changes to institutions, like the Central Bank, for example, which was always not connected to the government and now it is. There have been changes to the media so the government controls who has access to the airways and who can broadcast, literally shutting off the feeds for those that stand in opposition to the government. There have been changes to the judicial system that benefits the government, rather than serving as a way of checks and balances. The government has also replaced people in power with those who support the government, even choosing people with little to no experience. He gave an example of how Orban shut down the largest newspaper that was critical of the government, even though it was profitable.
Gibor spoke of how early on, the Jewish community in Hungary began to speak Hungarian and assimilated at a very high rate. As Jews got more and more educated, the government started to limit access to higher education. He shared that in the 1920’s the antisemitic sentiment was stronger in Hungary than it was even in Germany. Whoa. Hungary adapted a. German style of anti-Jewish policy that brought about a lot of restrictions for the local Jews, eventually leading to the mass deportations in 1944. The Hungarian Holocaust was so fast because it was the Germans and Hungarians acting together in cooperation. And after the war ended, communism had its own antisemitic policies because the government felt that the Jews held too many influential positions. He did share that there has been less antisemitism under Orban because he chooses to focus on anti-Muslim and anti-refugee policies. He continues to pull funding from organizations that are critical of him and he has been successful in dividing the Jewish community between Chabad who supports him and others who do not. In his eyes, a liberal Jew is a bad Jew. He sees himself as a defender of Christian Europe. All of these facts paint a difficult picture for Hungarians, especially liberal Hungarian Jews who must have a “plan b,” according to Agi and others we have spoken with during our trip. What would it take for us in America to feel like we need to have a “plan b?” While this is an extreme question, the political divide we are experiencing now might lead to such conversations.
Our final event of the trip was a dinner cruise on the Danube River, for one last evening together before heading our separate ways and heading home. We took advantage of the time together to reflect on some of the meaningful moments and how this trip has transformed us. We had our second Havdallah of the trip, this time recognizing that we are separating this trip from the rest of our lives. Each of us has changed because of our experiences, both collective and individual, and we take those changes with us as we walk away from this experience. We discussed how together, we are the Havdallah candle, so much stronger as a community than we are as individuals. This trip was impactful because we experienced it together, and it would not have been so meaningful if we were traveling on our own. Following Havdallah we went up on deck to enjoy the view of Budapest one last time before saying good-bye.
We hope to be together again when our Holocaust Torah arrives back in Thousand Oaks, and we, together as a community during Shabbat can place her in her space in our ark, after making her journey home.
Communal travel is not always easy, but it is such a meaningful way to experience moments. Whenever I see someone from this trip in our sanctuary at TAE, I will make eye contact with them and recall how we experienced unique moments together. We are forever connected because of this trip. As I write this final post for the TAE in Europe 2024 blog, as our plane soars across the skies to home, I am already thinking of the next communal adventure we will take. Will you be ready to go on a journey with me or the rabbi? I certainly hope so, so we can connect with you like we have connected with those who have traveled with us in the past.
I will hold the memories of this trip forever, meaningful moments too numerous to count. Thank you all for joining us virtually on this journey through this blog. I look forward to sharing more about our experiences with you when we are back home.
No comments:
Post a Comment