Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok apologized for his father's role as a Nazi party leader and supporter during World War II at a ceremony held this week in Budapest’s parliament marking 80 years since the Holocaust of Hungarian Jewry. Nearly 600,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
Sulyok, who was born 11 years after the end of World War II, was unaware of the Nazi past of his father, who died about 40 years ago. The Hungarian president said he was shocked when his past was exposed to him. Among other things, the president's father demanded to receive a home after its Jewish residents were expelled from Hungary.
The Hungarian president invited Israeli President Isaac Herzog to attend the event in Budapest; Herzog sent a recorded speech that was broadcast in parliament due to the ongoing situation in Israel.
Israel's ambassador to Hungary, Yacov Hadas, said Hungary did not act like other countries and confronted its Nazi past. According to Hadas, "Hungary takes responsibility for the behavior of its governments at that time toward our Jewish brethren."
Hadas also said that the ceremony in parliament was a very prominent event, at a time when local Jews seem to be living in peacefully in Hungary. "Hungary has a zero-tolerance policy toward antisemitism, the Jewish community thrives without fear, and people aren’t afraid to identify as Jews," he said.
World Jewish Congress Vice President Dr. Andor Grósz also spoke at the event, saying:"The tragedy of the Holocaust is the loss of the future, the growth and prosperity based on human life. The loss still exists today, and the immense pain is immeasurable. According to the Talmud, sin isn’t inherited, today's generations aren’t responsible for the sins of their fathers, but they’re largely responsible for preventing their recurrence.”
He also addressed the Jews living in Hungary today. "Jews live here today in much smaller numbers, but there are still thriving Jewish communities. Those who tried to kill our fathers failed, and this is especially important now, when unprecedented terrorism strikes Israel and the Jewish people.”
Hungary's Chief Rabbi Peter Kardos, said that laws enacted in the parliament during World War II normalized the murder of Jews in Hungary. Kardos read a letter he dedicated to his father, who was murdered by the Nazis.
"Dear father, I’m writing to you today on the 80th anniversary of your murder ... Picture that I‘m standing here in parliament with a kippah on my head and remembering what happened in the past. I’m in the parliament where laws were enacted against the Jews, which means that you, whom I loved so much, were murdered legally. Father, picture how excellent are the relations between Israel and Hungary, the kind that was never seen, and that Hungary stands by Israel despite worldwide antisemitism."