The newly elected Board for the Jewish Heritage Public Foundation of Hungary, established by the Government of Hungary in 1997, held its ceremonial first session on 23 May, 2012. The Board had to be renewed so as to encompass the entire range of Hungarian Jewish communities and because too many members of the Board lived abroad, which caused difficulties in its operation.

The session held today marked the end of a year-long legal procedure and negotiations, as a result of which the Public Foundation can now effectively operate without any obstacles.

At the ceremony Tibor Navracsics, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice & Public Administration, emphasized that the Jewish community is a respected and highly regarded segment of Hungarian society. It is a duty for all of us, the Deputy Prime Minister pointed out, to affirm that Hungary is a home for all decent people. The original mission of the Board is still in place, yet it needs to be explored „what added value” the Board can provide. The Jewish Heritage Public Foundation of Hungary, through keeping its traditions and culture, can contribute to Hungary remaining a culturally diverse country in the future as well. The ideas of tolerance and inclusion must be apparent in the work of the new Board. At the end Tibor Navracsics handed over the letters of appointment to the members of the newly elected Board and Supervisory Committee for the Jewish Heritage Public Foundation of Hungary.

Head of the Board György Szabó stated that aim of electing new members was to create complete transparency, and their objective is to bolster the international relations of the Public Foundation. They also intend to „reconsider the utilization of the real estate” of the Public Foundation. He condemned the recent brutal defilement of Raoul Wallenberg’s statue in Budapest.

Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén sent a letter to the participants of the event, in which he stated that, among others, it was the task of Jewish Heritage Public Foundation of Hungary to reorganize Jewish community life, to promote the preservation of Jewish identity and to provide support for Holocaust survivors.

The Government of Hungary established the Jewish Heritage Public Foundation of Hungary in 1997 in order to comply with the obligations defined in the Treaty of Paris of 1946. The aim of the Jewish Heritage Public Foundation of Hungary is to reorganize the education, the religious and cultural life of the Jewish minority as well as to promote Jewish identity and to provide assistance to those in need.

Hungary declared 2012 as a Wallenberg Year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg’s birth. Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat, rescued tens of thousands of Hungarian citizens during World War II. The Wallenberg Year is intended to foster the values of tolerance and cooperation, while calling attention to the dangers of exclusion and discrimination as a lesson of the past.

The Government of Hungary has adopted several measures to sanction anti-Semitic criminal acts, and it has passed legal regulations to punish the public denial of the Holocaust. The Government provides the guarantees for all ethnic and religious minorities to live in peace and security in Hungary.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)