Minister of State János Lázár held a two-and-a-half hour meeting with representatives of Hungarian Jewish communities today, within the framework of the Roundtable of Jewish Communities. Following the event, he addressed the press at a doorstep press conference.
The Roundtable, which meets every two months and includes, amongst others, representatives of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary (Mazsihisz), the Jewish Heritage of Hungary Public Endowment (Mazsök) and the EMIH Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation, holds regular meetings with government officials.
Mr. Lázár stated that the meeting’s agenda focused mainly on issues regarding cohabitation and cooperation and touched only partly on problems. The parties debated without negative feelings, voicing their opinion in a constructive and respectful manner. As signalled at the beginning of the event by participants of the Roundtable, the meeting focused on three issues: Veritas Research Institute Director Sándor Szakály’s recent statement regarding Kamenec-Podolsky, the planned Holocaust Memorial and European Education Centre in Józsefváros and the planned monument to commemorate the victims of the German occupation.
Mr. Lázár emphasised that his role was to consult with the representatives of Jewish communities on these issues and he will inform Prime Minister Orbán about the different opinions voiced at the meeting. The Prime Minister will carefully consider every aspect of these issues and will make a decision next week, he added.
He pointed out the Hungarian Government wishes to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust together with Hungarian Jewish communities and the recommendations voiced at today’s meeting will be considered in light of this. He stated that it is important to unravel the events of 1944, in order to clearly determine responsibility.
Regarding the planned Memorial and Education Centre in Józsefváros, Mr. Lázár underlined that the Government aims to establish this centre together with and not in opposition to the Jewish communities. Without their support, the project would be meaningless.
Touching upon the planned monument commemorating the victims of the German occupation, Mr. Lázár pointed out that it would be a falsification of history to deny that Germans and Hungarians were together, both responsible for the deportations. The crimes committed by the Germans do not diminish the crimes of the Hungarians involved either actively as perpetrators or passively as bystanders.
Mr. Lázár highlighted that the recently published findings of the Action and Protection Foundation on anti-Semitism in Hungary in 2013 were presented by Professor András Kovács from the Central European University and also discussed by the participants at the meeting.
(Prime Minister's Office)
