My late father dedicated his final years to writing about the connection between the Holocaust and the Christianity of most Hungarians (Moshe Y. Herczl, Christianity and the Holocaust of Hungarian Jewry, New York University Press, 1993).
He tried to understand how it was possible that during a mere eight weeks in 1944 – when it was already obvious that Germany would lose the war, and despite allocating only 100-200 people to the project – the Germans nevertheless managed to recruit both Hungary’s establishment and its people, and so managed to deport to their deaths almost half a million Jews.
He attributed collaboration with the Nazis to the influence of the churches, and provided many examples of local support. Thus, he quotes the erstwhile German ambassador to Hungary, who said during his trial after the war that if the government of Hungary had not complied with the German request, there would have been no expulsion.
My father spoke little of that chapter in his life. But toward the end of his book, among many academic references and quotes from local press, he described how one small town tortured its deportees.
Before they were loaded onto trains, lime powder was thickly spread on the carriage floors. If the powder, which rose with every step, was not enough, the engineer deliberately jerked the train back and forth. Thus, with burning skin and suffocating throats, my relatives set out on their final journey, cheered away by their neighbors.
How did Israel’s prime minister address such issues during his recent visit to Hungary? Accompanied by his host, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an official statement that sounded as though he were addressing listeners in a distant continent. “A third of our people were murdered in World War II, in the Holocaust.”
Really? Who were the murderers? Did anyone help them? Where exactly did this happen?
After referring to the respective challenges of both countries, Netanyahu added: “It was a question of time when these two histories would meet and begin the great alliance that has now developed.” As though our histories had never met before Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his guest embarked on their courtship to promote “shared values.”
Bringing up the Holocaust in the countries where it happened is not particularly pleasant. I was Israel’s first ambassador to the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Thrilled by their new status as independent countries and relieved to have shaken off Soviet occupation, they tended to ignore their Nazi predecessor, as well as the involvement of locals in the decimation of Jews. Part of my role was to remind them.
There is no need to elaborate on every occasion; depending on the nature of the visit, often a general comment will do. But to ignore, meaning to repress, to deny, as did our prime minister in Budapest? Especially given his high office and even as antisemitism echoes in official Hungary, with many references to “globalists” and so on?
My father arrived in British Mandatory Palestine during Passover 1948, some three weeks before the establishment of Israel, and was recruited to fight that very day. He always felt it was his responsibility toward the victims to publicize the truth about Hungarian collaboration with the Nazis, and focused on that after his retirement.
One can but guess how he would view the blatant concealment of that truth, not from a Hungarian with a denialist agenda, but in the missing words of the prime minister of Israel.
Apropos truth – Netanyahu began his comments saying, “I came here in 1991 as a deputy foreign minister of Israel to reestablish the relations between Hungary and Israel.” But it was Foreign Minister Moshe Arens who reestablished relations in 1989.
One who prides himself on being the son of a historian should be careful with details such as who did what and when, especially when it comes to well-documented Hungarian collaboration with the Nazis, and its consequences.
The writer was Israel’s first ambassador to the Baltic states after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, ambassador to South Africa, and congressional liaison officer at the embassy in Washington. She is a graduate of Israel’s National Defense College.