On May 18, the synagogue in Vác hosted a mercy event organized on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the deportation of the Jews of the city and the Danube Bend.
János Turaithe president of the Váci Jewish Community, was among the guests of honor Bence of Rétvár state secretary, regional parliament representative, Zsolt Marton county bishop of Vác, dr. Tamás Róna the chief rabbi, the president of the Board of Rabbis of MAZSIHISZ, the president of the Magyarhoni Jewish Prayer Society and his entourage, dr. Zoltán Gloviczkithe rector of Apor Vilmos Catholic College, Tamás Pike retired Reformed camp bishop, Csaba Surjányithe head pastor of the Faith Congregation in Miskolc and Vác, Miklós Katonathe director of the Váci Piarist Observation Center, Gábort Raábthe cantor of MAZSIHISZ’s regional group in Central Hungary, Imre Zsoltthe head of the Dunakeszi Traffic Office.
– The Vác ghetto existed for a relatively short time, the evacuation order arrived on the fortieth day. On a rainy morning, everyone was led out to the ramp of the railway station and transported to the Monor brick factory area, to the collection point in Pest County. From Monor on June 25 and 26, the Nazis were taken directly to Auschwitz in two train sets, where upon arrival the sick, pregnant women and children were directly gassed, and those able to work were either worked to death or taken to the Russian front by Hungarian and German troops in front of them they were used as bulletproof vests or driven to the shaft locks. In the end, 90 percent of the more than 3,000 Jewish population of the Vác region was exterminated in the hells of Auschwitz-Birkenau, in the labor services and on the Russian front. Today we remember them – said János Turai about the sad past.
Bence Rétvári, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, the region’s parliamentary representative, emphasized: every such occasion is a call to take care of our fellow human beings at all times, because human life is the most important value.
“The government intends to do everything for the safety of the Jewish community, it considers it important that all Jews feel safe in Hungary,” said the politician.
According to him, at such a local commemoration, when life stories and street names are spoken, distant numbers become nearby tragedies, which, according to him, amounts to a call that the protection of human life should be considered a primary value and task at all costs.
County Bishop Zsolt Marton – mentioning that he had come to the synagogue for the first time in his current capacity – first changed the chief pastor’s headdress to a kipa, and then gave a speech of a non-academic nature, but testified about his relationship with Judaism.
– Already during my childhood in Maglód, the Israelite cemetery was an important orientation point, we always passed by it on our way to church on Sundays and on our way home from there. Decades later, as a church school student, I was also very interested in other denominations, and I not only got to know our Protestant brothers, but I also once had the opportunity to go to the synagogue in Zugló. Péter Kardos the chief rabbi was the minister there at the time, with whom we were later invited guests on a radio show. As a student priest, when I was a kind of student leader for the little priests, we decided that we also wanted to know as much as possible about Hungarian Jewry, and in the year of the millennium we invited József Schweitzer chief rabbi, who came among us with great joy and we spent a nice evening together. Later, as a priest educator, I took my students twice to the synagogue on Dohany Street, where we attended services. At that time, I developed a very nice friendship with an old woman, László Bíró the bishop’s secretary was Mária, from whom I also learned a lot about Judaism, she also hid during the time of trouble, she escaped with her parents, she once said that after their daughters, they really wanted a boy, but in the end she remained the adopted boyhood, which honored her , the prayer book I received from him is an important treasure of mine – he gave an account of the bishop’s personal connections.
Finally, he ended his speech with an apology, saying: “Now, on this gracious event of commemoration, allow me to say that although I have nothing to do with the people who committed the atrocities here in Vác, since there were certainly among them those who were baptized and called themselves Christians held, I do not agree with what they did then. That is why I am now doing what several of my predecessors have done, by apologizing on their behalf, although I know that the past cannot be nullified by apologizing, I am ashamed that if there were such Christians, so to speak. At the same time, I am pleased that the president of the religious community also mentioned our rescuers, since one of our faith’s characteristics is the acceptance and embrace of those in need of help.”
Dr. who led the funeral ceremony together with cantor Gábor Raáb. Chief Rabbi Tamás Róna concluded with the idea that if the community could commemorate each individual Holocaust victim here with a one-minute silent march, they would have to stand for more than two days, bowing their heads in tribute to the memory of those who were abducted and murdered.
Zoltán Ribáry/Danube Bend Region
