Restored Budapest Jewish cemetery memorials inaugurated – photos

Two restored memorials honouring Jewish soldiers and forced labourers who died in the two world wars were unveiled at the Budapest Jewish cemetery on Kozma Street on Thursday.

Speaking at the ceremony, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said the memorials, restored with the ministry’s support, served as reminders of two defining moments in Hungarian history, the Hungarian News Agency wrote.

He noted that in 1848, the birth of modern Hungary extended the right to bear arms and serve in the military to all citizens, including Jewish Hungarians. Since 1848, he said, being a Hungarian soldier had been not only a duty but a right. He said the memorial stood as a testament to the more than 10,000 Jewish citizens who gave their lives for their country.

Speaking about the concrete sarcophagus memorial to forced labourers, Szalay-Bobrovniczky described the labour service as “above all, a deprivation of rights“, noting that Jewish citizens were denied the right to serve as regular soldiers ever since the birth of independent Hungary.

Andor Grósz, the head of Hungarian Jewish federation Mazsihisz, said both memorials represented “painful yet uplifting chapters” in Hungarian history. “They speak of steadfastness, struggle, and duty, but also of loss, sacrifice, and heroic death,” he said.

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