Hungarian Minister of
Cultural Heritage István Hiller conducted a
series of negotiations in Washington on November 5-6. Minister
Hiller met with Earl Powell,
Director of the National Gallery, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), the management and curators of the Hirshhorn
Gallery, and Warren L. Miller, chairman of the United States
Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, a federal
agency tasked with encouraging the preservation of documents, memorials, and
cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the former Soviet Union.
Minister Hiller signed
an agreement in the Holocaust Museum between the Hungary and the United States
("Agreement between the Government of the United States of
America and the Government of the Republic of Hungary on the Protection of
Personal Data Contained in Hungarian Archival Holocaust Materials
Transferred to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum"), with
museum director Sara Bloomfield signing on
behalf of the U.S. The agreement is a landmark in bilateral relations and brings a fruitful end to a year-long
series of negotiations. Mr. Hiller and Ms. Bloomfield also discussed plans
to commemorate the 60th
anniversary of the deportation of Jews from Hungary in April 1944.
On November 7, Mr. Hiller
signed and agreement of cooperation with the Committee for Hungarian
Education in North America aimed to help Hungarians living in North
America preserve and promote Hungarian traditions, culture,
language, and art.
