Ambassador
András Simonyi, together with Professor Randolph Braham, Director of the
Rosenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies, and Paul Shapiro, Director of
the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the Holocaust Memorial Museum
of Washington participated in the opening panel of a conference held at
the USHMM and entitled "The Holocaust in Hungary: Sixty Years
Later."
In
his speech, Ambassador Simonyi
emphasized the following points:
14
years after the democratic transition in Hungary, it is high time for
Hungarians to face the darkest chapter of their history, when Hungarians -
with German assistance - deported Hungarians to death camps. Today Hungary
is a strong and proud nation and Hungarians can afford to admit that in
1944 a nation failed and its leaders failed.
Referring
to Mr. Eli Wiesel's opening remarks the day before, Ambassador Simonyi
cautioned everyone against being quick in calling people and countries
"anti-Semitic." Although, like everywhere else, anti-Semitism
exists in today's Hungary, consecutive governments have taken measures
to teach a new generation of Hungarians about the horrors of the
Holocaust. A law was passed during the previous administration to mark
Holocaust remembrance day, and the present government signed an agreement
with the USHMM to share historical documents pertaining to the period. The
Holocaust Memorial Museum in Budapest is scheduled for opening on April
15.
Hungary
lost some 600,000 Jews during a ten-week period of deportations starting
in April 1944. With them, Hungary lost some of its best sons and
daughters, the backbone of the Hungarian meritocracy, said Ambassador
Simonyi. It is our duty to remember those who suffered and died in the
Hungarian Holocaust.
*
* *
Congressman
Tom Lantos and Ambassador András Simonyi paid tribute to Professor
Randolph Braham and Professor István Deák on March 19 by honoring their
outstanding achievements and scholarly contributions in documenting the
Hungarian Holocaust and the history of resistance, collaboration and
retribution of political movements in 19th and 20th-century Europe.
Dr.
Braham is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the
City College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York,
where he is also Director of the Rosenthal Institute for Holocaust
Studies. Professor István Deák is Seth Low Professor Emeritus of History
at Columbia University and a world-renowned expert about 19th and
20th-century Europe.
The
ceremony in Rep. Lantos' office coincided with commemorations of the
60th anniversary of the Hungarian Holocaust in Washington, DC, and New
York this week.
Congressman
Tom Lantos invited his colleagues in the House of Representatives to join
him in paying tribute to Professors Braham and Deák on March 17 and 18,
2004.
Mr. Elie Wiesel speaks at the opening session
of the Holocaust conference
Mr. and Mrs. Dov Zakheim and Amb. Simonyi at
an Embassy reception for conference participants
Prof. Randolph Braham was keynote speaker at
the Embassy reception
Rep. Tom Lantos, Mr. Braham, Amb. Simonyi, and
István Deák in Rep. Lantos' office
