Budapest had a special meaning for me.....I have been told that my Great, Great Grandfather was a rabbi in Budapest.
Until 1895, Jews were not given many rights in Hungary. They couldn't vote or own property.....but they still managed to build the largest temple in Europe with a population of 700,000 Jews.
Hungary at the turn of the century was a very wealthy nation. They celebrated the 1000 year anniversary of the cities of Buda and Pest....and built the first subway system in Europe. They also decided to end the discrimination against the Jewish people and declared full rights to all Jews.
With all that history, I decided to take the tour of the Jewish temple, cemetery, and the former Jewish ghetto....I was overtaken with emotions...hearing of the horrible treatment from the Turk wars and Hungarian governments over the centuries....Near the end of WWII...many European Jews fled to Hungary in a hope to escape the Nazi death camps....Unfortunately over 600,000 were slaughtered on the banks of the Danube river or sent to concentration camps to work as slave labor and death as part of Hitler's "Final Solution".
During the war, Hungary sided with the Nazi's, so many European synagogues sent their Torah's to Budapest for safekeeping. In 1944, the Nazi's took over Hungary, and used the Temple as a horse stable. A brave Hungarian woman smuggled the Temple's religious artifacts and the (25) hand written Torah's and burred them in the Budapest library basement for safekeeping. The Nazi's plan was to destroy the temple and kill the remaining Jews....but a few days before it was destroyed, the Soviets invaded and drove the Nazi's out...
Although there are great stories of escapes and some fantastic acts of bravery to save thousands of lives, most of the Jewish population were murdered during the war. After the war, many of the survivors left Hungary because they wanted to escape the horrible memories and start a new life. The remaining Jewish population have worked to restore the temple as a monument and museum. Unfortunately, other nearby temples sit vacant because there is no money to restore and not enough Jewish population left to use them.
The Orthodox temple down the street is an unsafe structure, with the roof collapsed....and bullet holes still left in the walls from the Nazi's.....During the Communist regime from 1956 to 1990....many building were untouched because of lack of money and the uncertain policies of the communist government....The war has been over for (60) years.....but the remaining Hungarian Jews are resolved to re-build!
I really fell in love with Budapest....the food, people, history, shopping, and historical sites make it my favorite European city! Hungary has joined the European Union and it's economy is switching to the Euro....it is alive and thriving with Capitalism and Tourism....
Hungary has re-built after losing every war they have fought.....a civilization that has finally learned that war has no winners...after losing to the Turks, WWI, WWII, and the Communists....the survivors must wonder how advanced their culture would have been if it wasn't for all the destruction from wars.....as I sit in my hotel room watching CNN and the Hezbollah terrorists firing rockets at Israel...I wonder why they haven't learned the lessons?
Killing and destruction has no positive outcome..... What did Castro achieve for the Cuban people? What about Arafat? Hitler? Pinochet? Sadam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, Pol Pot in Cambodia, or the dozens of blood thirsty opportunistic that have killed millions throughout Africa? Just a lot of dead innocent women, children, and dreams.
Now we have mad men like the DICTATOR AND SCUMBAG PROPAGANDIST in Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, trying to get nuclear weapons.....Declaring to the world that his goal is to eliminate all Jews.....Where is the world outrage?
I do believe that this is the beginning of WWIII.....A small group of extreme fundalmentalist have hijacked the Muslim world...and feed it Anti-Western world hysterical propaganda through web sites, Mosques, schools, and TV stations....
There economy has 20% un-employment....maybe because they dont have a tourism industry...and they blame there problems on the West.....These extremists have blown up hotels, embassies, airplanes, resorts, trains, subways throughout the world....For the most part, the West has been "inconvenienced" by added security and some of our rights being stripped away....but these extremists will not stop....and it looks like we are headed towards an all out war unless moderate Muslims and new Western leaders (forget about the closed minded Bush regime) can develop common ground to build new peaceful relationships.
Please click the link...and read the article by Alan M. Dershowitz
http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23823
Our tour guide told us that there are are now (84) McDonalds in Hungary and she remembered during the Communist days (less than 20) years ago....how there was very little food on the grocery shelves and very little selection....she also remembered waiting in line (6) hours to try a McDonalds hamburger and fries....... Budapest is a shining example of prosperity and success driven by Capitalism and Democratic Free People.....
Unfortunately, I don't see the pudgy Hezbollah leader ever managing a McDonalds or driving a Taxi in Amsterdam...Too bad our cold war CIA hit squads were disbanded by the Democrats...we could use them!
http://www.seebudapest.com/budapest-history.html
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