Anti-Semitism in Hungary/Austria?
 

Interested in return visit to Central Europe. Desire to visit Jewish sites where family resided pre-Holocaust. Advice?

Advice regarding?

tt

First, we have not been in Hungary in 20 years.

By most reputable accounts there is a great increase in antisemitic sentiment in Hungary, but few violent episodes.

So the questions become, if you are not Orthodox and have no outward signs that you are Jewish, do you want to spend your money in a country where there is high antisemitic sentiment?

While there are many sources to document this sentiment, here is one, click on Hungary.

http://global100.adl.org/

It is the same reason why we will probably not visit France this decade for the first time since the early 1970's.

IDH and others...if you want to avoid even traces of antiSemitism in most of the world, just don't travel...and wouldn't that be inane!

As Menachem Begin once said..."as usual, the next generation of children in Europe will get their antiSemitism from their mother's milk." Deal with it. I do.

Stu, it is not the past but the present I am discussing.

"As Menachem Begin once said"

Was that before or after he murdered British peacekeepers?

IDH has a point, what advice are you seeking?

As my mother said, which fits Tower's response, if you want to avoid antisemitism, don't go anywhere. Hungary and Romania are unlikely to be worse than most of the rest of Europe. After all, the most popular tourist destinations in western Europe have tons of antisemites and have had an increase in antisemitic incidents in the past 10 years.

Wondering if the Begin statement wasn't from Shamir re: the Poles (http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition...thing-1.449177). There are reasons the Poles are portrayed as pigs in Maus . . .

Hungary has the largest Jewish community in Central Europe,
mainly in Budapest. Austria has a small Jewish community, mainly in Vienna. Yes there are anti-Semitic incidents in both countries. But, you may find visiting and connecting with the present day Jewish communities rewarding.

For example, if you go to Vienna, visit the Jewish Museum there and take a tour of the Stadtstemple (City Temple), the only synagogue that was not razed on Kristalllnacht. It is an active Orthodox synagogue beautifully restored and the tours are given by members of the Jewish community.

If you go to Budapest, on the Pest side you can tour the Dohany Street Central Synagogue, and museum. It has been restored thanks in large part to the late actor Tony Curtis(his parents were from Budapest). There is a 5 day Jewish Summer Festival in Budapest at the end of August through the beginning of September with various events/concerts at various venues, including the Dohany Street Synagogue.

Have you checked that the "sites" are still there? Many of the little towns of our ancestors are just plain gone. The houses they lived in? The minute the inhabitants were dragged out their "neighbors" rushed in.

I think 330east raises a good point. Are you sure you'd find what you want to see? Or are you just looking for a general view of the places where your ancestors lived?

Loved Budapest and did not feel antisemitism. Hated vienna...anti semitism was very obvious there

Hi tower! How are you?

Agree tat you will be disappointed in sites. Sadly they are gone

About 10 years ago I visited friends in Budapest and we traveled to the small town where my grandmother's family were from. Far out in the countryside, near the NE corner where Hungary, Ukraine & Slovakia meet, I found the people as kind as they could be and happy to be able to show me all evidence of the former Jewish community, including a woman who guided us through her garden, on through her back fence and into the Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery was overgrown but appeared to be intact, no evidence of vandalism and I had no sense that I was unwelcome, quite the contrary. We were also shown the site of the synagogue, since moved to become part of a museum in another town, and what had been the Jewish school. All this from strangers we met on the street who either directed us or guided us.

If you don't speak Hungarian, I suggest you find someone who does who can accompany you. I don't believe it would have been possible without my Hungarian friend. This was also true when I visited the archives in Budapest to request documents, no English-speakers. Without Zoli I don't believe I would have accomplished anything. I normally get along well language-wise in my travels but in these circumstances I would not have.

Put aside your concern and have a wonderful trip.

fear can be very corrosive

wordsmith1, I live in Vienna and am curious about when/where/how you sensed anti-semitic behaviors?

DH and I often take day trips to small Czech, Austrian, Slovakian, and Hungarian villages for one reason or another, and on occasion we come upon a synagogue, often repurposed as a museum or performance venue. On most occasions we will be asked if we are looking for family records if there is someone about; we haven't encountered any untoward behaviors. Just a data point.

As someone who is not Jewish I would really like to learn exactly how anti-semitism was so "obvious" in Vienna and exactly what I missed. I ask this question because I like to at least feel I am aware of such and I do not like the harm that it does <B>to all of us</B> so how about a few more specifics?

Jews are not the ONLY travelers who can decide to avoid some places.

I haven't been to the former Eastern bloc but having watched two BBC documentaries on the former Jewish communities, it would seem that there is a deep fondness and guilt about what happened in their area.

The whole of Europe owes Jews a huge debt.

Unfortunately, the state of Israel has done little since 1948 to encourage a feeling of warmth that should be there. Israel has simply compounded anti Semetic feeling instead of wiping it out.

Unfortunately, the state of Israel has done little since 1948 to encourage a feeling of warmth that should be there. Israel has simply compounded anti Semetic feeling instead of wiping it out.__________________________

Do you mean like being invaded by neighboring countries seconds after statehood was granted in an attempt to destroy the entire country. Or do you mean being invaded on the holiest day of the year in 1967 on multiple fronts. Or do you mean that leaders of countries feel free to say in public that Israel should be destroyed.

While I agree that the present administration in Israel has many flaws, you truly do not know the history of Israel.