BUDAPEST, Hungary — On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, a site where countless Hungarian Jews perished at the hands of the Nazis, Tamás Léderer reflects on the enduring lessons of the Holocaust. Despite the passage of time, Léderer, who was born in Budapest in 1938, feels that the events of the 20th century continue to haunt the present, leaving a lingering concern that society has not truly learned from its past tragedies.
Unlike the vast majority of Hungary’s Jewish community, Léderer managed to survive the Holocaust by taking refuge in basements across Budapest. His parents went to great lengths to protect him, even removing the mandatory yellow star from his clothing to disguise their Jewish identity. As International Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed, marking the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet forces on January 27, 1945, Léderer, now 87, expresses his anxiety over the persistent threat of hate-driven violence against Jewish communities and other minorities. “I must not forget,” he emphasizes, recalling the grim fate of approximately 565,000 Hungarian Jews who were lost during the Holocaust. “I live with the fear that a six-pointed star could one day appear on my gate again. It remains an ever-present thought.”
During the Holocaust, the Nazis exterminated roughly six million Jews across Europe, with nearly one in ten of those victims coming from Hungary. Auschwitz-Birkenau alone claimed the lives of an estimated 1.1 million people, predominantly Jews, with around 435,000 being Hungarian—a greater number than any other nationality. Tamás Ver?, a notable rabbi in Budapest, has a personal history tied to these events, having lost numerous family members in the Holocaust. His grandmother, a survivor of Auschwitz, expressed gratitude that her grandson chose to become a rabbi, believing it was crucial for future generations to remember the genocide. “We carry within us the legacies of our ancestors’ suffering,” he shares. “To celebrate Jewish traditions and maintain our cultural identity, we must never allow the memory of their experiences to fade, as it must remain a lasting part of our lives.”
At the onset of World War II, Hungary aligned itself with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, forming a part of the Axis powers under the leadership of Regent Miklós Horthy. Horthy’s government enacted Europe’s first anti-Jewish laws in 1920 as a facet of an irredentist policy aimed at reclaiming territories lost after World War I. To this end, Horthy believed that collaboration with Hitler could facilitate the recovery of lands now part of Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Although Horthy initially resisted German demands to deport Hungary’s substantial Jewish population, he ultimately capitulated following fears that he would shift alliances to the Allies.
In March 1944, Hitler ordered the invasion of Hungary, leading to the extensive deportations of Jews. Within the span of two months, approximately 435,000 Hungarian Jews were sent to Auschwitz from rural areas, many suffering immediate deaths upon arrival in gas chambers. As the war drew to a close, thousands more were murdered by Hungary’s own Arrow Cross party, whose death squads executed Jews and disposed of their bodies in the Danube River in Budapest.
On Monday, Ver? and fellow community members convened at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Budapest to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Ver? led survivors and attendees in reflective prayer, while the center’s director, Dr. András Zima, referred to Auschwitz as “the largest mass grave of the Hungarians.” Ver? emphasizes that for Jews, maintaining the memory of the Holocaust serves as a commitment to preventing similar atrocities in the future. “We are united in our resolve to ensure such events are never repeated,” he asserts.
Nonetheless, Léderer, who now creates art from his residence near Budapest, remains skeptical about Hungarian society’s acknowledgment of its past. He believes there is a reluctance to confront the legacy of Hungarian collaboration with the Nazis, leaving an unresolved stain on the nation’s conscience. “It’s only a question of time before society reaches a point where hatred will once again find fertile ground,” he warns.
