Raoul Wallenberg Commemoration in Budapest

We must not give in to the temptation to forget, as "common remembrance is the future of all of us," András Heisler, the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary (Mazsihisz), said at a commemoration ceremony on Monday to mark the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Budapest ghetto and the disappearance of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.

András Heisler is quoted by the state news agency MTI as saying that Holocaust survivors "are slowly leaving us, and we are left alone with the duty and the curse of remembrance".

It is the responsibility of the descendants of the survivors not to give in to oblivion, because in doing so, they deny all the suffering of their parents and grandparents, from humiliation and robbery to the extermination of their families," the Mazsihisz president said.

András Heisler recalled that his 96-year-old uncle, who lives in Israel, escaped the Arrow Cross (the Hungarian Nazi movement) twice; the first time thanks to the brave and confident action of Raoul Wallenberg, the second time thanks to the falling corpse of his friends on the Danube bank, which covered and protected his life. He added that his uncle remembers Wallenberg as the bravest man in the world.

"We must always remember" the persecuted and the man who "was able to help in a terrible time", András Heisler pointed out.

The commemoration was organized by the Raoul Wallenberg Association and the Embassy of Sweden in Budapest.

József Sebes, President of the Raoul Wallenberg Association, said that his association, taking into account Raoul Wallenberg's activities and his creed, would like to contribute to the development of a public mindset that judges people on the basis of their personality and not on the basis of their membership of a group – where sensitivity to minorities is socialized and where self-respect and respect for others are inseparable.

He cited among the primary goals of the association the fight against discrimination on the grounds of race, religion and political beliefs as a particularly important objective. He added that they primarily fight against discrimination through cultural events and education, but they also take to the streets to protest if necessary.