Hungary’s prime minister urged Parliament to issue a “zero tolerance” manifesto against hate
speech. Ferenc Gyurcsany made the plea Monday during a speech
on Holocaust Memorial Day.
“We know that anti-Semitism and racism paved the way for the
Holocaust, the most inhumane event in our history,” Gyurcsany wrote in
the manifesto, which he read aloud to Parliament. “We warn those who speak of their
responsibility, just as we warn those who remain silent and turn away,” he said. “This memorial day does not just recall the victims but
those who stood idly by.” On Sunday, Gyurcsany joined Jewish leaders
on a torch-lit march through Budapest to begin commemoration of Holocaust
Memorial Day. The march went from the Holocaust Memorial
Museum to the Dohany Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Europe. The 100,000 to 130,000 Jews living in Budapest comprise one of the largest Jewish
populations in Europe. More than 70 percent of
Hungary’s pre-World War II Jewish population of 450,000 was killed during
the Holocaust by Nazis and members of Hungary’s fascist Arrow Cross.
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