In the framework of this program, student groups led by a teacher from each of the 7 schools got to know each other, each other‟s culture, language and re-ligion, European values.

They commemorated the victims of the Holocaust by reconditioning an aban-doned Jewish cemetery, and learned about the people who saved lives.

The participating schools were: Vasa Real School (Stockholm) from Sweden,

Lauder – ORT School (Sofia) from Bulgaria, the Jewish School of Helsinki from Finland and the American Endowment School (Budapest), Patrona Hungarie Catholic Grammar School (Budapest), Saint Bazil Greek Catholic Educational Center (Hajdúdorog) and the University of Jewish Studies from Hungary.

The aim of the period from January to May was for students to learn and do

research about their national and religious culture in a creative way and show it to the others, to get to know and discover as much as possible about the values and priorities of the European Union.

Following the common preparation, 12-20 of June a 10-day camping was or-

ganized in Hungary. During the first half of the camping, the student groups from ‟Babel‟ reconditioned the Jewish cemetery of Székesfehérvár, and involv-ing local inhabitants remembered Jewish life before the Holocaust and arranged a commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust in Lovasberény.

In the second part of the program in Hungary, the group stayed in Budapest getting to know the city, its Jewish sights, and historically and culturally im-portant places.

As this period included the weekend as well, was a good opportunity to get acquainted with each other‟s religion and also to commemorate the Righteous among the Nations.

Students edited a magazine of the time spent together, the knowledge gained and the experiences they had working together. With the help of these materi-als back in their countries, in their own communities, they can spread what they learnt during the project.

Let‟s see our main educational target points! Our priority was to guide the 14-16 year-old participants and to turn them into that kind of real European citizens who can become tolerant towards the minorities and ready to make discussions and cooperation with them through personal experiences, friend-ships and also to make them be able to learn as much as possible about oth-er cultures.

According to the subsidy provider European Educational Audiovisual Cultur-

al Agency‟s highlighted goals, this program helped to strengthen the unified intellectuality of the upgrowing generation based on the cultural diversity and on the common values as the historical and cultural identity and helped acceptance of the lingual diversity and also the communication between the different cultures.

Our program joined to the European Year of Volunteering 2011 and to the celebration of the Europe Day (9 May).

We could find not marginal skills too, like competences which are going to

improve as means during the project work: English language usage, cooperative skills, IT skills, artistic abilities, identi-

ty, communicative skills, strengthen and deepen the responsibility for the traditions, the cultural and historical heritage.

We believe that our project was successful in all terms, and the participant

teachers and students enriched with a lot of knowledge, personal experienc-es and they can share these with their communities.

We also hope that the participating teachers have established strong coop-eration throughout the project and it will result in further co-working.

This booklet containes all the articles that the students wrote for the

magazine, the posters that they made and lists of thoughts and knowledge that they collected in different groups during the enrichment programmes, photos documenting the common work in the cemetery and the good atmosphere of the common time.

“Det judiska högstadiet” at Vasa Real may be unique in the world and it is a wonderful way to show how a dynamic, varied and tolerant Jewish education system for teenag-ers can exist in Stockholm. We form a school within a school -giving multiculturalism a structure and preparing our pupils for the outside world after the shelter of Hillel School which is the junior School for pupils until they are 12-13 years old. The uniqueness is the fact that we have a unit within a state school structure. The Jewish classes learn together most subjects but are integrated in Maths, 3rd language and science with other pupils. This project gives us a great opportunity to work with two such classes together. Our schedules include general subjects such as Swedish, English, Maths, Sciences, so-cial studies, as well music, arts and crafts, sports and many others. Our pupils have the opportunity of learning up to four different languages. We have Hebrew as a compulsory language for the Jewish pupils in 7th grade but from 8th grade it is optional and we can even offer it to the other pupils who attend our school. Many of the Jewish pupils continue with Hebrew which is great. The other lan-guages which can be learnt in our school are Spanish, French and German. Pupils who have another mother tongue than Swedish are also offered lessons in their home language so we even have Rus-sian, Arabic, and many others too. We work well with Paidiea, the Jewish Institute of higher education in Stock-holm, Stockholm‟s Jewish Museum and of course the Jewish Community in Stockholm. We are very proud of our pupils‟ results when grades are compared and many of our pupils enter the Upper secondary school of their choice. Later on there are many who are successful at further education and some are accepted at secondary schools and then later on universities abroad.

Ricky David, Helena Lewin and the pupils of Vasa Real!

I go to the Jewish School of Helsinki. My school is different than all the other schools, „cause we study special subjects: Hebrew and Jewish religion. Our school is connected to the community center and the synagogue. We also have a kindergar-ten called Gan Jeladim. We start our school day with assembly that includes a prayer. We have five or seven lessons a day. We celebrate some Jewish holidays at school. We usually have special programs for the holidays. We are split to different groups where we work together. It‟s very fun and exciting. It‟s a nice way to get to know other students from differ-ent classes. Our school is very small so everyone knows each other well. School food is very good because we only eat kosher food. At Fridays we have a special Shabbat lunch. We light the candles, bless the wine and the bread. I think it‟s a very nice thing to do, so that everyone will learn all the prayers for Shabbat. I have been here since kindergarten. So I have been here for 10 years. I like it here, we get a good education and we get to know other Jewish kids. Our teachers are very nice and fun. I‟m going to miss this place a lot, I still have two years in this school and after that I go to high school.

Lia I go to a orthodox Jewish school in Helsinki. It‟s actually the only Jewish school in Finland yet we only have about a 100 kids. Oh yeah! Helsinki is the capital of Finland so its close to everything. The shopping malls, operahouse, theater and hockey arenas. We pray every weekday at 8:30 before the classes starts. We have 5 to 7 lessons a day (mostly 7 :/ ). We have some longer days than normal Finnish school because we have Jewish religion and Hebrew as extra subjects. The best thing about our school is the free kosher lunch! They say that we have the best school food of entire Finland. We also celebrate the Jewish holidays at school. On some holidays we don‟t need to go to school and we get a few days off. But of course, we have to do those days in on Sundays. I‟ve been here for almost nine years and I‟ve had my good and bad moments but overall this school is totally worth it.

Daniel

My name is Daniel Taig and I am 12. I am from Sofia, Bulgaria. My school Lauder – ORT is called School N134 “Dimcho Debelianov”. Dimcho Debe-lianov was born in 1886. He was famous Bulgarian poet who died in World War I – 1916. This year I am 6-th grade. We have classes in the morning. School usually starts at 7:40 am and finishes at 1:30 pm. Students go to school six days a week. We have five or six classes every day. Students in my school must wear a uniform. I study English, Hebrew, Math‟s, History, Geography, Bulgarian, Computer Studies, Art, Sports and more. My favorite subject is P.E. I am very good at football. After school students can go to clubs like chess club or practice sports. We play basketball, football and chess. They are very popular. My school is the only school in our country that we can study Hebrew. It is very interesting school for me.

Dany Hebrew education Authentic materials – Hebrew newspapers, magazines, satellite Israeli TV Curriculum – Tall Am, Tall Cela, Diburim, Diburim Diploma from The Jewish Agency Jewiish identity programs Provided by The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation with cooperation of AJJDC and the Jewish community Iom Sababa – Friday afternoon activity Shabaton for families Hallah for home School for par-ents Jewish Holidays Summer camps

Our school is a girls only school located in the heart of Budapest, within the reach of several important cultural spots such as the National Theatre, the Palace of Arts and the Museum of Applied Arts. The school is a Catholic institution run by the Notre Dame School Sisters, and comprises an Elementary School (six years of education) and a Secondary Grammar School (6 years of education) with about five hundred pupils

altogether. The school welcomes children from all denominations, but most of our pupils are Catholic. Some of the teachers are sisters. The school offers boarding to pupils who are not Budapest residents, so we have pupils from all parts of Hungary.

According to the pedagogical traditions of the School Sisters classes do not have special curricula, which means that all school subjects are taught in all classes. However, the curriculum comprises Religious Education, Latin language and culture and Music (each pupil has the possibility to learn one or more musical instrument). We have a renowned choir that welcomes all pupils.

The school’s spiritual life is marked by the fact that pupils pray together with their teachers several times during the day. We celebrate all religious and bank holidays: classes take turn to organise performances for the entire school. The shool offers a course of ballroom dancing each year, which ends with a celebration to which friends and family members are invited. The school’s pedagogical programme includes the aim to familiarize pupils with other religions and the culture of the neighbouring countries. I go to Patrona Hungariae in Hungary Budapest. The school is near to the Danube. This river devides into 2 parts the capital of Hungary. It is a religious (Roman Catholic) school so we pray everyday before and after the clas-ses and we learn religious studies too. We celebrate catholic holidays like Christmas, Easter and the Day of Theresia mother, who was the holy order‟s founder. It is a boarding school, but I live in Budapest so I don`t stay there. It is a single-sex high school with about 300 students. We have generally subjects: Literature, Grammar, Maths, History, Physics, Biology, for-eign languages (I learn English, Latin and Spanish), PE, Art and Information. We have usually 7 lessons a day. We have a ton of homework everyday but it broadens my hori-zons and knowledge. I have been going in my school for 11 years and overall I like it.

Anna Ferenczy

My name is István Rása. I was born in Miskolc in 1995. I live at 24 Móricz Zs. Street Szakoly. Our family is rather small. I grew up with my little brother. I live with my parents. I get on very well with my parents. I attend St. Basil educational center in Hajdúdorog. I live in a student hostel these days. I go home every second week. In my freetime I watch films with my friends or I go out to the town. I like chatting with my friends. I also like playing poker in computer or in rallity. I realy like action and thriller films. My favourite films is Batman: the dark knight. My favourite actor is Heat Ledger and actress is Angelina Jolie. I very like reading. I read every book what i can. My favourite book is the godfatther what is written by Mario Puzo. I also like Harry Potter and Darren Shan books. I like sports. If I have some free time i often play football and basketball. I like music. I only listen to rock music. I think a lot of my farther study. I always want to work on computers, so I intrested in I.T. I'm Petra Lakatos. I'm sixteen years old. I'm from Hungary. I attend to Saint Basil Educational Centre. I live with my parents in Hajdúdorog.My family is rather small. I have got an older sister. She's twenty years old. She studyes at University in Debrecen. In my freetime I like reading, listen to music, and watch movies. I like AC/DC, Snow Patrol, and Bruno Mars. My favourite movies are Batman: The dark Knight, Ray, Dirty Dancing 2, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and  Twilight Saga. I also like hang out with my friends. I like playing football or basketball. I love

animals. I have got three pets, two dogs and a cat .

I go to American Endowment School in Hungary Budapest.The school is in the heart of the city. It is on orthodox Jewish school. Our school is special because it is a religious school. We have special subjects: Hibrew and religiouse education (RE). We pray everyday after the first lesson. We usually have six or seven lessons a day and we have same subjects as other schools. So we study Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, English, Hingarian, History, Music, PE, Art and Information Technology. We celebrate Jewish holidays at school , for example Roshasana ( New Year),Chanuka and Purim. When we celebrate Students and Teachers work together and the programs have a good atmasphere. There are only a small number of students at school but that is why our school is really friendly and family-like. I only came to this school in September but I like it very much because we have good teachers ,we feel good at school ,we know each other well and we stick together.

Fanni Petrik

We are a relatively small institute with a few, but very enthusiastic students and teachers. This is an orthodox Jewish religious endowment school as you can read about it in our introduction by the headmaster’s, students’ and the teachers’ side. Highlighted areas of our educational program: Our everyday schedule includes morning prayers, RE and Hebrew lessons from the first grade. We focus on Jewish traditions and celebrate our holidays. Certainly we also teach general subjects which are taught in every school. There is an opportunity to attend a special Year Intensive English Learning Class and our Grammar School or a Vocational Training in Catering. We take a very good care of our visual and musical education. Our art teacher is a contemporary textile artist and she guides special museum lectures. Students regularly are taken to exhibitions. We have a relationship with the Educational Department of the University of Jewish Studies. Therefore their students can practice and visit lessons in our school. We are very proud of our results at competitions in Math, IT, History and Judaism. Our students are successful at further education. Some of our students are accepted at Israeli Universities and in other foreign countries.

The participants arrived from the different schools and countries and gathered at the camp on Sunday 12th June, 2011.

In the beginning it was strange because the children didn‟t know each other and making contact was difficult. However thanks to different games and activities plus the fact that we had to live in the same room with children from other schools and countries – the ice was broken quickly.

Some adapted to the working conditions quicker than others. There were some smart kids who managed to get electrical saws which helped even more.

On Tuesday we met Peter Roth, the mayor of Szekesfehervar, who was very grateful for the work we were doing. We found out later that Judit Javor‟s father is the head of the Jewish community in Szekesfehervar and their family and friends were very touched that the abandoned graves of the people who had lived there before were being restored respectfully by Jews and non-Jews working together.

On Wednesday we finished the work in the cemetery in Szekesfehervar and could enjoy a trip in a dragon boat on the lake. There was spontaneous water fighting which the teachers didn‟t appreciate but the kids had fun together and we could see that the strong friendships were being formed.

On Thursday we had a special memorial service at Lovasbereny. This was because a descendant of Lovasbereny had made sure to restore that graveyard before but it had never been commemorated. Dr Erossne Dr. Nacsa Olga Person responsible for the development of connections in the Ministry of Justice and Administration participated in this service. So our Rabbi Dov Levy led the service where the chil-dren lit candles, read texts and then we prayed together El Mole Rachamim. It was very touching and felt like we had somehow made a bridge with the past to repair the broken link which was caused by the Holocaust.

We arrived in Budapest on Thursday afternoon and since then have been able to relax a little. Eating our breakfasts and lunches at Masoret Avot, the American En-dowment School and sightseeing Jewish and non- Jewish sites in the city. We also went to three different synagogues and saw the diversity of Jewish and non-Jewish life in Budapest. Janos Halasz, minister responsible for the Parliament con-nections in the Ministry of Human Resources met the group there.

This trip has enabled us to make new friends, learn new things and have fun while we were made to feel that we were doing something important for the people who had lived here in the past.

12. June Noon: Welcoming guests in front of the school and at the airport, transportation to Ve-lence Evening: CAMP OPENING, introduction, program review, games, team building, songs from home

13. June Morning: Cemetery work in Székesfehérvár Afternoon: Sport activities Evening: Bible Quize

14. June Morning: Visit to the Townhall of Székesfehérvár, meeting with the major; Cemetery work Afternoon: Holydays in different religions; Dragonboat Evening: preparation for the commemoration

15. June Morning: Cemetery work Afternoon: Language quiz; Swimming in the lake Evening: Art & Craft

16. June Morning: Commemoration in Lovasberény; Travelling to Budapest

English Finnish Swedish Bulgarian Hungarian Ivrit

Hi Moi Hej Zdravei Szia שלום

Good morning

Hyvää Huom-enta

God Mor-gon

Dobro utro

Jó reggelt בוקר טוב

Good evening

Hyvää iItaa

God Kväll Dobar vesher

Jó estét

ערב טוב

Stone Kivi Sten Kamik kő אבן

One Two Three Four

Yksi, Kaksi, Kolme, Neljä

En Två Tre Fyra

Edno Dve Tri Chetiri

Egy, kettő, három, né-gy

אחד

שתיים

שלוש

ארבע

Summer holiday

Kesäloma Sammarlow Liatna vakancia

Nyári szü-net

חופשת

קיץ

1) Who made the” lacrosse” goal for Finland in the hockey world champi-onships? a) Tuomo Ruutu b) Mikael Granlund c) Mikko Koivu 2) Which finnish band won the Euro-vision song contest 2006? a) Lordi b) Indica c) The Rasmus 3) What two languages are spoken in Finland? a) Finnish and Russian b) Finnish and English c) Finnish and Swedish 4) Which mobile phone brand comes from Finland? a) Nokia b) Samsung c) Motorola 5) What´s the capital of Finland? a) Tampere b) Lahti c) Helsinki 6) What´s the biggest lake in Fin-land? a) Laatokka a) Saimaa c) Baikal 7) What´s the highest mountain? a) Mount Everest b) Halti c) Saana 8) When did Finland become inde-pendent? a) 1809 b) 1945 c) 1917

9) Who is the current president? a) Urho Kekkonen b) Tarja Halonen c) Martti Ahtisaari 10) Where do Finns bathe regulary? a) In the sauna b) in a pool c) They never bathes! 11) Which was Finland’s currency before Euro? a) Krone b) Pound c) Markka 12) What sea is near Finland? a) the Atlantic Ocean b) Mediterrian Sea c) Baltic Sea 13) What´s the population of Fin-land? a) 6, 5 million b) 2 million c) 10 million 14) What´s the biggest lake in Fin-land? a) Laatokka b) Saimaa c) Baikal 15) What´s the highest mountain in finland? a) Mount Everest

It is a very small community with not more than 50 people included the Jewish people living not only in the city but also in the surrounding towns and villages. Most of them are old people. There are hardly any children or young. They have services only at the greater holidays. At those occasions, they invite a rabbi and a cantor from Budapest. Even this way, it is dif-ficult to gather 10 men. They have serious personal and financial problems with keeping the cemetery clean and tidy permanently. Sometimes they get donations from emigrant Jews from all over the world, but it is enough only to care for the tombs of the relatives of the donators. The whole cemetery last was cleaned about 20 years ago. That‟s why this program is extremely important for the community. There is nobody who can do this work for them. They are very grateful to the children and their teachers for having done such wonderful job.

They greatly appreci-ate what have been done.

Judit Jávor

There was a welcome of the submayor in Székesfehérvár for the Swedish, Bulgarian, Finnish, Israeli and Hungarian students in the town hall organized by the American En-dowment School. The youth explored the town, tidied the Israelite cemetary and moreo-ver they held a commemoration in Lovasberény. As the principal of the school Sára Sugár announced, they had won the support of the European Union’s subprogramme „Europe for Citizens Programme” Active European Remembrance" and that is why they could invite fifty students from the above mentioned countries. We had two targets- she said- one of them is that in the name of the „active rememberance” they could take an active part in learning the stories of the people who had passed away and care for their memories. The other aim was to get the students know about each other’s religions, culture and languages through personal relationships. In my opinion both of our ambitions were successful. As we got to know the students who arrived in Hungary – after the prework at the beginning of the year- they took part in a 10-day camp programme which contained some tidying work in the Israelite cemetary and on Thursday they commemorated the victims of the Holocaust in the cemetary of Lovasberény. Then the programme continued in Budapest with visiting religiously important or culturally notable locations and exhibitions. When welcoming the delegation, Peter Róth said it was a great pleasure for him that the students had come to Fehérvár with this noble aim and that they enriched the town with their work. Also the fact that they visited Lovasberény, was very important for him for personal attachment. He thanked everybody for their work already done and to be done

later, and the endowment school for organizing the programme. He wished for everybody to keep the coronation town in their memor ies with nice experiences and new friendships.

Székesfehérvár Online

The story of the Jewish Community of Lovasberény There are several hundreds of abandoned Jewish cemeteries in Hungary. It is one of the bitter inheritance of the Holocaust. Of course there are positive examples as well: there was a miracle in Lovasberény. In Lovasberény there were Jewish families since Turkish times and by 1830, one third of the current population were Jews.They had their own synagogue,

cemetery, school and shops and in the first part of the 18th century they set up their own Chevra Kadishah. Chevra Kadishah is one of the most ancient Jewish institution. Its duty is to organize funerals according to religious orders, and there were about 1300-1400 funerals here. The terrible 20th century arrived and took everything important from the small community. In 1930 there were 30 Jewish souls

in Lovasberény and in 1944 they all vanished, all the inhabitants became the victims of the Holocaust: they were executed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. There was nothing left of the once significant community. The small synagogue was empty as a sad memento and then in 1949 it was demolished. In the year 2000, a decent man, Istvan Csíkvary, a vet, who was born in Lovas-berény, came to visit his home-village, and he was sad to find the cemetery abandoned. He decided to set up a foundation for the cemetery. His thoughts were followed by actions, and actions were followed by success. It seemed as if there was some help from up there: doctor Csíkvary managed to collect a significant amount of money from which he could set up more than 600 tomb-stones and a fence around the cemetery. The renovation of the cemetery was also supported by MAZSIHISZ ( The Federation of Jewish Communities of Hun-gary), the local government, the agricultural union of Lovasberény and also in great proportion by the Catholic Conference in Germany. The Jewish cemetery of Lovasberény, the resting place of about 1300-1400 people can be visited again!

Extract of an interview Students of the American Endowment School have been making interviews through the scope of a European Union project with survivors of the Holocaust. The following extract is from one of these interviews. ’Well, I can tell you this to remember that man. He wasn’t a Jew, he was just a wonderful man. I can even remember his name. It was before 1944 but my father had been taken to labour-service and my mother was left alone. In came a young soldier, who knew how hard times we were having, and he was the hero.’ Interviewer: ’Where were your parents born? When and where did they die?’ ‘My father, he died there. We were freed on 4 May, 1945.That was the last phase. The camp was in the middle of a forest and it was all mined. It was a huge wooden camp. We slept without bed-clothes. And it is all decided up there. Because G_d is the one who decides. The commandant of the camp showed him that as the battle-line was coming closer whether they were Russians or Americans – because only they could free us – he should have blown up the whole camp. He was supposed to do so but he didn’t. He must have thought that if he didn’t do so, he could stay alive and we could stay alive too, innocent people. So we were freed on 4 May, 1945 and went into the small town and we were taken there. As we were going on the main road, four children and two parents, people admired us. They asked how we survived and if we could stay together. Four children and two parents. They were admiring us. We were freed on 4 May and my father – may he rest in peace – passed away on 25 May. He remained there, he is there. His tomb is there, he is buried there. We visit his tomb if my sister Annuska comes from Canada – may G_d keep her – she lives there and when she comes, we go there. The tomb is in a Catholic cemetary, we were given a burial place there. About 1300 people are buried there, at least 80% of them unmarked. Those who got to know that their relatives were there were allowed to We were allowed to bury them in a Catholic cemetary. I must say, whenever we go there, it’s a marvellous thing. The cemetary is kept so tidy – I don’t know who is responsible for it, whether it is the town or the caretaker of the cemetary, but they keep it so wonderfully tidy and neat, you can’t see a stub anywhere. Now we had a tombstone made for my father, only a modest one as big ones are not allowed. Everybody who got to know that they have a relative or husband buried there – may they rest in peace – had a small tombstone made.

The story of the Torah Scroll of Lovasberény The Torah scroll was found somewhere near Lovasberény at the end of 1944. It was wrapped around the leg of a Hungarian soldier to protect his wounded leg. He knocked on the door of the father of our priest who was a priest himself and asked for some water. The priest offered him a seat and saw that his leg was wrapped in some strange material. He noticed that the piece of paper soaked in blood was covered with Hebrew letters. The priest told him that he would give his own shirt instead of the Torah scroll to wrap his leg into and asked him to hand the Torah scroll over to him. And that is how it happened. The soldier disappeared

Active European Remembrance in the Summer Camp

Peter Breuer, Halljad Izrael – 17 June, 2011, Hungarian State Radio In the 17 June programme of Halljad Izrael (Listen Israel), Breuer Peter talked to Sara Sugar, principal of the American Endowment School in Wesselényi street. ’Students from the Jewish schools of Wesselényi street, Helsinki, Stockholm and Sofia, Patrona Hungarie Grammar School and the Greek Catholic School of Hajdú-dorog are camping in Székesfehérvár. The camp is supported by the European Union and it is a part of the Active European Remembrance programme series. The aim of the project is to enable students to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust by means of actions so first they are trying to clean up the Jewish cemetery in Székesfehérvár from the unwanted vegetation, then there will be a commemoration in the Jewish cemetery of Lovasberény’- said Sara Sugár, principal of the American Endowment School in Wesselényi street.

and no one knows what happened to him. This piece of the Torah scroll remained with the priest whose son showed it at the reopening of the cemetery. The scroll that consists only three columns. Whenever I see something like this, I try to find out whether these extracts have a message for us.

16. June Evening: Sightseeing tour in dark in Budapest

17. June Morning: Participation on the closing ceremony of the schoolyear at American Endow-ment School Afternoon: Holocaust Documentation Center Evening: Friday evening service in different synagogues, common dinner

18. June Morning: Free time Afternoon: Sightseeing tour in the Historical Jewish District of Budapest Evening: Righteous of the World

19. June Morning: Sightseeing tour in Budapest Afternoon: summarizing the project, making posters, CLOSING, farewell

A short history about the Jews in Hungary Jews have been living in Hungary since 11th century. In 19th Century some anti-Semitic

parties rose to power in Hungary. They suggested some laws that they wanted to impose the Jews. But the laws never went through and the Jews fought on the Hungarian side in

the First World War. Around 10,000 Jews died in World War I, however the Catholic Church

in Hungary didn‟t consider this sacrifice worthy of protecting the Jews against the anti-Semitism that grew afterwards.

The Jews were the largest minority group in Hungary and most of them were integrated into Hungarian society before the First World War. There were wealthy bankers, intellectu-

als but also the majority who were poorer, industrial or rural workers.

Jews immigrated to Hungary from Poland, Galicia and other areas of central Europe. There was a wide variety of social and religious backgrounds and economical factors that make it

difficult to say that there was a homogeneous group. However before the Nazi took over, Jews made up over 23% of the population of Budapest.

The Catholic church in Hungary influenced policy affecting Jews negatively. Religious anti-Semitism had existed for many centuries, in principle, ever since Christianity began, and has

been especially prominent in the Catholic Church.

The Hungarian Jews were not affected by the Holocaust as early as in many other places such as Poland, but by 1938 Jews slowly but surely lost their rights. They were publicly

classed as a race and even before this, anti-Semitism was widespread in the country, even if it not been as open and acknowledged. Anti-Semitism in Hungary became more open and

accepted as it was in the rest of Europe.

In 1939 Hungary introduced laws that came to resemble the Nuremberg Laws and in 1941, some years after the Jews' rights deteriorated, the first major assaults on Jews began.

During World War II Hungary participated in the Axis powers, however the leaders who ruled Hungary, refused to deport Jews from Hungary. Hitler eventually lost patience and the

German troops occupied Hungary. That is why Jews were relatively safe until 1944 when

Germany took over Hungary. Horthy decision to discuss peace with the Allies was another factor that made Hitler chose to march into Hungary. That's where it got really difficult for

the Hungarian Jews and mass murder begins. Miklós Horthy was deposed after the country was taken over and the Jews were forced into

ghettos and the systematic extermination began in March 1944. More than 430,000 Jews from Hungary were deported during the months of May to July 1944, most of them directly

to Auschwitz and taken into the gas chambers. The outside world protested when the de-

portations started, because they knew then what happened at Auschwitz. In late 1944, the then government was aware of Soviet encirclement of Hungary and the

local bandits, who had power over all ghettos terrorize the Jews just as they had before, but sometimes even worse.

This continued until the Red Army marched into Budapest, liberating Hungary and finally

the Jews' suffering ended. Approximately 550,000 of Hungary's 825,000 Jews had been murdered.

After World War II, Communism took over Hungary which improved conditions for the vast majority of the country. Soon after terror factors to ensure political stability were targeted

against all citizens who opposed communist rule. The Soviet Union now controlled in Hun-gary and a majority of the 120,000 Jews who survived the Holocaust in Hungary left the

country, with the help of, among other things, the white buses.

The white busses brought survivors to Sweden and saved many lives. However unfortunate-ly some of the survivors were in such bad shape that they didn‟t live long enough to enjoy

their freedom and were buried in nameless graves such as in the graveyard in Norrköping in Sweden.

However many more survived and created families who enriched Swedish Jewish life, keep-ing the HungaThe outside world protested when the deportations started, because they

knew then what happened at Auschwitz. In late 1944, the then government was aware of Soviet encirclement of Hungary and the local bandits, who had power over all ghettos terror-

ize the Jews just as they had before, but sometimes even worse. This continued until the Red Army marched into Budapest, liberating Hungary and finally the

Jews' suffering ended. Approximately 550,000 of Hungary's 825,000 Jews had been mur-

dered.

A short history about the Jews in Hungary By Sarah Beg, Stockholm, Sweden

Rauol Wallenberg Raoul Wallenberg (August 4, 1912 – July 17, 1947?) was a Swedish humanitarian who

worked in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Between July and December 1944, he issued protective passports and housed Jews in

buildings established as Swedish territory, saving tens of thousands of lives.

On January 17, 1945, he was taken into detention by the Soviets after they entered Bu-dapest, and was reported to have died on July 7, 1947 while in their custody. The cir-

cumstances of his death have long been in question, with some disputing whether he died while in Soviet detention.

In 1981, Congressman Tom Lantos, among those saved by Wallenberg, sponsored a bill

making Wallenberg an Honorary Citizen of the United States. He is also an honorary citi-zen of Canada, Hungary, and Israel. Israel has also designated Wallenberg one of the

Righteous among the Nations. Monuments have been dedicated to him, and streets have been named after him throughout the world. A Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the Unit-

ed States was created in 1981 to "perpetuate the humanitarian ideals and the nonviolent courage of Raoul Wallenberg". It gives the Raoul Wallenberg Award annually to recog-

nize persons who carry out those goals. A postage stamp was issued by the U.S. in his

honor in 1997. With the money raised by the board, Wallenberg rented 32 buildings in Budapest and

declared them to be extraterritorial, protected by diplomatic immunity. He put up signs such as "The Swedish Library" and "The Swedish Research Institute" on their doors and

hung oversize Swedish flags on the front of the buildings to bolster the deception. The

buildings eventually housed almost 10,000 people. Wallenberg intercepted a trainload of Jews about to leave for Auschwitz.

By: Amina and Klara from Stockholm, Sweden

Bulgarian group

The Bulgarian group from the Jewish school in Sofia is glad being part of this pro-ject. We are grateful about all the work we have done. Although we would like this camp to become a tradiotion. We think that the work in the cemetary was really important. We were also very happy to visit the mayor. We think that the projects we did are very useful for the world tolerance and we hope to be in them again. It was nice meeting new people during the camp. We will always remember this camp and hope it will continue in the next years.

Swedish group We arrived at a camp in the Hungarian countryside. There were people from Finland, Bulgary and Hungary. Everybody started to get to know each other. An assignment everybody got during this camp was to cut trees and bushes to make a cemetery

nice. The assignment took three days, and about three hours per day. It felt good to make the cemetery nice to respect those who died before the 2nd world war. The heat in Hungary was great. But it was quite humid. Later on we were on a ``dragon boat” and we were the ``engine”. But it was great. Alot of people were Jewish. Now we are in a nice hostel. We are in the middle of Budapest. I’ve learned from this trip that

anybody can do a good favor, as long as you are willing to help. And we made a cemetery nice because others couldn’t.

Shai

In the beginning no one knew each other, but when we left we were all friends. When you carried those branches at the cemetery you could feel the fellowship between us all, even though we came from different cultures and different religions. From this journey to Hungary I take a lot of memories with me home. For example: on one evening we had a gigantic waterfight. The Swedish, Finish and Hungarian people divided into two teams and the fight was on. We made little holes in our bottle-lids so that we could spray water through that little hole. After the waterfight we were all wet. Not a single person was dry I think. Another memory is pretty silly actually. We played football on the first hostel in Velence yard. We were about three to five people. Then suddenly someone accidentally shot the ball up ont the roof. We left and pretended that it had never happend. On the breakfast the day after the head of the security came into the dining hall and said:

- You, you, you and you! Come with me.

And pointed to me and three other people that had been playing football the day be-fore. We went outside with him and he said:

- That ball you were playing with, it‟s got to be back before breakfast is over.

We had to carry a ladder to the roof where the ball disappeared and go up and get it. It may seem a bit wierd but it was a funny memory which I think I will remember for a long time.

Jacob

I do not believe in any religion so this was quite interresting to experience. I learned for example that jewish people all over the world know at least some hebrew and that most jews sing food prayer songs. They sing their songs on hebrew. Jewish men/boys wear small hats called kippa. They wear them when they eat breakfast and dinner. The very religious ones wear kippa all the time. Most Jews go to a Jewish temple called synagogan. In the synagogan girls need to wear long skirts, to cover their legs and shoulders or alternatively girls can wear a dress. Boys can wear anything but they do need to wear a kippa which girls do not need to wear. In fact, girls never wear a kippa because they are not allowed.

Alfred

Finnish group: We Jewish students from Finland feel that the trip has been amazing. Revealing the graves from bushes, leaves and trees was a really hard work but rewarding. The unknown graves got their names and respect back. We feel really happy that we had the chance to come here! We got new friends and we really hope we can keep in touch. Thank you for this amazing trip!

Lia, Frida, Saara, Dekel, and Jonatan

Patrona Hungarie: The camp was so great. Every day we went to the cemetry. In this cemetry there are a lot of people who died in the Holocaust in the II. World War. While we were

cleaning the cemetry we could meet people who came foreign contries. We could work together. Every afternoon, after the lunch we had a freetime. After that time we played in international groups. In the evenings we had more freetime and we had time to talk each other. I think we felt ourselves really good. I hope that our new friendships will be sustained.

Lexi, Gréti, Anna, Zsuzsanna Kata-lin, Alexandra, Tünde

St. Basil School:

The camp was a superb opportunity for us to get to know each other's culture,

history and religion better. The common work in the cemetery made us a real team.

We could experience that we can carry out wonderful things together. The time we

spent together provided us with

the opportunity to develop our

English. We could at the same

time study Bulgarian, Swedish

and Finnish. Our accomodation

was located on the coast of Lake

Velencei, a beautiful sight opened

up in front of us every day. We

could try the dragon boating on

the lake and we could swim of

course on the first day of cam-

ping. We may regard it as a form

of developing knowing ourselves

better since our problem-solving skills improved, all of us have become more

independent. I think this is a memory that everybody will remember with pleasure

later.

Judit,Petra,Dóri

American Endowment School: We were working in the cemetery on Wednesday with our teacher, András Csáki. It was difficult to do the job because we didn't have enough saws to work with. There was a fire station behind the cemetery so we went there and asked for a chain-saw. It made our work much easier!

Márton Török The programme was very good. Working together made us a real team. I think everybody will remember this with pleasure.

Benjámin Lamperth

Teachers of the American

Endowment School

Bakos Judit

B. Csernyánszky Katalin

Csáki András

Dan Dániel

Földvári József

Jávor Judit

Klein Anita

Levi Dov

Paskesz Chava

Polonkainé P. Krisztina

Róna Artúrné

Steiner Oszkár

Szilágyiné Buzsáki Rita

Tóth Brigitta

Zaletnyik Anna

Zima András

Group leaders:

Violeta Vladimirova (ORT-Lauder School, Sofia, Bulgaria)

Helena Lewin (Vasa Real, Stockholm, Sweden)

Ricky David (Vasa Real, Stockholm, Sweden)

Tiina Tvlento Itzkovitz (Jewish School, Helsinki, Finnland)

Sheila Weintraub (Jewish School, Helsinki, Finnland)

Pálóczi Enikő (Saint BazilEducational Center, Hajdudorog, Hungary)

Vörös Károly (Patrona Hungariae School, Budapest, Hungary)

Gubis Csaba (American Endowment School, Budapest, Hungary)

Technical staff of the Ameri-

can Endowment School

Bleier Gábor

Fonó Róbert

Goldmann Kálmánné

Hammermann Péter

Jäger László

Kauteszky Laurel János

Kertes Mária

Máté János

Rosenberg Ágnes

Szirmai Anikó

Project manager:

Sara Sugar (American Endowment School, Budapest, Hungary)

Bulgarian Group:

Daniela Dimitrova

Daniell Tahor

Aglaya Lenkova

Daniel Taig

Samuel Frances

Georgi Dimitrov

Teodor Todorov

Finnish Group:

Lia Goresh

Dekel Menashe

Jonatan Shaya

Saara Weintraub

Frida Mitzner

Swedish Group:

Henrietta Cahn

Jacob Cahn

Amina Bradanc

Klara Lewin

Alfred Stenborg

Shai David

Elinor Sinita

Sarah Beg

Hunngarian Group:

Lefter Viktor

Török Marci

Lamperth Benjamin

Dudás Ferenc

Szöllősi Dávid

Forrai Tibor

Petrik Fanni

Vácz Kamilla

Ferenczy Anna

Berdefi Tünde

Vincze Gréta

Hagyó Katalin

Hagyó Zsuzsanna

Gömöri Lexi

Fejér Dóra

Zoványi Judit

Lakatos Petra

International Cooperation Project

conducted by Masoret Avot- American Endowment School,

with 4 countries – 3 religions – 7 educational institutions,

supported by the European Union

Project Taub