Gusztáv Zoltai, the former Executive Director of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities (MAZSIHISZ) and the Budapest Jewish Community passed away on 19 September 2021, aged 86.
Zoltai was born in born in Újpest in 1935. His parents, Piroska Tusák and Béla Zucker were both killed during the Holocaust. He did not become active in Jewish public until the 1980s, going to become an emblematic figure in Hungarian and European Jewish life in the years before and after the fall of communism, and also went on to serve as member of the Executive Committee of the European Jewish Congress.
He is remembered for his charismatic charm, his kindness, his readiness to empathise, his solidarity for the most vulnerable, and his sense of humour.
The funeral service for Gusztáv Zoltai will take place on Monday, 20 September 2021, at noon at the Jewish cemetery on Kozma Street in Budapest. The eulogy will be delivered by Rabbi Báruch Oberlander.
May his memory be a blessing.