The Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary – MAZSISHISZ – the country’s EJC affiliate has expressed concerns, following the news that the Israeli non-governmental organization ZAKA had made a probe for the remains of possible Jewish victims in the Danube river in Budapest.
According to historians, thousands of people were shot and thrown into the Danube during the Holocaust. In addition, many people died in the river during the siege of Budapest. Over the next 75 years, their bones most likely dispersed in the Danube and may have hone as far as the Black Sea. Therefore, the effectiveness of such an exploration is questionable.
On 15th April 2016, after extensive scientific work, as well as rabbinical dialogue, the MAZSIHISZ buried the remains that were found at the renovation site of the Margaret Bridge in the Jewish cemetery in Budapest’s Kozma Street.
These bones were found due to a special coincidence. One of the panels of the bridge that had been blown up by the Germans became stuck near the shore and remains accumulated there under the water, whcih made thier identification possible.
Medical technology proved that it is impossible to associate these remains to specific people. The MAZSIHISZ buried the discovered bones into a Neolog cemetery, in accordance with Jewish ritual service and Hungarian Jewish traditions.
The MAZSIHISZ gave the last honors to the victims and took into consideration the individual circumstances of each case with due sensitivity. The coffins including these remains were carried by Neolog, Orthodox and Chabad rabbis, and in the presence of Christian church leaders and representatives of the Hungarian government.
According to a rabbinical statement by the MAZSIHISZ: “Dislocating the resting place of the dead is a complicated and sensitive issue. It is unnecessary to carry out an exploration after possible bones; it insults the calm and dignity of Jewish or non-Jewish dead people who may be found during the exploration. Moreover it breaks halacha.”
The argument which is backing the transportation of the remains into Israel – namely those can be buried according to Jewish traditions only there – neglects relevant halachical considerations and slanders the Jewish diaspora in Hungary. Our community feels dismay at hearing about the exploration in particular the will of transporting the accidentally found remains into Israel.
Considering the abovementioned, MAZSIHISZ President Andras Heisler has asked the Ministers of Interior of both of Hungary and Israel to suspend these explorations, which are totally unacceptable.
