I was invited to participate in a Jewish heritage press trip to Budapest, Hungary. During this trip, I experienced the most amazing and unforgettable city filled with rich history and exotic beauty. Budapest is considered the most sophisticated of all central European capital cities and is often referred to as “the Paris of the East.” After being there for a week, I now understand why. Upon our arrival, we were welcomed at the five-star historic luxury Corinthia Budapest Hotel. Beautifully restored for the new generation of travelers — truly a hotel to experience.  The Corinthia Budapest Hotel is an impressive landmark building located in the city’s heart with great bars and restaurants, spacious rooms, and The Royal Spa, which offers spa treatments and a jacuzzi, and a sauna for your ultimate relaxation.

Corinthia Hotel Budapest- New York Jewish Travel Guide

ROYAL SPA- New York Jewish Travel Guide

The beautiful city of Budapest is Europe’s third-largest Jewish community, with approximately 100,000 Jews. Jewish history dates back to Roman times, and Jews have always played an outstanding role in the city’s economic, political and cultural life. Today, Budapest has many fine synagogues, kosher restaurants, and Jewish schools. The unique Dohany Street Synagogue, the most impressive and largest in Europe, stands next to the moving Holocaust Memorial, dedicated to the over 600,000 Jews who perished during the Nazi reign of terror. The Jewish Museum has a wealth of artifacts and documents relating to Jewish history in Hungary. Budapest is definitely one more pearl strung on the Danube necklace, a vibrant metropolis offering warm hospitality and an abundance of Jewish interest. The city is famed for its distinctive art nouveau architecture incorporating colorful Hungarian folk motifs. Some of the outstanding examples of this style are the Applied Arts museum on Ulloi ut; the Gresham Palace on the Pest side of the Chain Bridge – now being converted into a deluxe hotel, the buildings on and around Szabadsag square, including the Postal Bank on Hold St., and the Theater on Paulay Edy street.

Things to See and Do in Budapeste

SYNAGOGUES

Visiting the Old Jewish District in the historic heart of Budapest, a narrow, triangular, and busy area. Walking through the quarter’s streets, you can witness the history of the Jews of Hungary and Budapest. But if you observe closely, you can discover today’s life, too.

The Great Synagogue:  Dohány Street Synagogue

The Dohány Street Synagogue, also known as The Great Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, is a historical building in Erzsébetváros, the 7th district of Budapest, Hungary. It is the largest synagogue in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It seats 3,000 people and is a center of Neolog Judaism. The Dohány Street Synagogue complex consists of the Great Synagogue, the Heroes’ Temple, the graveyard, the Memorial, and the Jewish Museum, which was built on the site on which Theodor  Herzl’s house of birth stood

Dohány Street Synagogue- New York Jewish Travel Guide

Jewish Museum

The Jewish Museum was constructed on the plot where Theodor Herzl’s two-story Classicist style house used to stand, adjoining the Dohány synagogue. The Jewish Museum was built in 1930 in accordance with the synagogue’s architectural style and attached in 1931 to the main building. It holds the Jewish Religious and Historical Collection, a collection of relics of the Pest Hevrah Kaddishah (Jewish Burial Society), ritual objects of Shabbat and the High Holidays, and a Holocaust room.

The Jewish Museum- New York Jewish Travel Guide

Jewish Cemetery

In 1944, the Dohány Street Synagogue was part of the Jewish Ghetto and served as a shelter for many Jews. Over two thousand of those who died in the ghetto from hunger and cold during the winter of 1944-1945 are buried in the synagogue’s courtyard

“Gravestones of those reburied”- New York Jewish Travel Guide

Heroes’ Temple

The Heroes’ Temple seats 250 people and is used for religious services on weekdays and during the wintertime, was added to the Dohány Street Synagogue complex in 1931. The Heroes’ Temple was designed by Lázlo Vágó and Ferenc Faragó and serves as a memorial to Hungarian Jews who gave their lives during World War I.

The Heroes’ Temple – The New York Jewish Travel Guide

Kazinczy Street Synagogue – New York Jewish Travel Guide

MONUMENTS TO RESCUERS

This was a very sentimental visit that resonated with many of us. The following are monuments in Budapest to the Gentiles who worked to save Jews during the Nazi occupation by providing them with false papers.

Monuments to rescuers – New York Jewish Travel Guide

In memory of those who had died, there is a memorial by the sculptor, Imre Varga, depicting a weeping willow with the names and tattoo numbers of the dead and disappeared in the Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park. The Raoul Wallenberg Emlékpark ( memory park) in the rear courtyard holds the Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs — at least 600,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered by the Nazis.

“Willow memorial tree” – New York Jewish Travel Guide

Other memorials Among the Nations included:

Swiss Vice-consul Carl Lutz; Giorgio Perlasca, an Italian man who, with a strategic illusion, declared himself the Spanish consul, releasing documents of protection and current passports to Jews in Budapest without distinction (he saved five thousand); Mons. Angelo Rotta, an Italian Prelate Bishop and Apostolic Nuncio of the State of Vatican City in Budapest, which issued protective sheets, misrepresentations of baptism (to save them from forced labor), and Vatican passports to Jews, without distinction of any kind present in Budapest (saving 15,000). He ultimately? saved, with his secretary Mons. Gennaro Verolino, tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II

Kozma Utca Jewish cemetery

This Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of Budapest is located next to a large general and special Catholic cemetery. Since 1891 over 300,000 persons of Jewish origin are buried here. The cemetery is still in use.  Besides the magnificent crypts designed in the early 20th century, there are many other special monuments, including one to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. At this cemetery, many famous Hungarians of Jewish origin are buried, for example, the architect Béla Lajta (1873 – 1920) and Hungary’s first winner of an Olympic Gold medal Alfréd Hájos (1875-1955) 

Kozma utca Jewish Cemetery – New York Jewish Travel Guide

Holocaust Memorial Center

The Holocaust Memorial Center pays tribute to the victims of the Hungarian Holocaust. The complex, inaugurated in 2004, houses a synagogue, a museum, and an inner courtyard with a glass memorial wall dedicated to the over 500,000 victims with their names inscribed on the wall. The museum’s permanent exhibition tells the history of the Holocaust through the stories of individuals in an interactive way. Original documents and personal belongings are on display.

Holocaust Memorial Center – New York Jewish Travel Guide

The Jewish Summer Festival – August through September. With the initiative of the Jewish Community of Budapest, the Jewish Tourism and Cultural Center organized the first festival in 1998, with the central location being Europe’s largest and one of its most beautiful synagogues, the Dohány Street Synagogue. Internationally renowned artists from Europe and around the globe made the festival more and more exquisite year after year, with growing fame, meant for both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. 

The Jewish Summer Festival – New York Jewish Travel Guide

Rachel Raj Flodni – How to make the perfect FLODNI – Traditional Hungarian Jewish CakeRachel specializes in Flódni,  a traditional Eastern European Jewish pastry. Visit the bakery and learn how to make the perfect Flodni – a traditional Hungarian Jewish cake.  Participants will learn how to prepare Rachel’s Flodni traditional family recipe, which contains an abundance of poppy seeds, apples, walnuts, and homemade plum jam.

Rachel Raj Flodni – New York Jewish Travel Guide

Lubavitch of Hungary    

Reserve your  Shabbat dinner by Rabbi Shmuel Raskin and Rabbi Shlomo Koves. You will be surrounded by many invited guests from around the globe with a night full of singing and good food!   Make your reservation – Phone: 36-1-268-0183 –  www.ChabadHungary.com

Hanna’s Orthodox Kosher Restaurant  

Tel:+(361) 342-1072      Supervision: Rabbi Menakhem Adler – Rabbanut Ramat Gan.

Karmel (Carmel) Restaurant.

Kazincy u. 31. Budapest, Hungary  Tel: (++36-1) 322-1834 / Tel: (++36-1) 342-4585

carmel@carmel.hu  Website: http://www.carmel.hu/

To plan a trip to Budapest, call the Hungary National Tourist Office at 212-695-1221 or log on to www.gotohungary.com                                                                                                                   

 For luxurious accommodations  Corinthia Hotel Budapest: www.corinthia.com/hotels/budapest/

Royal Spa photograph courtesy Corinthia Hotel Budapest   

Story & photography by Meyer Harroch  -New York Jewish Guide and New York Jewish Travel Guide. 

The author took part in a press trip sponsored by the Hungarian Tourism Board.