Published on Jun, 2023
Local tour guide Aron Mozes gave us a truly engaging, factually informative Jewish Heritage tour of Budapest yesterday. He started with a brief summary of Hungarian history, leading into the backstory of the settlement of many Jewish people In Budapest and then the tragic events that befell them at the end of World War II. Living here as an American ex-pat for several years, I have already been on a similar tour, but this one really tied together the historical threads in a meaningful way and opened my eyes to several facts of which I had been unaware. One of those details was the historical reason why all of the church bells ring at 12 noon every day—fascinating! And as another example, though I was aware of the monument to Raoul Wallenberg in Deak Ferenc Tér, this was the first time I’d been introduced to a monument there to another one of the “righteous among the nations” – the non-Jews who helped Jews escape the death camps: the Lutheran pastor Gábor Sztehlo. The stories he told in connection with both men were truly touching. He also showed us a still remaining section of the Jewish ghetto wall, which brought that sad chapter into graphic relief, and in the course of that highlighted the role of the házmester in the residential buildings outside of that wall, and their place in social control under the communist system, including an anecdote from his own personal experience. And in reference to Jewish community life, which is again now thriving in Budapest, he highlighted the importance of discussion and frank consultation and debate, for which a specific space is reserved next to every synagogue. And at the conclusion of the tour, he pointed out one of the famous “mini-sculptures of Budapest”—the old man with the bicycle—which I had seen before but had not understood is actually a portrayal of Theodor Herzl—the Hungarian founder of the modern Zionist movement that led to the foundation of the state of Israel. Aron has a passion for imparting the history of his country to foreign visitors such as my sister and friend, here from the States for the first time…and a knack for making it truly memorable and interesting. Two thumbs up, for sure!
