Jewish Quarter of Budapest

The Memorial

Now you are standing in front of the Holocaust Memorial of the Emanuel Foundation (founded by Tony Curtis, a Hungarian-born American actor). This memorial is a metal weeping willow. Names of victims of the Holocaust are written on the metal leaves of the tree. There are also blank leaves, symbolizing the void and drawing attention to the unidentified victims, as there are many victims without relatives to remember them.

Also in this garden is the statue of Imre Varga, which was erected in 1990. The rest of the memorial garden commemorates rescuers.

On the black marble slabs, you can see the names of church and diplomatic rescuers who provided aid through the distribution of various documents of protection like the Schutzpass (protection document) -- a temporary citizenship certificate which was meant to grant state diplomatic protection and prevent the deportation of Jewish citizens. There were neutral states in the world war (eg. Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Vatican) whose diplomats took part in the rescue, including Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, and Spanish businessman Giorgio Perlasca.

On the red marble slabs, you can see the names of civilian rescuers.

These rescuers risked their lives and the lives of their families.


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