Holocaust Memorial Center in Budapest

Nishah and I traveled to Budapest for our long weekend and while we've had loads of carefree fun roaming about the city and stumbling upon panoramic sights, we've made sure to set apart time to educate ourselves about some of the troubling past that has helped to shape the modern city. On Friday, we visited the Holocaust Memorial Center and viewed the histories of many Hungarians who were persecuted during the Nazi regime's spread to their then kingdom. I noticed that a large emphasis was placed on highlighting the Roma or Gypsy population who have historically been ostracized in their societies and were also made targets of Nazi activities. I learned that of the approximately 600,000 civilians that died during World War II, about 30,000 of them were Roma. Both Jews and Romas as well as Jehova's Witnesses, mentally disabled persons, and homosexual people were sent to Nazi extermination camps such as Auschwitz. There really was no place in Hitler's Master Race for a beautiful thing called diversity.

One of the exhibits that tugged at my heart was about Mengele's Children, sets of twins who were subject to brutal medical experiments under Dr. Josef Mengele's oversight in Auschwitz. Last fall semester, I wrote a term paper for my U.S. History class about the ethics of using Nazi medical research for modern gains and discussed the opinions of Eva Mozes Kor, one of the twins who was essentially a human guinea pig. Eva and her sister Miriam were born in a Romanian village and at the age of 6, the village was occupied by a Hungarian Nazi armed guard. Their whole family was torn apart at Auschwitz and the twins never saw their relatives again. The women survived crazy experiments like Miriam being injected with viruses to induce heavy fevers while Eva was used as the control. However, Miriam died of kidney complications in the late 90's. One amazing thing about Eva Kor, who has become a public spokesperson, is that she has said that, "It is time to forgive, but not to forget" the horrors of the Holocaust. She has become a point of contention among her community because many people feel that their parents or relatives who died in the Holocaust would disagree with her view.

Eva and Miriam were at the front of the group of children who were released at Auschwitz

The exhibits of the memorial center ended in a private synagogue with sketches, portraits, and biographies of and by survivors displayed around the edges. I had never stepped foot in a synagogue before, but I had a most peaceful feeling walking around and viewing a group of people's catharsis through artistic expression set in a clean and pure place.

Dear reader, if you ever find yourself in Budapest, I certainly recommend visiting the Holocaust Memorial Center!

Elisa Vengalil '16