Hungarian palace tied to political scandal becomes Jewish refugee camp OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
For a few months now, a lakeside palace linked to a major political scandal in Hungary has been home to Jewish refugees from Ukraine.
Just before Passover, six weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Hungarian government signed an effort to make the palace in Balatonőszöd, a resort town on Lake Balaton about 80 miles (80 miles) from Budapest, kosher for the holiday.
Now the palace will be renovated to accommodate at least 664 people with a kosher kitchen that can feed hundreds more a day, according to a statement released Tuesday by the government and a Chabad-affiliated Jewish group that operates the space.
“In times like these, we, the Jewish community of Hungary, consider it our special and sacred duty to reach out and provide all the assistance needed to meet the existential and spiritual needs of our fellow Jews from across the world.” border.”
Head of the EMIH Federation of Jewish Communities Rabbi Shlomo Koves
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Köves told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that several dozen people, including some leaders of the Jewish community from Ukraine, already live on the palace grounds. But millions of Ukrainians have fled their country and millions more have been displaced within its borders since Russia invaded on February 24, and the conflict is ongoing.
Women prepare kosher food for Jewish refugees from Ukraine in Balatonőszöd, Ukraine in June 2022. (credit: COURTESY OF EMIH)
Among the displaced are thousands of Jews, some of whom have moved to Israel, but others remain temporarily in Europe. EMIH and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine hope a Jewish refugee camp they call “Machne Chabad” will bring stability.
Feeding an entire camp would cost about $600,000 a month, Köves said, adding that EMIH is raising money to cover these costs.
Why timing matters
The conversion of the site into a Chabad-affiliated refugee camp comes at a time when the Chabad rabbis around the world are trying to create new institutions to achieve the Orthodox movement’s goal of creating 1,200 new schools, synagogues and programs to mark the occasion. of the 120th birthday of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last leader of the movement.
It’s also because Orban’s attitude toward Jews remains hotly debated amid his growing influence on the right worldwide. His vociferous campaign to discredit George Soros, the Hungarian-Jewish billionaire often featured in right-wing conspiracy theories, has been charged with anti-Semitism, and his government has also been accused of promoting Holocaust revisionism. Orban has long dismissed the allegations, and a recent study — commissioned by the European Jewish Association in Brussels, an organization founded by a Chabad-affiliated rabbi — concluded that while Hungary has a high level of anti-Semitic sentiment, it is one of the best is countries in europe for jews to live.
For potentially hundreds of new Jewish immigrants, their home will soon be Balatonőszöd, the site of a pivotal moment in Orban’s takeover. In 2006, it was in the Balatonőszöd Palace where the then Prime Minister, speaking in an internal meeting, was recorded in vulgar language to allege corruption within his own party.
The release of Ferenc Gyurcsány’s recording sparked mass protests against his Hungarian Socialist Party and supported the right-wing opposition party Fidesz. Őszöd’s so-called speech is widely seen as one of the reasons why Fidesz won a landslide victory in the 2010 elections, making its leader, Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister.
Following the speech, political parties and the government, which owns Balatonőszöd Palace, were reluctant to hold events there, leading to disuse and decay despite its prime location in a tourist-friendly region of Hungary.
Located near an area favored by luxury summer camps for children from all over Central Europe, the Jewish refugee camp will offer special activities for children and teenagers, giving parents time to rebuild their lives in Hungary , to plan their return to Ukraine or their immigration to a third country, Köves said.
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