We must prove to the politicians that we are needed
Szabolcs Szita, new director of the Holocaust Memorial Centre
MúzeumCafé 28.
All governments have given verbal support, but the Hungarian Auschwitz Foundation, which set up the trust establishing and funding the Holocaust Memorial Centre, has received little real backing. According to one of the founders, Szabolcs Szita, who was appointed director last year, the most important task is remembrance. Thus he regards it important for as many names of those murdered as possible be recorded on the centre’s wall as result of scholarly research. However, the foundation is in a difficult financial situation. The Hungarian Auschwitz Foundation was founded by three people in 1990 with the primary goal of collecting documents relating to the Holocaust and the names of those who perished, so that the resulting knowledge could be integrated into education. Nobody likes to be reminded of a crime – at most it is acknowledged on a memorial day. Addressing politicians and the churches is perhaps more important than young people. The permanent display hasn’t changed and the institute’s most important task is the memorial exhibition. The Holocaust Documentation Centre and Memorial Collection Public Foundation exists, though the trustees have changed on a professional basis. Szabolcs Szita would also like to see an advisory body involving artists, scholars and church personalities. As for the past, Szita agrees that under László Harsányi resolute communication began, important displays were organised, such as the Árpád Stripes Then and Now exhibition, and presenting fine arts exhibitions opened up new avenues in relation to remembering the Holocaust in Hungary. Though there appear to be no major moves on the part of the state to counter anti-Semitism, Szabolcs Szita is not pessimistic.