Canadian embassy staff visit and clear weeds from Budapest Jewish cemetery

Staff of the Canadian embassy in Budapest visited the Salgotarjáni Street Jewish cemetery to pay their respects to the victims of the Holocaust, as well as to tend to a portion of the graveyard that has been largely neglected. The embassy workers visited the cemetery’s Budapest ghetto memorial and used this as an opportunity to reflect on the importance of tolerance, diversity and respect for everyone’s human dignity, all of which are core Canadian values. Embassy staff assisted in clearing weeds from around the monument, which was erected in memory of over 1,500 victims and which also includes a mass grave with the remains of hundreds of Hungarian Jews who died in the Budapest ghetto.

Canadian embassy staff at the Salgotarjáni St. cemetery. (Photo: mazsihisz.hu)

Canadian embassy staff at the Salgotarjáni St. cemetery. (Photo: mazsihisz.hu)

Anna Hubai, an embassy employee, noted that it was critically important to remember the past. Zsófia Hornok, the embassy’s trade attaché, added that by clearing the weeds that covered the monument, this important memorial and “hidden historical treasure” is now once again available to the broader community.

The Jewish cemetery was established in 1873 and is known for its many ornate gravestones, monuments and markers placed in memory of prominent Hungarian Jewish families.

The embassy noted that the on-going struggle against antisemitism is a central element in Canada’s foreign policy and embassy staff added that by visiting and clearing the area around this monument, they have put policy and ideals into practice.

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