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Hi Moi Hej Zdravei Szia שלום

Good

morn-

ing

Hyvää

Huom-

enta

God

Mor-

gon

Dobro

utro

Jó reg-

gelt

בוקר

טוב

Good

evening

Hyvää

iItaa

God

Kväll

Dobar

vesher

Jó estét

ערב

טוב

Stone Kivi Sten Kamik kő אבן

1,2,3,4 Yksi, Kaksi,

Kolme,

neljä

Ett,

två,

tre,

fyra

Edno

Dve

Tri

chetiri

Egy,

kettő,

három,

négy

אחד

שתיים

שלוש

ארבע

Sum-

mer

holiday

Kesälo

ma

Samm

arlow

Liatna

vakancia

Nyári

szünet

חופשת

קיץ

The participants arrived from the different schools and countries and gathered at

the camp on Sunday 12th June, 2011.

In the beginning it was strange because the children didn’t know each other and

making contact was difficult. However thanks to different games and activities plus

the fact that we had to live in the same room with children from other schools and

countries – the ice was broken quickly.

Some adapted to the working conditions quicker than others. There were some

smart kids who managed to get electrical saws which helped even more.

On Tuesday we met Peter Roth, the mayor of Szekesfehervar, who was very grate-

ful for the work we were doing. We found out later that Judit Javor’s father is the

head of the Jewish community in Szekesfehervar and their family and friends were

very touched that the abandoned graves of the people who had lived there before

were being restored respectfully by Jews and non-Jews working together.

On Wednesday we finished the work in the cemetery in Szekesfehervar and could

enjoy a trip in a dragon boat on the lake. There was spontaneous water fighting

which the teachers didn’t appreciate but the kids had fun together and we could see

that the strong friendships were being formed.

On Thursday we had a special memorial service at Lovasbereny. This was because

a descendant of Lovasbereny had made sure to restore that graveyard before but it

had never been commemorated. Dr Erossne Dr. Nacsa Olga Person responsible for

the development of connections in the Ministry of Justice and Administration par-

ticipated in this service. So our Rabbi Dov Levy led the service where the children

lit candles, read texts and then we prayed together El Mole Rachamim. It was very

touching and felt like we had somehow made a bridge with the past to repair the

broken link which was caused by the Holocaust.

We arrived in Budapest on Thursday afternoon and since then have been able to

relax a little. Eating our breakfasts and lunches at Masoret Avot, the American En-

dowment School and sightseeing Jewish and non- Jewish sites in the city. We also

went to three different synagogues and saw the diversity of Jewish and non-Jewish

life in Budapest. Janos Halasz, minister responsible for the Parliament connections

in the Ministry of Human Resources met the group there.

This trip has enabled us to make new friends, learn new things and have fun while

we were made to feel that we were doing something important for the people who

had lived here in the past.

Patrona Hungarie:

The camp was so great. Every day we went to the cemetry. In this cemetry there are

a lot of people who died in the Holocaust in the II. World War. While we were

cleaning the cemetry we could meet people who came foreign contries. We could

work together. Every afternoon, after the lunch we had a freetime. After that time

we played in international groups. In the evenings we had more freetime and we had

time to talk each other. I think we felt ourselves really good. I hope that our new

friendships will be sustained.

Wrote: Lexi, Gréti, Anna, Zsuzsanna Katalin, Alexandra, Tünde

St. Bazil Scool: The camp was a superb opportunity for us to get to know each

other's culture, history and religion better. The common work in

the cemetery made us a real team. We could experience that we

can carry out wonderful things together. The time we spent

together provided us with the opportunity to develop our English.

We could at the same time study Bulgarian, Swedish and Finnish.

Our accomodation was located on the coast of Lake Velencei, a

beautiful sight opened up in front of us every day. We could try

the dragon boating on the lake and we could swim of course on

the first day of camping. We may regard it as a form of developing

knowing ourselves better since our problem-solving skills

improved, all of us have become more independent. I think this is

a memory that everybody will remember with pleasure later.

Wrote: Judit,Petra,Dóri

American Endowment School:

Working in the cemetery on a Wednesday day i (Török Márton) and

Csáki András uncle. We were not glad that it was not possible to

work in the cemetery very much got saws and the fire brigade was

the cemetery behind his back so something swept trough András

mind teacher lord and accross we fetched a chainsaw, but did not

give the flat big one saws only unfortunately so we had to suffer it

longer!

Wrote: Marton Török, Benjamin Lamperth

The programme was a very good. The common work made in the cemetery

real team united us. I think that this is a memory that anybody

remembers with pleasure back up in the later ones.

Wrote: Benjamin Lamperth

The Jewish community of Székesfehérvár It is a very small community with not more than 50 people in-

cluded the Jewish people living not only in the city but also in the

surrounding towns and villages. Most of them are old people.

There are hardly any children or young.

They have services only at the greater holidays. At those occasions,

they invite a rabbi and a cantor from Budapest. Even this way, it is

difficult to gather 10 men.

They have serious personal and financial problems with keeping

the cemetery clean and tidy permanently. Sometimes they get do-

nations from emigrant Jews from all over the world, but it is

enough only to care for the tombs of the relatives of the donators.

The whole cemetery last was cleaned about 20 years ago.

That’s why this program is extremely important for the community.

There is nobody who can do this work for them. They are very

grateful to the children and their teachers for having done such

wonderful job. They greatly appreciate what have been done.

Judit Jávor

FINLAND QUIZ 1) Who made the” lacrosse” goal for Finland in the hockey world champion-

ships? a) Tuomo Ruutu

b) Mikael Granlund

c) Mikko Koivu

2) Which finnish band won the Eurovision song contest 2006?

a) Lordi

b) Indica

c) The Rasmus

3) What two languages are spoken in Finland?

a) Finnish and Russian

b) Finnish and English

c) Finnish and Swedish

4) Which mobile phone brand comes from Finland?

a) Nokia

b) Samsung

c) Motorola

5) What´s the capital of Finland?

a) Tampere

b) Lahti

c) Helsinki

6) What´s the biggest lake in Finland?

a) Laatokka

a) Saimaa

c) Baikal

7) What´s the highest mountain?

a) Mount Everest

b) Halti

c) Saana

8) When did Finland become independent?

a) 1809

b) 1945

c) 1917

9) Who is the current president?

a) Urho Kekkonen

b) Tarja Halonen

c) Martti Ahtisaari

10) Where do Finns bathe regulary?

a) In the sauna

b) in a pool

c) They never bathes!

11) Which was Finland’s currency before Euro?

a) Krone

b) Pound

c) Markka

12) What sea is near Finland?

a) the Atlantic Ocean

b) Mediterrian Sea

c) Baltic Sea

13) What´s the population of Finland?

a) 6, 5 million

b) 2 million

c) 10 million

14) What´s the biggest lake in Finland?

a) Laatokka

b) Saimaa

c) Baikal

15) What´s the highest mountain in finland?

a) Mount Everest

b) Halti Trip to Hungary

We arrived at a camp in the Hungarian countryside. There were people from Finland, Bulgary

and Hungary. Everybody started to get to know each other. An assignment everybody got

during this camp was to cut trees and bushes to make a cemetery nice. The assignment took

three days, and about three hours per day. It felt good to make the cemetery nice to respect

those who died before the 2nd world war. The heat in Hungary was great. But it was quite

humid.

Later on we were on a ``dragon boat” and we were the ``engine”. But it was great.

Alot of people were Jewish. Now we are in a nice hostel. We are in the middle of Budapest.

I’ve learned from this trip that anybody can do a good favor, as long as you are willing to help.

And we made a cemetery nice because others couldn’t.

We Jewish students from Finland feel that the trip has been amazing. Revealing the graves

from bushes, leaves and trees was a really hard work but rewarding. The unknown graves got

their names and respect back. We feel really happy that we had the chance to come here! We

got new friends and we really hope we can keep in touch.

Thank you for this amazing trip! Lia, Frida, Saara, Dekel, and Jonatan

The Bulgarian group from the Jewish school in Sofia is glad being part of this

project. We are grateful about all the work we have done. Although we would like

this camp to become a tradiotion. We think that the work in the cemetary was really

important. We were also very happy to visit the mayor.

We think that the projects we did are very useful for the world tolerance and we

hope to be in them again. It was nice meeting new people during the camp. We will

always remember this camp and hope it will continue in the next years.

The story of the Jewish Community of Lovasberény

There are several hundreds of abandoned Jewish cemeteries in Hungary. It is one of the

bitter inheritance of the Holocaust. Of course there are positive examples as well: there

was a miracle in Lovasberény.

In Lovasberény there were Jewish families since Turkish times and by 1830, one third of

the current population were Jews.They had their own synagogue, cemetery, school and

shops and in the first part of the 18th century they set up their own Chevra Kadishah.

Chevra Kadishah is one of the most ancient Jewish institution. Its duty is to organize

funerals according to religious orders, and there were about 1300-1400 funerals here.

The terrible 20th century arrived and took everything important from the small

community. In 1930 there were 30 Jewish souls in Lovasberény and in 1944 they all

vanished, all the inhabitants became the victims of the Holocaust: they were executed in

the gas chambers of Auschwitz. There was nothing left of the once significant

community. The small synagogue was empty as a sad memento and then in 1949 it was

demolished.

In the year 2000, a decent man, Istvan Csíkvary, a vet, who was born in Lovasberény,

came to visit his home-village, and he was sad to find the cemetery abandoned. He

decided to set up a foundation for the cemetery. His thoughts were followed by actions,

and actions were followed by success. It seemed as if there was some help from up there:

doctor Csíkvary managed to collect a significant amount of money from which he could

set up more than 600 tomb-stones and a fence around the cemetery. The renovation of

the cemetery was also supported by MAZSIHISZ ( The Federation of Jewish

Communities of Hungary), the local government, the agricultural union of Lovasberény

and also in great proportion by the Catholic Conference in Germany.

The Jewish cemetery of Lovasberény, the resting place of about 1300-1400 people can

be visited again!

Extract of an interview

Students of the American Endowment School have been making interviews through the scope

of a European Union project with survivors of the Holocaust. The following extract is from one

of these interviews.

’Well, I can tell you this to remember that man. He wasn’t a Jew, he was just a wonderful

man. I can even remember his name. It was before 1944 but my father had been taken to

labour-service and my mother was left

alone. In came a young soldier, who

knew how hard

times we were having, and he was the

hero.’

Interviewer: ’Where were your parents

born? When and where did they die?’

‘My father, he died there. We were

freed on 4 May, 1945.That was the last

phase.

The camp was in the middle of a forest

and it was all mined. It

was a huge wooden camp. We slept

without bed-clothes.

And it is all decided up there. Because

G_d is the one who decides. The commandant of the

camp showed him that as the battle-line was coming closer whether they were Russians or

Americans – because only they could free us – he should have blown up the whole camp. He

was supposed to do so but he didn’t. He must have thought that if he didn’t do so, he could

stay alive and we could stay alive too, innocent people.

So we were freed on 4 May, 1945 and went into the small town and we were taken

there. As we were going on the main road, four children and two parents, people admired us.

They asked how we survived and if we could stay together. Four children and two parents.

They were admiring us. We were freed on 4 May and my father – may he rest in peace –

passed away on 25 May. He remained there, he is there. His tomb is there, he is buried there.

We visit his tomb if my sister Annuska comes from Canada – may G_d keep her – she

lives there and when she comes, we go there. The tomb is in a Catholic cemetary, we were

given a burial place there. About 1300 people are buried there, at least 80% of them

unmarked. Those who got to know that their relatives were there were allowed to …

We were allowed to bury them in a Catholic cemetary.

I must say, whenever we go there, it’s a marvellous thing. The cemetary is kept so tidy – I

don’t know who is responsible for it, whether it is the town or the caretaker of the cemetary,

but they keep it so wonderfully tidy and neat, you can’t see a stub anywhere. Now we had a

tombstone made for my father, only a modest one as big ones are not allowed.

Everybody who got to know that they have a relative or husband buried there – may they rest

in peace – had a small tombstone made.

The story of the Torah Scroll of Lovasberény

The Torah scroll was found somewhere near Lovasberény at the end of 1944. It was wrapped

around the leg of a Hungarian soldier to protect his wounded leg. He knocked on the door of

the father of our priest who was a priest himself and asked for some water. The priest offered

him a seat and saw that his leg was wrapped in some strange material. He noticed that the

piece of paper soaked in blood was covered with Hebrew letters. The priest told him that he

would give his own shirt instead of the Torah scroll to wrap his leg into and asked him to

hand the Torah scroll over to him. And that is how it happened. The soldier disappeared and

no one knows what happened to him. This piece of the Torah scroll remained with the priest

whose son showed it at the reopening of the cemetery. The scroll that consists only three

columns. Whenever I see something like this, I try to find out whether these extracts have a

message for us.

A short history about the Jews in Hungary

Jews have been living in Hungary since 11th century. In 19th Century some anti-

Semitic parties rose to power in Hungary. They suggested some laws that they wanted

to impose the Jews. But the laws never went through and the Jews fought on the Hun-

garian side in the First World War. Around 10,000 Jews died in World War I, how-

ever the Catholic Church in Hungary didn’t consider this sacrifice worthy of protect-

ing the Jews against the anti-Semitism that grew afterwards.

The Jews were the largest minority group in Hungary and most of them were inte-

grated into Hungarian society before the First World War. There were wealthy bank-

ers, intellectuals but also the majority who were poorer, industrial or rural workers.

Jews immigrated to Hungary from Poland, Galicia and other areas of central Europe.

There was a wide variety of social and religious backgrounds and economical factors

that make it difficult to say that there was a homogeneous group. However before the

Nazi took over, Jews made up over 23% of the population of Budapest.

The Catholic church in Hungary influenced policy affecting Jews negatively. Religious

anti-Semitism had existed for many centuries, in principle, ever since Christianity

began, and has been especially prominent in the Catholic Church.

The Hungarian Jews were not affected by the Holocaust as early as in many other

places such as Poland, but by 1938 Jews slowly but surely lost their rights. They were

publicly classed as a race and even before this, anti-Semitism was widespread in the

country, even if it not been as open and acknowledged. Anti-Semitism in Hungary

became more open and accepted as it was in the rest of Europe.

In 1939 Hungary introduced laws that came to resemble the Nuremberg Laws and in

1941, some years after the Jews' rights deteriorated, the first major assaults on Jews

began.

During World War II Hungary participated in the Axis powers, however the leaders

who ruled Hungary, refused to deport Jews from Hungary. Hitler eventually lost pa-

tience and the German troops occupied Hungary. That is why Jews were relatively

safe until 1944 when Germany took over Hungary. Horthy decision to discuss peace

with the Allies was another factor that made Hitler chose to march into Hungary.

That's where it got really difficult for the Hungarian Jews and mass murder begins.

Miklós Horthy was deposed after the country was taken over and the Jews were

forced into ghettos and the systematic extermination began in March 1944. More than

430,000 Jews from Hungary were deported during the months of May to July 1944,

most of them directly to Auschwitz and taken into the gas chambers.

The outside world protested when the deportations started, because they knew then

what happened at Auschwitz. In late 1944, the then government was aware of Soviet

encirclement of Hungary and the local bandits, who had power over all ghettos terror-

ize the Jews just as they had before, but sometimes even worse.

This continued until the Red Army marched into Budapest, liberating Hungary and

finally the Jews' suffering ended. Approximately 550,000 of Hungary's 825,000 Jews

had been murdered.

After World War II, Communism took over Hungary which improved conditions for

the vast majority of the country. Soon after terror factors to ensure political stability

were targeted against all citizens who opposed communist rule. The Soviet Union now

controlled in Hungary and a majority of the 120,000 Jews who survived the Holocaust

in Hungary left the country, with the help of, among other things, the white buses.

The white busses brought survivors to Sweden and saved many lives. However unfor-

tunately some of the survivors were in such bad shape that they didn’t live long

enough to enjoy their freedom and were buried in nameless graves such as in the

graveyard in Norrköping in Sweden.

However many more survived and created families who enriched Swedish Jewish life,

keeping the HungaThe outside world protested when the deportations started, be-

cause they knew then what happened at Auschwitz. In late 1944, the then government

was aware of Soviet encirclement of Hungary and the local bandits, who had power

over all ghettos terrorize the Jews just as they had before, but sometimes even worse.

This continued until the Red Army marched into Budapest, liberating Hungary and

finally the Jews' suffering ended. Approximately 550,000 of Hungary's 825,000 Jews

had been murdered.

A short history about the Jews in Hungary

By Sarah Beg, Stockholm, Sweden

I do not believe in any religion so this was quite interresting to ex-

perience.

I learned for example that jewish people all over the world know

at least some hebrew and that most jews sing food prayer songs.

They sing their songs on hebrew. Jewish men/boys wear small

hats called kippa. They wear them when they eat breakfast and

dinner. The very religious ones wear kippa all the time.

Most Jews go to a Jewish temple called synagogan. In the syna-

gogan girls need to wear long skirts, to cover their legs and shoul-

ders or alternatively girls can wear a dress. Boys can wear any-

thing but they do need to wear a kippa which girls do not need to

wear. In fact, girls never wear a kippa because they are not al-

lowed.

Rauol Wallenberg By: Amina and Klara from Stockholm, Sweden

Raoul Wallenberg (August 4, 1912 – July 17, 1947?) was a Swedish humanitarian who

worked in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Be-

tween July and December 1944, he issued protective passports and housed Jews in buildings

established as Swedish territory, saving tens of thousands of lives.

On January 17, 1945, he was taken into detention by the Soviets after they entered Budapest,

and was reported to have died on July 7, 1947 while in their custody. The circumstances of

his death have long been in question, with some disputing whether he died while in Soviet

detention.

In 1981, Congressman Tom Lantos, among those saved by Wallenberg, sponsored a bill

making Wallenberg an Honorary Citizen of the United States. He is also an honorary citizen

of Canada, Hungary, and Israel. Israel has also designated Wallenberg one of the Righteous

among the Nations. Monuments have been dedicated to him, and streets have been named

after him throughout the world. A Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States was

created in 1981 to "perpetuate the humanitarian ideals and the nonviolent courage of Raoul

Wallenberg". It gives the Raoul Wallenberg Award annually to recognize persons who carry

out those goals. A postage stamp was issued by the U.S. in his honor in 1997.

With the money raised by the board, Wallenberg rented 32 buildings in Budapest and de-

clared them to be extraterritorial, protected by diplomatic immunity. He put up signs such as

"The Swedish Library" and "The Swedish Research Institute" on their doors and hung over-

size Swedish flags on the front of the buildings to bolster the deception. The buildings even-

tually housed almost 10,000 people.

Wallenberg intercepted a trainload of Jews about to leave for Auschwitz.

Our Hungarian Experience

By: Jacob Cahn from Stockholm, Sweden

In the beginning no one knew each other, but when we left we were all

friends. When you carried those branches at the cemetery you could feel the

fellowship between us all, even though we came from different cultures and

different religions. From this journey to Hungary I take a lot of memories

with me home. For example: on one evening we had a gigantic waterfight.

The Swedish, Finish and Hungarian people divided into two teams and the

fight was on. We made little holes in our bottle-lids so that we could spray

water through that little hole. After the waterfight we were all wet. Not a sin-

gle person was dry I think. Another memory is pretty silly actually. We

played football on the first hostel in Velence yard. We were about three to

five people. Then suddenly someone accidentally shot the ball up ont the

roof. We left and pretended that it had never happend. On the breakfast the

day after the head of the security came into the dining hall and said:

- You, you, you and you! Come with me. And pointed to me and three other people that had been playing football the

day before. We went outside with him and he said: - That ball you were playing with, it’s got to be back before breakfast is over.

We had to carry a ladder to the roof where the ball disappeared and go up and

get it. It may seem a bit weird but it was a funny memory which I think I will

remember for a long it.

Teachers and technical staff of

American Endowment School

Bakos Judit

Boskovitzné Csernyánszky Katalin

Csáki András

Földvári József

Gubis Csaba

Jávor Judit

Klein Anita

Levi Dov

Paskesz Chava

Polonkainé P. Krisztina

Róna Artúrné

Steiner Oszkár

Sugár Sára

Szilágyiné Buzsáki Rita

Tóth Brigitta

Zaletnyik Anna

Zima András

További segítők: Fonó Róbert,

Bleier Gábor, Jäger László,

Kauteszky Laurel János, Rosen-

berg Ágnes, Kertes Mária, Szirmai

Anikó, Goldmann Kálmánné,

Hammermann Péter, Máté János

Teachers:

Pálóczi Enikő

Vörös Károly

Violeta Vladimirove

Helena Lewin

Ricky David

Tiina Tvlento Itzkovitz

Sheila Weintraub

Swedish Group:

Henrietta Cahn

Jacob Cahn

Amina Bradanc

Klara Lewin

Alfred Stenborg

Shai David

Elinor Sinita

Sarah Beg

Finnish Group:

Lia Goresh

Dekel Menashe

Jonatan Shaya

Saara Weintraub

Frida Mitzner

Bulgarian Group:

Daniela Dimitrova

Daniell Tahor

Aglaya Lenkova

Daniel Taig

Samuel Frances

Georgi Dimitrov

Teodor Todorov

Hunngarian Group:

Lefter Viktor

Török Marci

Lamperth Benjamin

Dudás Ferenc

Szöllősi Dávid

Forrai Tibor

Petrik Fanni

Vácz Kamilla

Ferenczy Anna

Berdefi Tünde

Vincze Gréta

Hagyó Katalin

Hagyó Zsuzsanna

Gömöri Lexi

Fejér Dóra

Zoványi Judit

Lakatos Petra