Following Israel operation Pillars of Defense, a far right leader in Hungary urged the government to draw up lists of Jews who pose a "national security risk".
This bizzare request stirred up anger in the Jewish community in Hungary as it brought back association from the Holocaust when the Nazis maintained lists of Jews that they wanted to eliminate.
For Jewish leaders that are Holocaust survivors this brought back raw fear - "I am a Holocaust survivor," said Gusztav Zoltai, executive director of the Hungarian Jewish Congregations' Association. "For people like me this generates raw fear, even though it is clear that this only serves political ends. This is the shame of Europe, the shame of the world."
Hungary's Jewish community paid a high price in the Holocaust - between 500,000 and 600,000 Hungarian Jews died in the Holocaust, according to the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Budapest. According to some accounts, one in three Jews killed in Auschwitz were Hungarian nationals.
Well these times are behind us and will never return again. Sadly, anti Semitism is alive and well. These days it hides behind constant anti Israel bashing.
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