Parallel Memories? Public Memorialization of the Antifascist Struggle and Martyr Memorial Services in the Hungarian Jewish Community during Early Communism

Photos of the Jewish National Assembly (Izraelita Országos Gyűlés) from February 20–21, 1950, show representatives of the Hungarian Jewish community sitting in their headquarters on Budapest’s Síp street, together with Gyula Ortutay, Minister of Religion and Public Education. Behind them, a wall is adorned with the portraits of three men: Lenin, Stalin, and Mátyás Rákosi, the General Secretary of the Hungarian Workers’ Party (Magyar Dolgozók Pártja). In the background, one can also see a large, ornate menorah, one of the most well-known symbols of Judaism. The photos depict what appears to be an unremarkable gathering, giving little indication of the dramatic turn that the assembly represented for Hungary’s Jewish community.