About us

A special meeting

Hundreds of us reunite and make friends.

We look not only to the past, but also to the future. We pass on our memories to those who come after us, so that the flame will burn forever, so that our ancestors will live on. We remember the dead members of our families, innocent victims of the terrible barbarism of the 1940s. We hold a memorial reunion. We wreath a memorial plaque and unveil a new one, as well as plant a memorial tree.

We will visit the synagogue, the cemetery and the former home of Jewish orphans and elderly. We will get to know Győr of today, we will also attend a concert.

All this is worth being together for!

Where do we start?

From far away.

Our ancestors have lived in Győr for centuries, and in scattered fragments probably even in ancient Arrabona. At the end of the 19th century, Jews in Győr played a prominent role in the creation of the modern industrial city, where they diligently and proudly fulfilled their civic duties and enjoyed their simultaneously guaranteed equal rights.

But Győr, like the whole country, allowed its citizens of Jewish origin to suffer and perish in the 1940s. The Jewish community of Győr, which had shrunk dramatically, recovered after the Second World War, albeit with great difficulty, and despite subsequent emigration within the country and abroad. It is still alive today, maintaining its institutions and preserving its religious, cultural and communal traditions.

The new-found appreciation of the small community throughout the city, the exemplary maintenance of the cemetery in Sziget, the rebuilding of the former home for elderly and orphans, the erection of the monument to the child victims of 1944 and many other activities in the community’s interest should be attributed to Tibor Villányi, the current president of the community.

Building on this and reviving the memory of the Győr World Reunion held in Israel at the end of the 1980s, we are organising our meeting in 2024, when we will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the destruction of the Jewish community in Győr, weeping and laughing together, taking stock of the past, present and future.

Who are we addressing?

This is an event for everyone.

First and foremost, to Jews connected to Győr, whether religious, including neologists, orthodox, liberals and those of other traditions, atheists, old and young, living in Hungary and abroad. We could certainly go on listing these categories, but let us repeat: we are addressing everyone.

We are also addressing those sympathising with us, humanistic non-Jews, who are welcome with open hearts to certain open events, such as the memorial service or the cemetery mourning ceremony.

We especially welcome young non-Jewish people from Győr who may be open to new knowledge and understanding of the historical traumas of past and present social minorities. Looking forward to a peaceful co-existence between different communities! This is the key to our future.

The organisers

Who are we?

Zsuzsa Sándor, Judit Somló, Marianna Spiegel, Olga Spitzer, Miklós Szedő and Péter Krausz. We are all second-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors.

We are all volunteers, from or connected to Győr, who decided to organise the reunion back in autumn 2021. Our foundation, the Jewish Roots in Győr Foundation, was registered by the competent Metropolitan Court in March 2022. Thus, our civil initiative became an independent legal entity.

For our preparatory work and the organisation of the events, we enjoy the moral support of the leadership of the Győr Jewish Community, which we are honoured to receive and gratefully accept.

Website created and maintained by Mariann Krausz (© Krausz, Mariann – site logo)