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. In reduced numbers it is still alive today, maintaining its institutions and preserving its religious, cultural and communal traditions.
The newly 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 mainly be attributed to Tibor Villányi, the current president of the community.
Building on this and reviving the memory of the “Győr world meeting” held in Israel in the late 1980s, the Jewish Roots in Győr Public Charity Foundation organised a World Reunion in Győr in 2024, where the descendants of the survivors from Győr, Hungary and abroad commemorated the 80th anniversary of the extermination of the Jews of Győr. We wept and laughed together, taking stock of the past, present and future.
© Nagy, István