World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder’s Keynote Address at ‘March of the Living’ in Budapest

Release  Date:  12-­‐Apr-­‐2015 Felvonulási  Square  (56-­‐os),  Ötvenhatosok  tere,  Budapest,  Hungary

I stand  here  today  as  a  proud  Jew  – proud  of  my  ancient  heritage,  proud  of  my  people,  proud  of  what  we  have   created. I  am  also proud  of  my  Hungarian  heritage,  but  I  know  that  if  my  grandparents  had  not  left  Hungary,  if  I   had  born  here  in  1944,  I  would  have  been  one  of  the  tens  of  thousands  of  Jewish  children gassed  at  Auschwitz. That  is  why  we  are  here  today;  that  is  why  we  march  together:  not  just  because of  what  happened  70  years  ago,   but  because  of  what  is  happening  here  today.  Seventy years  after  Hitler  and  Auschwitz  and  the  Arrow-­‐Cross,  Jews   are  targeted  once  again. Seventy  years  later,  we  see  the  same  signs  that  we  saw  before. I   stand   here today   to   tell   you   that   no   one   – no   political   party,   no   thugs   in   the   night – no   one has   the   right   to   threaten  our  people. No  one  has  the  right  to  deface  our synagogues. No  one  has  the  right  to  hurt  our  children. There  are  tiny  statues  of  shoes  along  the  Danube. They  are  there  as  a  memorial  to  the  Jewish  children  who  were   murdered  there. No  one  has  the  right  to spit  in  those  shoes.    No  one. In   this  great  city  we   send  one  clear  message   to   the  entire  world:  The  Hungarian   Jewish  community  is  alive  and   well. And  the  Hungarian  Jewish  community  is  not  going  anywhere. We  march  today  to  send this  clear  message: we  are  here. We  are  alive. And  here  we  will  remain. The  March  of  the  Living  also  reminds  us  of  what  happens  when  the  world  is  silent. Silence  allows  the  lowest  forces   of  mankind  out  in  the  open. We  Jews  learned  this  lesson  the  hard  way. We  know  what  happens  when  the  world  is   silent. And  the  price  we  paid  was  too  high. For  that  reason,  we  will  never  be  silent  again. I  will  never  be  silent. I  will  not  be  silent  when  Jews  are  the  target. I   will  not  be  silent  when  Christians  are  the  target. When  any  group  is  singled  out  by  hate,  I  will  not  be  silent. And   when  someone  spits  in  those  shoes  along  the  Danube  and  the  Hungarian  government  does  not  condemn  that,  it   looks   like   the   government  agrees. When   someone   stands   up   in   Parliament  and  wants   to   put   Jews   on   lists,   the   government  must  not  be  silent. When  it  comes  to  anti-­‐Semitism,  the  Hungarian  government  must  never  be  silent. Sometimes  people  forget  the  important  role  Jews  played  in  Hungary.  Jews  helped  make  this  country  great. When   Jews  are  part  of  a  society,  any  society,  countries  prosper. Jews  win  Nobel  prizes. Jews  create  jobs  and  they  cure   diseases. Jews  build; they  don’t  tear  down! Anti-­‐Semites  tear  down. They  destroy.  They  create  nothing. They  save   no  one. And  when  Jews  are  forced  to  leave,  they  take  their  success  with  them. Jobbik  may   think   they  are   true  Hungarians   trying   to  save  Hungary,  but   Jobbik  hurts  Hungary. In   the  eyes  of   the   rest  of  the  world,  people  see  Jobbik,  they  see  an  extremist  party  that  promotes  hate.  Jobbik  does  not  even  realize   that  they  hurt  Hungary’s  future. 2 Today,  when   the  world  looks  at  Hungary,  it  does  not   see  its  great  culture. It  does  not   see  its  beautiful  cities. It   does  not   remember  its  great  and  glorious  past. Today,   the  world   sees  Hungary  and   they   see   Jobbik. And  when   businessmen  want  to  invest  in  Hungary,  they  also  see  Jobbik  and  they  are  afraid  to  come. Jobbik  hurts  Hungary. Do  not  allow  a  small  percentage  of  the  population  to  destroy  Hungary. The  people  of  Hungary  are  too  good   for that. This  march  is  being  covered  by  hundreds  of  news  organizations. In  this  world  of  instant  pictures  and  the  Internet,   news  is  flashed  around  the  globe  in  an  instant. And  when  there  is  an  act  of  hate  against  anyone, that is  the  news   that  people  see  outside  of  Hungary. Everything  good  that  Hungary  did  in  1956  and  its  push  for  capitalism  – all  of   that  is  forgotten. In  the  end,  you  must  decide  the  image  you  want  to  send  to the  world. Look  around  you.  Today,  there  are  thousands  of  Hungarians,  Jews  and  Christians,  marching  together  against  hate. You  march  together  for  a  better  future. That  is  the  image  you  want  people  to  see. You  want  people  to  know  that   Jobbik  is  not  Hungary. Hungary  has  a  bright  future. Hungary  and  the  Jewish  people  are  tied  together. Thank  you   for  standing  with  us. I  believe  strongly   this  is  our  only  choice. We  stand  together  and  we  say  enough!  Enough  anti-­‐Semitism,  enough   hatred,  enough  death  and destruction. Today  we  turn  an  important  corner  and  we  start  building  together. To  everyone  here  I  say: Thank  you  for  standing  against anti-­‐Semitism  and  hate.  Thank  you  for  standing  with  the   Jewish  people.    Thank  you  for  remembering. And  I  say  again: Jobbik  is  not  Hungary. Hungary  is  the  thousands  of  Christians  who  are  here  today  to  support  the   Jewish  community. Today  we  honor  life,  not  death. This  is  the  March  of  the  Living! We  will  work  together  to  make  our  world  a  better   place. We  look  forward, not  backward. But  we  will  not  be  silent

From: Word Jewish Congress