Prof. rabbi AlfrédSchőner :
EUPHEMISM ON THE MONUMENTS AT THE DANUBE'S BANKMENT


„ Life is full of sign-languages -/ death is sleepier: / it yawns to anyone in the same way / it is Kozma Street, number 6 //
Only modesty, does not wear away under the Pannon sky - / such information / Kozma street, number 6! // 
Do not believe that /a number is better than nothing/. You spent all your life here, you are better in your death,/  than Kozma Street, number 6.(1)

 A few decades ago Agnes Gergely’s bewildering poem appeared on the horizon; it was mentioned in an interview with the poetess by Paul Varnai, carrying the title Cemetery in Pannonia.

I make a note here, that before the change of regime, when a death notice appeared in any newspaper, it did not include the fact, that the funeral would take place in the Jewish cemetery in Rakoskeresztur.  Instead the address, number 6 Kozma Street, the exact address of the Jewish cemetery, was written. Informing the public in this way angered the poetess, and this is why she wrote the poem. Furthermore, when the change of regime took place, and anti-Semitism started to gain ground under the guise of free speech, this “Number 6 Kozma Street” started to appear in the papers, and the Jews started to hide again. Yet, people sometimes - through their over-prudence - are afraid to use the term Jew, still thinking of it as an insult. (2)

Now I would like to discuss some compositions, which, surprisingly enough support the above. The scene is the area between Árpád Bridge and Chain Bridge on the Pest side, a distance of approximately 2.5 kilometres. On the way I found not less than six memorials, plaques, and statues.

1. The first statue I intend to discuss can be found in the Vizafogó quarter, a few hundred metres to the south of Árpád Bridge. The title of the composition is ‘Memorial to the Martyrs’; the original version was made by Makris Agamemnon in 1959. It was placed in the concentration camp at Mauthausen, in memory of those victims, who suffered martyrdom during the Second World War at Mauthausen.

This cubist memorial on the bank of the Danube, a copy of Agamemnon’s statue, consisting of eleven compositions, was erected in the mid eighties (3). It stands in the XIII district on the bank of the Danube at Viza Street. This is a half-sized copy of the memorial erected at Mauthausen.

Makris Agamemnon: Martyr Memorial

IN MEMORY OF THE RESISTANCE FIGHTERS, DESERTERS AND PERSECUTED ONES WHO WERE MURDERED ON THE BANK OF THE DANUBE IN THE WINTER OF 1944-45.

THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL OF BUDAPEST AND THE ASSOCIATION OF THE HUNGARIAN RESISTANCE FIGHTERS AND ANTIFASCISTS. 1986.

 

2. Walking further we arrive at the next memorial, which was erected by the Zionist Association in the early 1990s in memory of the Hungarian resistance fighters, who saved the lives of hundreds of thousands.(4)

The periodical New Life published a report about Zionism in which these events, and the erection and inauguration of the memorial were mentioned. Below the photograph published at the time in the periodical, the following sentence is written: ‘The newest Holocaust-memorial. The contemporary historian sadly remarks, that the work was not finished, not even at the time of the celebration. Stones were still being piled up on the composition in the hours preceding this important event.  The composition recreates the crematoriums, on the peak of which an imitation of a “chimney” peers up to the sky. Nowadays (November 2008), the memorial is in a highly neglected state, the text on it being almost illegible. (5)

 

 The Zionist memorial

 THIS [MONUMENT] WAS ERECTED IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS AND THE HEROES OF THE RESISTANCE FIGHTERS ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HOLOCAUST BY THE ZIONIST ASSOCIATION AND THE HUNGARIAN OFFICE OF THE JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL IN APRIL 1994.

3. On the Pest side of Margit Bridge, on an elevation of Jászai Mari Square the composition of the French sculptor Anna Stein, called “Screaming to the sky” can be found. It is a memorial, made of painted ceramics, erected in 1990 as a gift from the artist. Looking at this painted ceramic - vaguely reminiscent of the baroque period -   the wailing of dread (pointing to the sky) about what was done to our beloved, takes shape.

 

 Anna Stein: Az égbekiáltó (Screaming to the Sky)

 In 2005 the composition was reconstructed, renewed, and encircled. At present it stands in a good, well maintained condition.

“The work of Anna Stein’s weightless, floating forms could be called modern baroque visions. Her art, lacking the effects of the modern trends, takes inspiration solely from the colourful baroque style. We can feel the effects of El Greco’s thin, ethereal figures and the virtuous colour harmony of Tintoretto in a specific interpretation. The subjects of her works are allegory or figures from mythology, messengers of a lyric world of fantasy. Anna Stein’s artistic accomplishment is connected to Paris, although several times she introduced her works to the local public too: in 1978 in Pécs, in 1986 in Budapest in the Hungarian National Gallery; in 1994 she had an exhibition in the Budapest French Institute”.(6) - wrote Katalin Kopin

Anna Stein: Az égbekiáltó (Screaming to the Sky)

IN MEMORY OF THOSE HUNGARIANS WHO BECAME VICTIMS OF THE ARROW-CROSS TERROR IN THE WINTER OF 1944 - 45.

The contemporary ÚJ ÉLET periodical reports as follows:

*4. The composition called Shoes on the Bank of the Danube - the work of Gyula Pauer - was erected some years ago. It may be one of the most dramatic pieces of work ever displayed in Budapest. At three points of the memorial, the following words can be read on cast iron plates in Hungarian, English, and Hebrew:

IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS WHO WERE SHOT INTO THE DANUBE BY ARROW CROSS MILITIAMEN

 - THIS [MONUMENT] WAS ERECTED ON THE 16TH OF APRIL 2005 -

Pauer - Togay: Shoes on the Bank of the Danube

“The composition Shoes on the Bank of the Danube recalls the memory of the people shot into the Danube during the Arrow Cross terror. The artist produces sixty pairs of shoes made of iron (sticking to the contemporary fashion). Behind the shoes, fastened to the edge of the limestone embankment, a stone wall forty metres long and seventy centimetres high can be found. At three points of the memorial the following words can be found on cast iron plates in Hungarian, English, and Hebrew: “In memory of the victims shot into the Danube by Arrow-Cross militiaman.  This [monument] was erected on 16th of April 2005. ” (7)

“The story of the people murdered on the bank of the Danube belongs to the terrifying nightmares of my childhood. I can recall this feeling even today. That is why it was very significant for me, that this memorial could be made according to the vision I shared with Gyula Pauer. It emphasizes the suppressed and tortured memories of our home town in the darkness, and bears witness to the fact, that Budapest never gives in to forgetting and, it can face the past.(8)

Allow me to share the thoughts of the artist Gyula Pauer: “I lived through the end of the war at the tender age of four in shelters with my parents. I did not understand too much of the events happening in the outside world. Following the different reports the only pictures that took shape in my mind, were that the Russians were chasing the Germans who were trying to escape from them by blowing up the bridges, while the allied forces were bombing the city.

The Arrow Cross militiaman shot the people into the Danube. Going up from the shelters to our flat my father made me promise solemnly not to talk about the “instalments uncle” who stayed with us for a while. The name “instalments uncle” came from the fact that the furniture we bought from him was paid for in instalments.

At the end of the war I saw Uncle Emil again; he was happily embracing my parents, thanking them for giving him shelter. By degrees, I began understand the horrors my Jewish countrymen had been through, then as a sculptor I became more and more interested in the subject of the Holocaust.

On a contemplative night, the unexpected visit of an old friend, the topic of a conversation… the subject dropped for a while, then it was picked up again, mentioned by my friend, Can Togay; this helped me to find the final shape of the work.

I believe, in a manner it appeals to God.” (9)

5. The next memorial is ‘The Snake Killer’, the famous work of Pál Pátzay which stood for a long time in front of Debrecen University (Biogal Pharmacy), a copy can be found at present in Saint István’s park. It is to the honour and memory of one of the outstanding personalities of Hungarian history, the Swedish diplomat Raul Wallenberg.

On the pedestal two texts can be read:

a./ HE WAS LEADER OF THE SWEDISH ROYAL EMBASSY OF BUDAPEST FROM THE BEGINNING OF JULY 1944 UNTIL JANUARY 1945. WITH HIS BRAVE AND HUMANITARIAN DEEDS HE BECAME A HERO, A LEGEND IN THOSE DARK AGES. THIS MONUMENT PROCLAIMS THE UNCEASING GRATITUDE OF THE CITY, WHOSE PERSECUTED ONES WERE PROTECTED BY HIS RELENTLESS VIGIL OF HUMANITY DURING THE NIGHT OF A BARBARIC AGE.

b./ THE ORIGINAL MEMORIAL IS THE WORK OF THE SCULPTOR PÁL PÁCZAY. THIS MEMORIAL IS A COPY OF HIS WORK PULLED DOWN IN 1945, THE RECASTING AND THE BASE BEING DONE BY THE SCULPTOR, SÁNDOR GYÖRFFY’S WORKSHOP. THE ARCHITECT IS LÁSZLÓ RAJK. THE RELIEF WAS RECONSTRUCTED BY ISTVÁN MAROSICS.

Pál Pátzay: Snake Killer

“The Pest residents, who escaped death, already declared after 1945 that the capital should erect a worthy statue to the Swedish diplomat. Annie Fischer gave a concert just for the occasion and offered the total takings towards expenses. When a sizable amount of money had been gathered, Pál Pátzay was given the task of making the sculpture. The Metropolitan Council also made a contribution. The sculptor had already created the prototype in November 1945:  a muscle-bound naked man squeezing the neck of a vicious snake. The bronze snake killer was completed by 1948. The two metre high figure was placed on a limestone base on which Wallenberg’s bronze face was also set.

The Snake Killer was prepared for the inauguration ceremony planned to take place on 9 April 1949 in Saint István’s Park. However, at dawn on the day of the ceremony workers were ordered to the scene to topple the statue and take it away (Lajos Hatvani who had just returned from exile witnessed the event from his balcony). When the Soviet authorities learned about the Wallenberg memorial, they ordered it to be pulled down without hesitation.

 The damaged snake killer was recovered in the Metropolitan Gallery in 1950. Pátzay displayed it in the National Gallery as an antifascist bronze statue in an exhibition of fine arts. Later this very same work appeared in front of the Biogal Pharmacy in Debrecen in 1953, as a symbol of the struggle against illness. It would stay there for decades. The myth is timeless, yet Wallenberg’s name appears nowhere. The snake killer changed identity, it became literary: the Biogal emblem. The figure is even used on headed paper.”(10)

*6. The sixth memorial can be found on the side wall of the corner-house of Pozsonyi Road and Wallenberg Street. In 1944-45 the ghetto was situated in this territory.  Since 1989 the Wallenberg plaque is to be found here. Unfortunately I could not discover the identity of the artist who made it.

Wallenberg memorial plaque

The text on the plaque:

RAUL WALLENBERG 1912

IN MEMORY OF THE SWEDISH EMBASSY’S SECRETARY WHO WITH HIS BRAVE STANDS AND DEEDS SAVED THE LIVES OF THOUSANDS OF PERSECUTED ONES.

The six statues are the accomplishments that different organizations dreamt at different times, and are by different artists. Their purpose is to remember those who became martyrs due to their origins, religion or roots in Hungary. One word however is missing from each of them, namely that these victims were Jewish - this fact can not be read on any of them. The word Jew is replaced by some euphemism, like “martyrs”, “victims”, in some places “Hungarians” or “persecuted ones”. Although all of these expressions are correct, one question still remains: why can the murdered, defenceless people not be called Jews?

I am watching the dirty Danube full of whirlpools as it carries its river deposit in the late autumn. Not far from Parliament the poet Attila József, cast in bronze has been looking down for ages. In front of him the lines from his poem “Danube” carved into metal:

As if it was flowing away from my heart,
Troubled, wise, and great was the Danube.


(1)  Ágnes Gergely: Cemetery in Pannonia. See in Kortárs literature book 1-2. Editor: Anna Menyhért, Anonymus, 2006, p. 193.

(2) The subject is elaborated in more detail, see: Pál Várnai’s discussion with the poetess Ágnes Gergely at http://www.szombat.org/archivum/h030101.htm

(3) A group of statues made of bronze and limestone. According to  http://www.szoborlap.hu/2814_martir_emlekmu_budapest_makrisz_agamemnon_1986 , this work, standing on public display on a square, “can not be connected to religion”.

(4) See: the issues of the BETHLEN TÉRI FÜZETEK.

(5) The memorial days of the Zionist resistance in ÚJ ÉLET, 1994 May 15. p.5

(6) Relevant literature: Anna Stein oeuvres, peintures, sculptures, vitraux, bijoux. L'Harmattan, 2001 Júlia Cserba: Magyar képzőművészek Franciaországban 1903-2005. Vince Publisher, 2006. Katalin Kopin’ writing: in http://www.abigail.hu/tt/tt_profhaza.php?id=17

(8) Can Togay, was born in 1955 of Turkish parents. He is today a Hungarian film director, screen play writer, actor, poet.

(9) See the website of Gyula Pauer: http://www.pauergyula.hu/emlekmuvek/cipok.html

(10)  Ilona Székely: How many Wallenberg statues can be found in Budapest.  The Szombat 2008 Oktober 6 issue takes over the article of the 168 Óra

   

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