'Israel Is an Amazing Country!' Former Anti-Semite to Make Aliyah - CBN News Dale Hurd

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'Israel Is an Amazing Country!' Former Anti-Semite to Make Aliyah (from Hungary)

09-23-2016

CBN News Dale Hurd

A former rising star in a Hungarian party known for anti-Semitic views will move to Israel and become an Israeli citizen. Csanad Szegedi told the newspaper Ma'ariv that he will make aliyah with his wife and two children.

In a 2013 interview with CBN News, the 34-year old Szegedi, who was once widely viewed as an anti-Semite, shared how he discovered that he was Jewish.

When rumors of his Jewish ancestry started swirling on the Internet, Szegedi went to talk to his 94-year-old grandmother, who he never knew was Jewish.

"She opened up and she talked about her life and how she was sent to Auschwitz and how our family was annihilated," he recalled. "I was shocked -- first of all because I realized the Holocaust really happened."

At first, Szegedi tried to hide his Jewishness and act like nothing had happened. But he realized he couldn't stay in his party, Jobbik. 

"It started such a crisis in my consciousness," he told CBN News. "I realized I can't take part in any organization that has anything to do with anti-Semitism. And after my Jewish origins were disclosed, they really didn't want to see me in the party anymore."

He contacted a local rabbi, who first thought it was a joke. Szegedi started taking classes at the synagogue, learning Hebrew and the meaning of kosher and Shabbat.

Szegedi said his life completely changed.

"It's changed everything. It's like being re-born, and the changes in my life are still happening," he said. "I had this set value system that I had to change completely. I had had this value system until I was 30 and I had to admit that it was all wrong and to find the will to change."

In the interview with Ma'ariv, Szegedi said, "Israel is an amazing country, and I believe that every Jew who lives in the Diaspora seriously considers making aliyah to Israel, at least once in his life. After the nightmares that my relatives underwent in the Holocaust, my family and I very much want to be part of the positive dream that Israel constitutes for us."

For more, follow Dale on Twitter @DaleHurd and atFacebook.com/DaleHurdNews

Budapest, Hungary - Jim Clint Family Update - Third Anniversary

Love For His People Editor's Note: In early July we first made contact with the Jim Clint family, after an email from them, in which they wrote to us in response to this website showing our love for Israel. 

We have now begun support their work with monthly contributions. They seek to help Jews make aliyah (immigrate) to their homeland in Israel.

Here is their most recent newsletter.

Shalom,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc.

Clint Family Update

Third Anniversary

It’s now been three years since we all left Northern Ireland to dedicate ourselves to serving the LORD amongst Hungary’s Jewish community. On July 1st 2013 we all arrived to a very hot Hungarian summer. In these three years we’ve come a long way, with many challenges, with both disappointments and blessings.

We’ve always been aware that we have many people praying for us from many countries around the world. Some of these people we have never met before, still in Yeshua we are family and look out for each other. As parents Nauszika and I are extremely proud to how the three children have progressed.

The girls are now young ladies and not children, Sara Rose will be fourteen on July 18th, Naomi Ruth is now thirteen, and Yonatan Israel will be seven on September 7th. All three have worked very hard at school, learning the Hungarian language which is considered to be one of the most difficult languages in the world. Yes there are times when we miss Northern Ireland, hopefully we’ll be able to get back to see family in the winter.

We’ve been able to build up good relationships with the Jews of Hungary, especially here in Budapest. Being able to meet with the Jewish Agency has been a key factor in winning trust in the community. Apart from the Jewish Agency we are the only group helping Hungarian Jews to make Aliyah to Israel. Above all, the LORD is the one who has sustained us throughout these last three years.

1st Corinthians 15:58…. So, my dear brothers, stand firm and immovable, always doing the LORD’s work as vigorously as you can, knowing that united with the LORD your efforts are not in vain.

Aliyah Work

Please continue to pray for all those Olim (new immigrants) we have assisted with funds. A few days ago we were happy to hear that Benjamin had made Aliyah. Benjamin an 18 year old from Budapest was assisted a few months ago. After he completes his Hebrew language course in the Galilee he will start his army service as a “Lone Soldier”. This means that he has no family living in Israel to connect with. I know that Lone Soldiers often find it difficult in their first few months of army service. Anyone wishing to help Benjamin with a small donation can Email me.

Yair, another Lone soldier we helped over a year ago is now serving with an elite army unit. Another girl caller Sara will get married early in 2017. We also helped Sara with funds over a year ago. I make a point of keeping in touch with every Olim we help. Please remember to pray for all the Hungarian Olim we help back to their Land of Promise.

The “S” family from Koszeg in western Hungary are also expected to leave very soon. I remember well the day when I gave them the funds for Aliyah, we all sat in the Jewish Agency office in tears. They appreciated Ezra’s help, without which they would never have been able to afford to pay the required expenses. In order to help these dear people and also operate ourselves we depend upon the love offerings of brothers and sisters with a heart for the Jewish people.

Synagogue Attack

In late June the synagogue in the town of Gyöngyös 25 miles north-west from Budapest was attacked two days in a row, on a Wednesday and a Thursday. On the Thursday a few older men from the Jewish community in the town were in the synagogue when the second attack happened. The synagogue had some of its windows smashed. I believe that the police are still trying to find those responsible for the attack. Please pray for Rabbi Peter Weise (pic above) from Gyöngyös, I know Peter personally, he’s a quiet and humble man. I know that he will be very concerned because of what has happened.

Meeting friend from Northern Ireland

In early July we had a visit from Véronique a friend who lives and works in Northern Ireland. It was good for us all to get together and have lunch in Budapest’s Jewish quarter. We were able to take Véronique on a tour to see some of Budapest’s Jewish sites and memorials.

Political Situation in Hungary

The political climate in Hungary is steadily getting worse. The present right wing FIDESZ government is becoming increasingly unpopular because of its decisions. Both the schools and hospitals are underfunded, this has led to protests in both hospitals and schools. Sadly this is playing into the hands of the Far Right Jobbik party. Eastern Hungary is a Jobbik stronghold, in the east the people are poorer and employment is difficult to find. Please pray that the Jews of Hungary will see the danger which in on the horizon. Nationalism is on the rise all over Europe, again the Jews will be blamed for all problems!! Please pray that the LORD will guide us as we seek warn Hungarian Jews about this danger.

Contact & Support

To support the CLINT family in Hungary please contact:

EZRA UK…  (Pat)  ezraint.uk@gmail.com

My Jewish Hungary Webpage

http://jewish-hungary.weebly.com/contact-page.html

hungarianaliyah@yahoo.com

A New Connection in Hungary...to Bless Israel Through Aliyah

Greetings friends.

This past week Love For His People received an email from Hungary, from someone we had not known before. They had found our website by searching for "those who love Israel". That would certainly include us!

Since that initial correspondence and what has followed (I share some below) we have decided to support their work monthly, in order to help Jews make aliyah (immigrate) to Israel. We too see the great need to assist those needing to return to the Land given to them by the Lord Almighty.

I hope this stirs something in your hear too.

Shalom,

Steve Martin

Founder/Presidnet

Love For His People, Inc.

July 5, 2016

Budapest, Hungary

Shalom Steve and Laurie.

Firstly I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my Email. I came across your webpage on the internet by searching "those who love Israel"

My name is Jim Clint, I’m originally from Northern Ireland but have lived also in both Israel and Hungary. Along with my Hungarian born wife and three children we gave up everything in the Northern Ireland in July 2013 to dedicate our lives to helping Hungarian Jews make Aliyah (return) to Israel. Our children attend Jewish schools here in Budapest. My wife's late grandfather was a Romanian Jew.

Around 600,000 Hungarian Jews perished in Nazi death camps in 1944-45. Sadly antisemitism is growing again in Hungary at an alarming rate. In a recent article it stated that over 30% of Hungarians are anti-Semitic. The Hungarian Far Right (anti-Semitic) party "Jobbik" increased their percentage of the vote from 1% in 2006, to 21% in 2014. The rise of nationalism in Europe is increasing at a rapid pace, sadly it's the Jews of Europe who will once again be blamed for all of Europe's woes. We are certainly living in very interesting times. Please have a look at a web-page I set up to highlight the dangers facing the Jews of Hungary, especially the antisemitism page attached… Jewish Hungary The situation for the Jews of Hungary is steadily getting worse.

Jewish Hungary
Once again anti-Semitism has risen it's ugly head here in Hungary. Just over seventy years ago around 600,000 Hungarian speaking Jews perished in Nazi death camp...

View on jewish-hungary.weebly...
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In order to carry out this work among Hungarian Jews we depend upon the financial support from individuals and groups. Without this support we would simply not be able to operate. If you know of any churches or groups who might consider supporting us please give them our contact details.

We help more needy Jewish people financially. This includes paying for the following: new Israeli passports, translation of documents from Hungarian to Hebrew, police checks, travel expenses to and from Jewish Agency meetings, family research documents, new suitcases and much more....

Please free to share our information with others who might be interested in helping, if you require more information about what we do, and the UK charity we represent I’d be glad to send it. The Jewish Agency in Budapest will confirm for you who I am.

All the very best and thank you for your time.

With every blessing in Yeshua

Jim Clint “Budapest Hungary 2016”

July 6, 2016

Budapest, Hungary

Shalom Steve. 

Dear brother we would be greatly blessed by whatever amount we receive. I have been writing to congregations and pro-Israel groups for a long time trying to raise awareness for Hungarian Aliyah. Sadly we receive very little response, still we know that Yeshua is able to provide for our needs. 

I was involved in Street Evangelism in Israel between 1993-99, I knew many Messianic leaders. I also worked in Kibbutzim in the Galilee in 1991. My wife's late grandfather was Jewish, from Satu Mare in Romania. Yeshua has given us fantastic connections in the Jewish community here in Hungary. We've been able to share Yeshua to Rabbis, teachers and many individuals. We have won the respect of the community here, working from the inside out because of our connections to the Jewish school. 

Thank you once again, blessings to Laurie and yourself, and also all the fellowship.

In Yeshua

Jim, Nauszika, Sara Rose, Naomi Ruth and Yonatan Israel CLINT

July 9, 2016

Hi Jim.


I worked for Derek Prince Ministries for 8 years, Mahesh Chavda Ministries for 14 and Vision for Israel (Barry & Batya Segal) for 5 years. Each had been to Budapest a few times, so I learned a little of the people there. I believe Faith Church is in Budapest. Always wanted to go with one of these, but I was the office manager/Director. In 2010 my wife and I started Love For His People, Inc. to specifically help the Jewish people in Israel. Now we can also help them get there!



That's amazing Steve. In Northern Ireland my wife and I used our store house for a collection point for Joseph Storehouse. After that Storehouse only picked up from England and Wales and not Ireland. Barry and Batya spoke at a small Messianic congregation I founded in Northern Ireland last year.

I have many of Derek Princes sermons saved from YouTube, he was a true friend of Israel.

The Faith Church in Budapest is pro-Israel but not pro-Aliyah, I tried to contact the Pastor Sandor Nemet a few times to make myself know but he never got back to me. I know two Messianic Jewish ladies who attended his meetings years ago but left. We have our own home bible studies here in Budapest. There's so much Replacement Theology in the "churches" here. The Far Right members are connected to both the Roman Catholic and Reformed groups in Hungary. There's no love for the Jewish people in either group.

It's a blessing brother that you can be part of helping Hungarian Jews home to Israel. You'll understand I'm sure how difficult it is to raise support for anything connected to the Jews. (Apart from Ezra we have only 5 donors who have supported us for the last three years, this includes our home fellowship of Shalom Messianic Congregation in Northern Ireland) . Brother you can see how blessed we are to have you on board, please do share our details with others.

I'll send you updates from time to time, because of confidentiality I'm not allowed to disclose the full names and photographs of Jewish people we help. This is what we promised the Jewish Agency here in Budapest. We have excellent relations with them.

I suppose you have heard about the troop buildups in Poland and Latvia! There could well be a conflict with Russia at some point, this will no doubt lead to problems for the Ukraine, Poland, Romania and Hungary. The European Union has been pumping money to improve the main west to east arterial routes in Eastern European countries. This I have heard is for easy troop and artillery movement in the event of a war with Russia. Europe is not prepared, it has a massive dept. Putin could easily take the Ukraine and the Baltic states.

In Israel they are gearing up to duel with Hezbollah again, this time Iran has moved some units close to the Golan Heights. Ezekiel 38 & 39 could well be played out soon, we'll see.

Blessings from Budapest,

Jim and Family

Look here: Facebook: Ezra UK Hungarian Aliyah

Judeophobia is driving a new wave of Aliya to Israel - ISRAEL TODAY

Judeophobia is driving a new wave of Aliya to Israel

Thursday, December 24, 2015 |  Israel Today Staff

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Topics:

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In addition to the boycott of Israeli products, there are more and more anti-Semitic leanings in many Western countries. In France the far-right National Front is making an upsurge in popularity and in Germany a popular R&B singer, some of whose lyrics have been described as anti-Semitic and homophobic, was chosen to be their representative at the Eurovision contest.

In Russia, Poland and Hungary there are those that would systematically get rid of the Jews. This increasing anti-Semitism is the driving force causing many Jews to return to Eretz Israel.

Aliyah (immigration to Israel) figures for 2015 have shown a 40% increase over the corresponding period last year!

THERE ARE MANY NEW IMMIGRANTS THAT NEED SUPPORT - THE GOVERNMENT ALONE CAN NOT RAISE THE NECESSARY FUNDS TO SUPPORT ALL OF THESE NEW IMMIGRANTS.

PLEASE HELP US SUPPORT UNDERPRIVILEGED NEW IMMIGRANTS!

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Faith Groups Stand in the Gap for Mideast Refugees

Faith Groups Stand in the Gap 

for Mideast Refugees

CBNNews.com

Friday, September 18, 2015

The massive wave of illegal migrants entering Europe is creating a humanitarian crisis. Thousands of families continue to flee from war and religious persecution in the Middle East.

Now Christian relief agencies are on the ground, doing what they can to help the refugees.

Samaritan's Purse is working with churches to distribute 2,000 backpacks in Macedonia. The packs are filled with hygiene items, blankets, towels, diapers, granola bars, and candy.

CBN News spoke with the ministry's Dr. Natalie McDermott, who said the outreach shows the refugees the love of Jesus Christ.

"Our goal with Sam's Purse is to be the hands and feet of Jesus; it's to meet people where they're at and bring them love in a practical way by meeting their needs," she explained. "So sharing love with them and sharing the Gospel with them when the opportunity arises."

"I think for them it's a reflection of who Jesus is when they see us meeting their needs and just loving them where they're at, regardless of who they are or where they're coming from, just loving them in the place where they are right now," she said.

CBN's Operation Blessing is also on the ground in Europe, providing refugees in Hungary with food and plastic tarps to help them stay warm.

It's a critical need as the cold and rainy winter season can cause widespread disease throughout the camps.

Watch video: Faith Groups Help Refugees

Europe Drops Political Correctness, Says Only Christians, Not Muslim Refugees Welcome

Middle East refugees and migrants wait near a border fence built by Hungary. (Photo: YouTube Video Screenshot)

Europe Drops Political Correctness, Says Only Christians, Not Muslim Refugees Welcome

By Lea Speyer  September 8, 2015  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.” (Isaiah 41:17)

With large waves of Middle East refugees making their way to Europe, various countries have made clear they are only willing to take in Christians fleeing the carnage and not Muslims.

Abandoning any sort of political correctness, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic have all come out against taking in Muslim refugees. On Monday, Cyprus announced it will allow 300 refugees to take refuge inside its borders, as long as they are Christian.

“We would seek for them to be Orthodox Christians,” explained Cyprus Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos on state radio. “It’s not an issue of being inhuman or not helping if we are called upon, but to be honest, yes, that’s what we would prefer.”

Hasikos, who is responsible for migration policy, added that Christian refugees would have an easier time adjusting to life in Cyprus compared to their Muslim counterparts.

His comments come amid rumored reports that the EU executive will issue a new set of national quotas under which EU member states must take in 160,000 asylum seekers.

At the end of August, Slovakia was the first European country to shockingly announce that Muslim immigrants and refugees would not be welcome inside its borders. Ivan Netik, an Interior Ministry Spokesman, said Muslims “would not feel at home” in his country.

In a followup interview with the BBC, Netik explained that Slovakia was not implementing a policy of discrimination, rather rules to preserve the country’s unity and identity. “We want to really help Europe with this migration wave but…we are only a transit country and the people don’t want to stay in Slovakia,” he said.

“We could take 800 Muslims but we don’t have any mosques in Slovakia so how can Muslims be integrated if they are not going to like it here?” Netik asked.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico warned that his country would not like to “wake up one day” and find Slovakia overrun by Muslims. “If a mechanism for automatic redistribution of migrants is adopted, then we will wake up one day and have 100,000 people from the Arab world and that is a problem I would not like Slovakia to have,” he stated.

Assyrian Christian children who were displaced by the Islamic State terror group are pictured in Ankawa, Iraq, trying to keep warm during a snowstorm. (Photo: Jeff Gardner/ Picture Christians Project/ picturechristians.org)

Hungary, one of the largest opponents against taking in thousands of refugees fleeing Muslim countries, has expressed his concern for the changing demographic situation in Europe. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán recently warned that the addition of tens of thousands of Middle Eastern Muslims should greatly endanger Europe’s Christian cultural identity.

In a somewhat ironic twist, Arab media has come down hard on European countries not willing to take in Muslims, despite the closed door policies towards refugees and migrants of many Muslim countries.

Gulf States, despite their vast wealth, has made it a policy to refuse refugees from war zones. Saudi newspaper Sabq, criticized European countries, accusing them of allowing “children, women and Muslim families…to starve and drown on the grounds that they could not settle among the Europeans without mosques.” The newspaper went on to call the situation “a new human tragedy.”

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/48505/european-countries-abandon-political-correctness-announce-only-christian-refugees-welcome-middle-east/#lMIL7sL6MrqUJTRS.99

The 'Man Who Saved Tel Aviv' Dies at 94

 7/24/2015 TZIPPE BARROW/CBN NEWS INTENET PRODUCER/JERUSALEM  charisma news

Lou Lenhart (l) and other fighter pilots in front of the Avia S-199. (Wikimedia Commons )

Lou Lenart, who became known as "the man who saved Tel Aviv," passed away Monday in his home in Ra'anana outside Tel Aviv at age 94.

His "bigger-than-life story" is fascinating.

Born Layos Lenovitz in Hungary, he immigrated to America at age 10 with his parents and two younger siblings to escape increasing anti-Semitism in their rural community near the Czech border. One incident in particular convinced the family it was time to leave. They were farmers and moved to a small town in central Pennsylvania.

But the move didn't shield them from anti-Semitism. There were few Jews in the town and the kids endured slurs from their classmates.

At 17, Lenart enlisted in the Marines, where he served in an infantry division before being accepted to flight school. After surviving a serious training accident, he went on to battle Japanese kamikaze pilots in World War II.

Following his discharge as a captain, Lenart learned that 14 family members, including his grandmother, perished in Auschwitz.

From America, he watched Israel move toward statehood, as Holocaust survivors found their way to the Jewish homeland.

Early in 1948, Lenart joined the Haganah, the Israel Defense Forces' precursor, flying a cargo plane 1,300 miles from Italy to Israel. As an experienced fighter pilot, he helped locate surplus war planes for the emerging state.

On May 29, just two weeks after Israel's official establishment, some 10,000 Egyptian troops invaded, with about 500 vehicles, tanks, trucks, and tankers, marching toward Latrun to join Jordanian troops. At least five armies from neighboring Arab states plotted to destroy the newborn state.

Israel needed to stop the advance. Lenart, joined by three other pilots, including Ezer Weizman who would later serve as Israel's seventh president, were told if you don't go now, they'll be in Tel Aviv tomorrow and there will be no Israel. They attacked the massive ground forces camped outside Ashdod, just 20 miles from Tel Aviv.

Lenart would later write about "the IAF's [Israeli Air Force] first aerial attack," calling it "the most important event of my life" and saying he survived World War II to lead the mission.

"There were thousands of troops, tanks, and hundreds of trucks. We flew lower, dropped the bombs, and started shooting at anything we could spot," Lenart wrote. "The Egyptians tried to shoot at us, but they were stunned. They didn't even know Israel had an air force. The Arabs had everything, we had nothing. And we still won. We just didn't have a choice. That was our secret weapon."

Lenart later helped establish the IAF's 101 Squadron and flew missions to bring Iraqi Jews to Israel.

He also flew commercially for El Al, Israel's national airline. And if that wasn't enough, he produced six feature films, including "Iron Eagle" and its sequel, "Iron Eagle II."

Lenart was buried this week near Tel Aviv. He is survived by his wife, Rachel, two children and a grandson. His daughter, Michal, also served in the IAF.

For the original article, visit cbn.com.

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Israeli Researcher: European Jews Have No Future

Israeli Researcher: European Jews Have No Future

CBNNews.com

Monday, April 28, 2014

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Anti-Semitism continues to rise in Europe amid a surge in popularity of extremist parties in the region, according to a new study by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University.

The study's findings were released Monday ahead of Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day.

***For more about how Israel is educating people about the evils of the Holocaust, watch this report from CBN News' Mideast Bureau.

"Normative Jewish life in Europe is unsustainable," Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, said in a presentation of the study's results, the Jerusalem Post reported. "Jews do not feel safe or secure in certain communities in Europe."

"The Jews in Europe do not have a future," Kantor told the Post. "I think that their future is bleak."

According to the Kantor Center, European Jews experience anti-Semitic incidents almost every day.

"According to that survey, almost half of the Jewish population is afraid of being verbally or physically attacked in a public place because they are Jewish, and 25 percent of Jews will not wear anything that identifies them as Jewish or go near a Jewish institution for fear of an attack," Kantor said.

Researchers recorded 554 violent anti-Semitic acts in 2013, including attacks on people and vandalism against synagogues, cemeteries, and other Jewish institutions.

For the second year running, France had the highest number of incidents, with Hungary, Belgium, and Sweden following close behind.

The report warns about the increasing popularity of far-right parties, especially in France, Hungary, and Greece, where they're expected to make big gains in European parliamentary elections next month.

March in Hungary Remembers Holocaust

March in Hungary Remembers Holocaust

April 28, 2014

Yori Yalon, The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

Some 12,000 people participate in march honoring the memory of the 550,000 Hungarian Jews who perished in the Holocaust • "I have deliberately come on this march to ask for forgiveness from the Jewish people and the survivors," one participant says.

Sunday's march in Budapest  |  Photo credit: AFP

Some 12,000 people participated in a march through Budapest Sunday, honoring the memory of the 550,000 Hungarian Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Several Hungarian MPs participated in the march alongside Israel Ambassador to Hungary Ilan Mor, former Chief Justice Aharon Barak and heads of the local Jewish community.

Seeking atonement for their relatives, the grandchildren of some of those involved in the Holocaust joined the march, which began with a ceremony by the Danube River, on the site of a new monument for Hungary's Jewish community. Participants then marched some 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) to Budapest, where another ceremony was held, marking the 70th anniversary for the community's destruction.

"Unfortunately, the past decade has seen anti-Semitism rear its head again and every year we see in increase in violent anti-Semitic incidents around the world," Yaakov Haguel, head of the World Zionist Organization's Department for Countering Anti-Semitism, said.

"The World Zionist Organization strongly condemns any and all physical violence, anti-Semitic expressions, incitement and heinous blood libel," he said. "I urge everyone to fight this horrific phenomenon and make it extinct."

Frank Pfeiffer's grandfather voluntarily joined the Waffen-SS, the military arm of the Nazi Party, while his wife Barbel's grandfather helped build the electrical system at the Auschwitz death camp, including the wiring of its gas chambers.

At Auschwitz, about a third of its victims were Hungarian Jews.

"I have deliberately come on this march to ask for forgiveness from the Jewish people and the survivors," said Pfeiffer, a 44-year-old travel agent. "As the grandchild of a perpetrator, I want to express how deeply sorry I am at what my grandfather did."

The couple did not discover the truth about their relatives' actions until about 12 years ago, when they began researching their families' pasts.

"We are here with my husband to say the words our grandparents were incapable of," Barbel Pfeiffer said during Friday's remembrance at the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities. "Words cannot undo the events of the past, but we regret what happened with all our hearts."

Commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust in Hungary have been tainted by disputes between Hungarian Jewish groups and Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government.

Authorities have acknowledged and apologized for Hungarians' actions in the Holocaust, but a statue commemorating the 1944 Nazi occupation of Hungary is being erected despite protests from Jewish groups, who see the memorial as an attempt to diminish Hungarian officials' role in the deportations.

Zoltan Pokorni, a former education minister, said last week that Germany's occupation of Hungary was "an explanation, but not an excuse" for the fate of Hungarian Jews.

"The murderers were Hungarian and the victims were also Hungarian," Pokorni said. "This is our issue, not a distant historical question."

A German pastor began the March of Life events in 2007. Since then, more than 20,000 people have taken part in reconciliation marches in 13 countries.

National Library of Israel reveals Hannah Szenes' last letter - Holocaust Remembrance Day - Israel Hayom

National Library of Israel reveals               Hannah Szenes' last letter            Holocaust Remembrance Day

Israel Hayom  April 28, 2014

Letter written by iconic World War II-era paratrooper Hannah Szenes six months before her execution unveiled on Holocaust Remembrance Day • "Szenes was an inspiration and one of the Jewish community's greatest symbols," says National Library curator.

Yori Yalon

Hannah Szenes  |  Photo credit: No credit

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The National Library of Israel has unveiled the last letter written by iconic World War II-era paratrooper Hannah Szenes, just prior to her execution in 1944. The letter was donated to the library by Szenes' mother, Catherine, in 1951, and was released as part of various artifacts unveiled for the first time on this year's Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Born in Budapest in 1921, Szenes was the daughter of journalist Béla Szenes. An avid Zionist, she immigrated to then-British Mandate Palestine in 1939. In 1941, she joined the Haganah and in 1943 she enlisted in the British Army's Women's Auxiliary Air Force. She was trained as a paratrooper and later became one of 37 Jews sent by the British Army to assist in the rescue of Hungarian Jews who were scheduled to be transported to Auschwitz.

In March 1944, Szenes and her comrades parachuted into Yugoslavia and joined a partisan group. In June 1944, soon after crossing into Hungary, she was captured by Hungarian soldiers.

Szenes was imprisoned and tortured, but refused to reveal details of her mission. She was charged with espionage and treason and in Nov. 7, 1944, at the age of 23, she was executed by firing squad.

The letter, dated May 20, 1944, was written in English to Szenes' brother, George, and was sent from Yugoslavia.

"My dear George," she wrote, "I send you again a short letter to make you know that I am quite OK and that's all. I guess all my acquaintances and relations are cross with me, that I never write. Please try to explain the situation, if possible. If not they will forgive me later.

"To mother I do not write now either and your letters must replace mine. For this reason I give you the right even to forge my signature, hoping you will not make use of it for any 'financial obligations.'

"I hope you know that I get your letters with great delay but sooner or later they reach me and I am always ever so glad to hear about you. I love you and kisses to you and warm greetings to friends. Yours, Hannah."

"This letter is important because Hannah Szenes wrote it when she was clearly in danger and about to cross the border into Hungary," Dr. Hezi Amior, who serves as Israel Collection curator at the National Library, said. "It illustrates her acceptance of her mission and her sense of responsibility."

According to Amior, the letter "also reflects the atmosphere among the Jewish community in those days, as many of them volunteered to serve in the British Army out of concern for the fate of the Jews in Europe."

Szenes was a poet, writing in both Hungarian and Hebrew. "Her fate has turned her poems into staples of Hebrew poetry," Amior said. "Teenagers have been singing her songs for 70 years. She was one for the Jewish community's greatest symbols.

"When you read her letters you understand her personality, where the poems came from and why she became a role model. She was an inspiration and her struggles are a link between the Holocaust and resurrection, between the fight against the Germans and the fight for Israel's inception."

March of Remembrance - April 27, 2014

Shalom and Blessings!   

This coming week, on April 27th we have the opportunity to make a difference in the world by taking a stand with Israel and the Jewish community on the "Day of Remembrance".  

The Rabbi from Tarsus, Paul reminds us in Romans 12 to "Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn."  To this end, we stand with the Jewish people, mourning their lose & suffering, remembering those who perished and honoring those who have survived.  We also stop to rejoice, as we see the generations restored, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren once again proclaiming the sovereignty of God - and we promise that neither they nor their posterity will ever stand alone again. 

Today, we chose to stand and let the nations know that never again will the Christian community remain silent as the world turns it back on Israel and propagates its anti-Semetic rhetoric.  Never again will we listen to the council of the wicked, walk the path with sinners, nor sit with scoffers. We have chosen to delight ourselves in the Law of our God and be a blessing to those whom He has chosen to bless.  We have chosen to be the servants of the most High God, the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, the King of Israel.

Click here: Please Join with Us Sunday, April 27th 

Let the World Know where You Stand!

INTERNATIONAL MARCH OF REMEMBRANCE / LIFE

April 22nd - April 27th in Hungary

Germans And Hungarians, Jews And Christians, Descendants Of The Perpetrators And The Victims Walking Together With Friends From All Over Europe And America.

Remembrance, Repentance, And Reconciliation

The year 2014 carries a special significance for Hungary: It has been 70 years since the mass deportations, massacres, and death marches of the year 1944. Today will decide Hungary's future. Among the recent developments that cause great concern is the high rate of anti-Semitism among the population, as well strong support for Nazi parties such as "Jobbik", which is even represented in parliament.

Hungarian Jews arriving at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz-Birkenau, Jews waiting near gas chamber #4 prior to their murder, May 1944

The Murder of Hungarian Jewery

In April 1944, Hungarian authorities ordered Hungarian Jews living outside Budapest (roughly 500,000) to concentrate in certain cities. Hungarian gendarmes were sent into the rural regions to round up the Jews and dispatch them to the cities where they were forced into ghettos. Hungarian authorities forbade the Jews from leaving the ghettos and police guarded the perimeters of the enclosures. Individual gendarmes often tortured Jews and extorted personal valuables from them. None of these ghettos existed for more than a few weeks and many were liquidated within days.

In mid-May 1944, the Hungarian authorities, in coordination with the German Security Police, began to systematically deport the Hungarian Jews. SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann was chief of the team of "deportation experts" that worked with the Hungarian authorities. 

In less than two months, nearly 440,000 Jews were deported from Hungary in more than 145 trains. This dreadful efficiency of the German mass murderers was unfortunately only possible because of the cooperation and the enthusiastic support on the part of many of the Hungarian authorities and population when their Jewish fellow citizens were robbed of their rights and expelled. After the deportations to Auschwitz were stopped in July 1944, there were systematic pogroms against the remaining Jewish population and death marches to Austria under the national socialist Arrow-Cross government. 

Of the 85,000 Jews who were sent on these death marches, at least 25,000 perished along the way by shooting, hunger, exhaustion, or disease. In all, less than one-third of those who resided within Hungary in March 1944 survived the Holocaust.

For more information: March of Remembrance in the USA

AUSTRIA - April 6th, 2014

This act of repentance happened at the bottom of the Mauthausen quarry. Wolfe comes from an Austrian family that is still pro-Nazi today. He was in the Austrian army and tells of his experiences in this very place.