At a ceremony in the Western town of Balf, officials stressed the need to fight anti-Semitism, amid mounting concerns over reports of rising neo-Nazism and racism in the country.
"We must not let our youth be misled and we must not let the memory of our killed countrymen be smeared," explained Hungarian Under-Secretary at the Culture Ministry, Katalin Bogyay, at the foundation ceremony, in comments published by Hungarian News Agency MTI.
She added that the government was committed to fight anti-Semitism and other expressions of extremism.
THOUSANDS DIED
In 1944-1945 over 2,000 Jewish inmates of nearby forced labour camps were killed in the Balf area, according to estimates.
About 600.000 Hungarian Jews were killed during the war, when Hungary for the most part was an ally of Nazi Germany.
The memorial in Balf was initiated by Hungary’s Holocaust Foundation and is being built in co-operation with the Prime Minister’s Office, the city of Sopron, the Culture Ministry and the European Union, MTI reportd. The memorial is scheduled to be completed by July 4.
