Hungary’s Orban: Collaboration with Nazis was mistake, sin
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s collaboration with Nazi Germany during World War II was a “mistake” and a “sin” as it failed to protect its Jewish community, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Tuesday.
Orban said he told visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he was aware of the “difficult history behind us.” Some 550,000 Hungarian Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
“At an earlier time, the government of Hungary made a mistake, moreover, committed a sin when it did not protect its citizens of Jewish heritage,” Orban said during a press briefing after his meeting with Netanyahu in Parliament. “Every Hungarian government has the duty to protect all of its citizens, regardless of their heritage.”
“During World War II, Hungary did not comply with this moral and political requirement. This is a sin because at the time we decided that instead of protecting the Jewish community, we chose collaboration with the Nazis,” Orban continued. “I made it clear to the prime minister that this can never happen again. In the future, the Hungarian government will protect all its citizens.”