The Jewish Quarter

The former Jewish quarter, in Budapest

The former Jewish quarter of Budapest is a vibrant sector that oscillates between painful memory and abundant contemporary life, between traditions and modernity. The Budapest audio-guided tour stops here, with respect and gravity, to evoke this district animated by festivals and ruin bars, that was transformed into a ghetto at the end of 1944 and carries the tragic memory of the Holocaust.

Between memory and renewal

Lost between traditions and modernity, between memory and renewal, the Jewish quarter of Budapest oscillates between a painful past and an abundant contemporary life. Today, this vibrant sector beats to the rhythm of festivals, trendy addresses and its famous ruin bars, fitted out in dilapidated buildings with salvaged furniture. But under this effervescence hides an otherwise darker history, that it is fitting to evoke with gravity and contemplation. At the end of the year 1944, this same quarter was transformed into a ghetto by the Hungarian fascist regime of the Arrow Cross. On a minuscule perimeter, barely a quarter of a square kilometre, about seventy thousand people of Jewish faith were locked up in inhuman conditions, whereas the Jewish community of Budapest then counted more than two hundred thousand members. Deportations, executions, privations: the weeks that followed were marked by the horrors of the Holocaust, whose memory must be honoured. When the Soviet army liberated the city in January 1945, only a few tens of thousands of Jews had survived in the capital. Today, the quarter keeps this double identity: a place of memory and contemplation, but also a living quarter, rich with synagogues, museums, cafés and frescoes. A quarter of memory and renewal, the former Jewish quarter is discovered with respect.

What to see

Here you discover, with respect and gravity, a quarter with a double identity: a place of memory of the Holocaust, transformed into a ghetto in 1944 by the regime of the Arrow Cross, where tens of thousands of Jews were locked up; and a living quarter, animated by festivals, ruin bars, synagogues and frescoes. The former Jewish quarter is a place of memory and renewal of Budapest. It is a stop to be discovered with respect.

Practical information

The former Jewish quarter lies in the district of Pest, in the heart of Budapest, reachable on foot or by metro. It is a quarter freely accessible, to be explored with respect for its history and its inhabitants; it shelters synagogues, museums and places of memory, as well as cafés and ruin bars. You discover it during a contemplative walk.

What happened in the Jewish quarter of Budapest during the war?

At the end of 1944, the Hungarian fascist regime of the Arrow Cross established there a ghetto where about seventy thousand Jews were locked up in inhuman conditions, on a minuscule perimeter; deportations, executions and privations marked these tragic weeks of the Holocaust, whose memory must be honoured with respect. The city was liberated in January 1945.

Where is the former Jewish quarter in Budapest?

In the district of Pest, in the heart of Budapest, in Hungary.