The cemetery
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The Budapest Jewish Cemetery at Kozma Street was established in 1891 as a majestic, green architectural and historical landmark that served as the final resting place of many national figures who helped to make Hungary what it is today.
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With its beautifully-manicured lawns, dotted with marble and inlaid mosaics, designed by Jewish architects responsible for the most important art nouveau buildings in Budapest, this vast 7.7 million square-foot area served not only as a spiritual ground for the 300,000+ buried there and their families, but as a magnificent public park for the community.
It proudly bore witness to a vibrant, yet troubled past- whispering through its paths the diverse stories of people who were proud Hungarian patriots and Jews: war heroes, professional race car drivers, rabbis, writers, musicians, economists- as well as those transferred from mass graves, and desecrated Torah scrolls finally laid to rest after the Holocaust.
These distinguished and hallowed grounds were developed as an inviting garden in which to stroll, learn and appreciate the rich past, present- and future of Hungarian Jewry, earning them a coveted spot in the pages of the world’s major travel guides. Today, much of this treasure lies deep beneath a thick layer of shrubbery, like a lost city with a secret garden, waiting to be rediscovered…