I Would Rather Start Dealing with My Own Identity Than Flee from Missiles to a Shelter – Migrating Back and Forth between Hungary and Israel
Évi was born in 1979 in Budapest. Her maternal grandparents were both survivors of the Shoah. The maternal grandfather was also persecuted by the communist regime after the liberation of Hungary. Being released from jail, he left the country illegally and did not meet his children again for years. The paternal grandparents were both Catholic. We interviewed her in our project “Democracy and Family History” as a returnee from Israel after the 7th of October 2023.
Today’s Jewish renaissance in Hungary has led many to realize that, even after the Shoah, it is possible to enjoy being Jewish while not forgetting about the past persecution and its traces in family history. This cultural phenomenon appeared alongside the increasingly right-wing government and the rising level of overt anti-Semitism, which prompted many young Hungarian Jews to make aliyah to Israel. Among them was Évi, who, while attending Jewish services also experienced anti-Semitism while searching for a new job. She and her husband migrated to Israel in 2016, she gave birth to a child in 2019 and their new life in the country seemed to be stable. However, the Palestinian attack against Israel on 7th of October made them question their earlier decision: they returned to Hungary, and since then, Évi has been struggling with how to raise her son. She is unsure whether the psychological problems caused by hiding their identity or the attacks pose the greater risk. In conclusion, she must decide which tradition to follow: the one that views seeking refuge as a possible solution, or the other that says one should not leave their own culture.