I had one more day in Budapest before departing for Berlin where I was scheduled to address members of the Jewish community. It was a high pressure day and much remained to be accomplished.

I had a meeting with a publisher to arrange for the translation and publication of my book, “The Committed Life” in Hungarian, and I was also invited to the Parliament to meet with Dr. Istvan Hiller, the Minister of Culture.

In every country, official government buildings are impressive, but in Hungary, perhaps more so. The parliament in Budapest, on the banks of the Danube, is a very ornate and majestic structure. As I made my way up the winding staircase, I couldn’t help but take note of the decor, the elaborate finishes, sculptures and awesome chambers. The parliament was in session, but soon, the minister greeted me most graciously. After exchanging formalities, he posed a very odd question: “How do you feel being in this building in which so many horrific laws were enacted against your people? Are you angry? Do you have hatred in your heart?”
For a moment I was taken aback by his question. To be candid, I didn’t expect such words to emanate from the lips of a gentile. I answered the Minister by relating that last year, for the very first time since my internment in Bergen Belsen, I was invited to speak in Berlin. I never had the desire to return to Germany, but when I received an invitation to address the Jewish students and the Congress of Jewish Scientists and Physicians, I felt a responsibility to go.

Prior to my departure, the young people at Hineni asked me what I planned to say in Berlin. I responded by telling them that I don’t have to say anything in Berlin - I just have to say “Hineni, Here I am - a child from Bergen Belsen speaking in Berlin about G-d, Torah and the Jewish people...and that, in and of itself, says everything!”
So I told the Minister of Culture that, instead of focusing on anger, which only begets more anger and leads to hatred and violence, I would like to focus on Hineni - that I am here and my people are here, and those who schemed to destroy us, to annihilate us, are no more. I went on to tell him that we, the Jewish people, have seen the rise and fall of the nations that persecuted us, and we outlived them all. We are here, more vibrant, more vital than ever and the secret of our survival is in the Divine Covenant that we sealed at Sinai - to bear witness to G-d’s Holy Name.
His eyes told me that he was open to my words, so I went on to explain that thousands of years ago, our people were in bondage in Egypt. Our babies were cast into the Nile and bricked into the walls. In those days, had you asked a citizen of Egypt, “Who will survive the centuries?” he would probably have laughed at you. The question was ludicrous. It was no contest - Of course it would be the Egyptians. The Jews were in their twilight days. But today, ancient Egypt is gone and we are here.

And throughout the centuries, this same pattern has been repeated. Consider the great Babylonian Empire. They conquered our land; they razed our Temple; they destroyed Jerusalem, killed us by the multitudes and took our people to Babylon in chains. In those days, were you to have asked a citizen of Babylonia, “Who will survive the centuries?” he too would have laughed at you.

There’s no question - Of course the Babylonians!
But ancient Babylon is gone, and we are here!
If you skip the centuries and come to the great Roman Empire, you will again see our Temple razed, Jerusalem in flames, conquered and destroyed and our people taken into bondage. Our sons became gladiators in the Roman amphitheaters - food for the lions. This time the Jewish people would surely come to an end. There was no possibility of their being saved. This time there was no doubt as to who would survive the centuries. But ancient Rome is gone and we are here.

And now, let’s enter modern times and consider the plight of Russian Jewry. Had you asked a Russian “What will survive the centuries, Judaism or communism?” the question would have been greeted by laughter. In Russia, Judaism was dead. Russian Jewry had been indoctrinated in atheism - denial of G-d. They had no knowledge of their past or their Divine heritage. Should they have even attempted to probe, to study, it was at the risk of their lives. For merely possessing a prayer book or lighting Shabbos candles, they were sent to prison. There was no possible way that Judaism in Russia could survive. But today, the Russian Jewish community is growing and thriving, and recently I spoke in Moscow in front of the old KGB building about G-d. Today, Lenin is gone, Stalin in gone, communism is gone, but we, the Jewish people, are here.
Similarly, the Nazis are gone and their Hungarian counterparts are gone, and we are here.
“So,” I said to the Minister, “as I walked up the steps of this parliament, it was the eternity of my people on which I focused rather than on those who schemed our annihilation.”
“You see,” I explained, “we are a nation that believes in tikun olam, in perfecting the world by healing it of its evil. So instead of dissipating our energy on anger, we kindle the light of faith, the light of healing, the light of our Torah.

I must admit that the Minister was very receptive to my words and told me that he was planning to hold a commemoration in 2004 to mark the deportation of Hungarian Jewry.
I told him that that would be a perfect time to issue a proclamation expressing the deep regret and contrition of the Hungarian government for the terrible atrocities that resulted from the passage of the laws against the Jews in these august halls. Even as I spoke, I fully realized that such proclamations are mere words, and unfortunately evil will most likely continue until Messiah comes - but at least such words would be proclaimed and those who deny the Holocaust as well as future generations would hear them. And he agreed - he promised to bring the matter before parliament and the commemoration has been set for April, 2004. Ceremonies, he told me, will be held throughout the world - in Budapest, at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, and at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. He invited the participation of our Hineni organization and I readily accepted. Mr. Andrew Friedman, a prominent attorney of Hungarian descent, a leader of the Los Angeles Jewish community and founder of our West Coast Hineni chapter, will spearhead the ceremonies in Los Angeles and I will conduct a parallel program in New York which would be broadcast via satellite.

As I walked down the steps of the parliament building into the cold Hungarian evening, I thought to myself, Blessed be G-d who preserved and continues to preserve our people - that, despite all the plots and schemes, “Hineni - we are here.”