• Holocaust Memorial to the Victims from Nagykanizsa
A memorial was dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust from Nagykanizsa and surrounding areas in the courtyard of the city's synagogue in 2004.
Image: Nagykanizsa, undated, Historical postcard, holmi.nagykar.hu
Nagykanizsa, undated, Historical postcard, holmi.nagykar.hu

Image: Nagykanizsa, undated, Holocaust memorial in the courtyard of the synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
Nagykanizsa, undated, Holocaust memorial in the courtyard of the synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
Nagykanizsa lies in the south-west of Hungary close to the borders to Croatia and Slovenia. Thanks to the tolerance of the influential Batthyány family, Jews had been able to settle in the city from the early 18th Century on. The community had its own rabbi from 1776; in 1821, the classicist synagogue was consecrated. Until the mid-20th Century, Nagykanizsa was home to the largest Jewish community in Zala county – in 1920, it had as many as 3,360 members. During the inter-war period, however, many Jews left the city, which had lost its once important position in the region: the new border to Yugoslavia was in direct vicinity, leaving Nagykanizsa without its economic back country. In 1941, the Jewish population had shrunk to 2,091, about 6 percent of the total population. That same year, the Hungarian Army drafted many Jewish men for forced labour service – many were sent to the eastern front, others were deported to the copper mines near the Serbian city of Bor.
In March 1944, the German Wehrmacht invaded Hungary. Subsequently, the ghettoisation and deportation of the Jews of Nagykanizsa took place at a much quicker pace than in other parts of Hungary. A pretext for the rash deportation of the Jews was the fact that Nagykanizsa had been declared a military zone due to its closeness to the border. On April 26, the Jews of Nagykanizsa and vicinity had to move to a ghetto, one of which was set up in the synagogue and neighbouring buildings. The ghettoisation was handled by the Hungarian security forces. Two days later, on April 28, 1944, a deportation train carrying Jewish men aged between 16 and 60 left Nagykanizsa for Auschwitz. This was the first ever deportation of Jews from the Hungarian heartland. All the remaining Jews from the Nagykanizsa ghettos were deported to Auschwitz in a second transport on May 18, 1944. The train took six days to reach its destination.
Image: Nagykanizsa, undated, Historical postcard, holmi.nagykar.hu
Nagykanizsa, undated, Historical postcard, holmi.nagykar.hu

Image: Nagykanizsa, undated, Holocaust memorial in the courtyard of the synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
Nagykanizsa, undated, Holocaust memorial in the courtyard of the synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
It can no longer be reconstructed exactly how many Jews were deported from Nagykanizsa. Historians estimate that 2,000 people were deported, according to other sources there may have been 3,000 deportees, of which 2,700 did not return. The number of victims can therefore also not be determined.
Image: Nagykanizsa, 2007, Urn in memory of the Auschwitz victims on the Jewish cemetery, Holocaust Memorials Album of alexandria42 alias Celia Male on Flickr.com
Nagykanizsa, 2007, Urn in memory of the Auschwitz victims on the Jewish cemetery, Holocaust Memorials Album of alexandria42 alias Celia Male on Flickr.com

Image: Nagykanizsa, undated, Wall of names in the courtyard of the synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
Nagykanizsa, undated, Wall of names in the courtyard of the synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
After the war, the Jewish community was founded anew; in 1949, it had close to 300 members. A rabbi was elected and an old age home founded, which drew many elderly Jews from all over Hungary to Nagykanizsa. However, many Jews left Nagykanizsa during the communist dictatorship, and today the community has only few members left.
The synagogue survived the war without serious damage. A memorial plaque was affixed to the synagogue already in 1946. The inscription reads: »Jewish residents of Nagykanizsa and surrounding areas were gathered here on April 26 to 28, 1944, to be deported to Germany and murdered.« In 1960, a further memorial sign was dedicated: an urn containing ashes from Auschwitz was set up on the Jewish cemetery.
60 years after the deportations, in the summer of 2004, the Jewish community unveiled a Holocaust memorial in front of the dilapidated synagogue. Since the synagogue is located in a courtyard surrounded by several buildings, the memorial is accessible only when the synagogue courtyard is open. The monument, designed by sculptors Sándor Rétfalvi and István Fáskerti, depicts a menorah behind which is a memorial wall. Engraved on the wall, the middle of which is characterised by a cleavage, are all of the known names of Holocaust victims from the region. The small Jewish community regularly organises commemorative ceremonies. Often, guests from abroad, whose family roots go back to Nagykanizsa, take part in the ceremonies.
Image: Nagykanizsa, 2007, Menorah and memorial plaque, Holocaust Memorials Album of alexandria42 alias Celia Male on Flickr.com
Nagykanizsa, 2007, Menorah and memorial plaque, Holocaust Memorials Album of alexandria42 alias Celia Male on Flickr.com

Image: Nagykanizsa, 2004, Classicist synagogue the year the memorial was dedicated, holmi.nagykar.hu, Attila Tarnóczky
Nagykanizsa, 2004, Classicist synagogue the year the memorial was dedicated, holmi.nagykar.hu, Attila Tarnóczky
Name
Holokauszt Emlékmű
Address
Fő ucta 6
8800 Nagykanizsa
Phone
+36 (0)30 385 250-3
E-Mail
levaip@chello.hu
Open
Interior courtyard of the synagogue: Sunday to Thursday 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.