Moving in towards the Goldmark Hall , I stand here facing the back of the rose windowed synagogue and try to soak in everything that I have so far seen.
That I know nothing about these people is a fact.
Some of them are quite curious about my presence . Me, I'm equally curious about them too ( seeing how I hold a passport that bars me from entering Israel )
From what I gather, Hungarian Jews are a teeny weeny bit like the Indonesian Chinese before '98 .
They have kind of
assimilated , do not speak their mother tongue and have no interest in the original motherland . Only quite recently have they began to rediscover themselves , their language, culture and even their religion .
So the Goldmark Hall as well as the Jewish Hungarian Museum , serves as a good eye opener and reminder of their past both to us foreigners and their community on a whole.
There is a small still room which shows short clips about the old ghetto and it's tradespeople . Found the one, on the strict rules on how to make unleavened bread particularly interesting. The sifu was a super duper fussy cerewet old man and his apprentices were a few giggling young boys.
This here is a weighing scale.
There are even everyday household utensils featured.
All we Malaysian Chinese have to do to view such items is to either go to Gopeng museum or watch a Singaporean period drama. The details are insane !
Sadly, the significance of such items in this hall were lost on me. Hence , it's best you get a full personal guide from the tourist counters next to the synagogue .
Those who have engaged their services , sing nothing but praises about them .
Anyway, that's that. Making my way over to the museum now.
Once again, I thought it would be just another museum and as I was going through the first 2 rooms , well, it felt just like another Malaysian museum in terms of upkeep , lighting, personel in charge and layout .
Then came the last room.
These are real prisoner apparels from Auschwitz !
And these clothes have been repurposed from holy materials ransacked from synagogues .
How awful .
On the whole, the museum is not that bad, it's got unusual items such as stained glass panels with figures and animal motifs
A LOT of tablets.
Not Samsung, not Apple but
those to do with Moses
Hanukkahs or Menorah candles
All these
I think this is Moses . Sorry but he's a really scary looking version of Moses .
A confession booth ?
I'm just guessing
Persian looking silverware
Stars in the ceilings
There is another level filled with artworks by Jewish artists .
This artist loved his muse so much, he ended up marrying her and painting her throughout his life.
As well as a section dedicated to the emigration of Russian Jews to Hungary via steam ships.
Advice : Get the guide so you don't have to guess like me.
Locatin : Budapest
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