The opening speech was delivered by Dr. Gábor Bagdy, vice- lord mayor of Budapest. In his speech he highlighted that this year we are remembering the shocking and tragic events of the Holocaust on its 70^th Anniversary. The current exhibition came to life within the framework of this commemoration, which is worthy to indicate the sister city relations between Budapest and Shanghai as well. On the opening ceremony, speeches were delivered by Liu Haijun, the vice-chairman of the Permanent Commission of Shanghai Hongkou People’s Congress, as well as Zhang Xuemei and Lívia Szentmártoni, the Chinese and Hungarian director of the Confucius Institute at University of Szeged. Dr. István Ujhelyi, the chairman of the Advisory Board of the Confucius Institute at University of Szeged also participated in the event.

The public not only showed great interest in the exhibition on the day of its official opening, but prior to the event as well! The exhibition is open to the public until mid-August in Budapest and from early autumn in Szeged.

Description of the exhibition:

The exhibition tells a story which we know little about here in Europe. It is the story of the generosity of the Chinese people: The city of Shanghai admitted thousands of Jewish refugees escaping from the growing influence of Nazism during the Second World War. The Jewish refugees were also supported by Hungarian businessman Pál Komor, the Hungarian Honorary Consul to Shanghai, who lent them a helping hand in their time of need. Mostly the family pictures and documents once belonged to these Jewish families seeking refuge in Shanghai are displayed in the exhibition, all of which animate personal stories and memories of their years spent in Shanghai.