Hungary’s Jewish community has reinaugurated its only Jewish hospital after a sweeping $26 million renovation funded by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government, JNS reported.

Speaking at the reinauguration ceremony in Budapest, Orbán recalled how Budapest’s Jewish hospitals were shut down or destroyed by Fascists during the Holocaust. The Jewish Charity Hospital, founded in 1914 and later nationalized, was returned to the community after World War II.

“The Jewish hospital is particularly close to my heart,” Orbán said. “Where patients are cared for in faith-affiliated institutions, something special happens.”

The 200-bed facility in the city’s Zugló district now serves all Hungarians, with priority for Jewish patients, Holocaust survivors, and their families. The hospital maintains kosher food, an active synagogue, and full observance of Shabbat and holidays.

The project marks a warming of relations between Orbán’s government and Mazsihisz, Hungary’s main Jewish umbrella group. Under previous leadership, the two clashed repeatedly, most notably over a government Holocaust memorial Mazsihisz said distorted Hungary’s role during the genocide.

Mazsihisz president Andor Grósz, elected in 2023, has pushed for reconciliation. The renovation of Hungary’s National Rabbinical Seminary is also slated to move forward under a new agreement with the government.

“Even if there are differences, they should be resolved respectfully,” Grósz said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)