Glistening Leaves and Tales of Sorrow

There grows a tree in the heart of Budapest, capital city of Hungary, that has leaves that glisten brightest under the sun but they carry on them the heavy weight of history. This tree stands as a memorial to Jewish Holocaust victims in the Dohány Street Synagogue.

On my maiden visit to Budapest, I was totally awestruck by the beautiful architecture of the Dohány Street Synagogue and the tales of sorrow and struggle ladden in its history.

The Dohány Street Synagogue also known as The Great Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, is a historical building in Budapest and is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world (after Temple Israel in New York). The synagogue was built in 1850 ' s  in the the style of a basilica and consists of the Great Synagogue, the Heroes' Temple, the graveyard, the Memorial and the Jewish Museum.

During the Holocaust, Hungarian Jews took shelter in this synagogue and in the courtyard of the synagogue, there are mass graves of thousands of Jews.

Dohány Synagogue

Interiors of the Synagogue

 The Holocaust Memorial in the synagogue, also known as the Emanuel Tree, is a weeping willow tree  made of  granite and steel designed by Imre Vagra, with the names of Hungarian Jews killed during the Holocaust inscribed on each leaf. 

Weeping Willow Tree!

Graves of Holocaust victims in the Synagogue

The weeping willow is an awe inspiring magnificent structure but its each leaf is associated with the sad story of a person whose aspirations were cut short by some people driven by a disillusioned man.