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Fishing and Transportation of Jewish People for Aliyah The numbers of new immigrants making their way through Budapest to Israel has fluctuated considerably over the years. At first, there were up to thirty at a time, requiring several mini buses to bring them and their baggage from Western Ukraine to Budapest and then to the airport. During the time of the intifada the numbers declined, not only because of the problems but also because the first wave of immigrants who had left their homes motivated by Zionist ideals or economic conditions had already moved to Israel. But aliyah by way of the Hungarian route never stopped and every month there were some who came. Peter Murri and his Swiss team faithfully continued with their calling, not only taking aid to Jewish people in the Ukraine but also encouraging them to move to Israel. Many Jewish people still remain in the Ukraine and also in Hungary. Hungarian Jewish immigrants are handled and transported directly by the Jewish Agency in Budapest, but there are not that many of them as Hungarian Jews on the whole are prosperous and therefore lack an economic motivation for making aliyah. But in Western Ukraine there is still widespread poverty. Even though the recent Orange revolution has brought hopes of economic growth, an improvement in living conditions in big cities such as Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk or Donetsk has not yet filtered through to the vast majority of the population who live outside the main urban areas. So as more people are becoming disillusioned with their circumstances, the fishing work is showing results as the number of Ukrainian immigrants coming through Budapest has been increasing steadily in the past years. In fact, to spare the Swiss team the burden of going back and forth too often, Luda from the Jewish Agency and a Ukrainian driver bring a vanload of immigrants to the house on their own once or twice a month and then see them off at the airport the next day. Luda is very experienced in what she does, and speaks several languages including Russian, English and Hungarian. Her skills are often needed to smooth the border crossings between the Ukraine and Hungary. It is sometimes asked why the immigrants come through Budapest instead of going directly to Israel from Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine. Flights from Kiev do continue and at one stage the Christian Embassy worked closely with the Exobus programme in order to transport many Jewish people to Kiev airport. The Ukraine is, however, a vast country – the second largest in Europe after Russia itself and the Trans Carpatia region of the Ukraine – the area west of the Carpathian mountains - is much closer to Budapest than to Kiev. Many of the immigrants also prefer to go through Budapest as not only do they speak Hungarian but they have also long dreamed of one day seeing something of the country close to whose border they grew up, but which they were never permitted to visit under the Communist regime. (When they arrive in Budapest by mini van, they are taken on a tour of the city.) Another reason why the numbers have been increasing is that the area from which new immigrants are drawn for the Hungarian route has been expanded, and it now includes cities like Lyvov and Chernovtsi which are actually several hundred kilometers away from the border crossing area. The new immigrants come by train to Ushgorod or are collected by the Ukrainian driver Peter from their homes and taken to the meeting point. The Jewish Agency is also anxious that the Hungarian route should be kept going as a possible alternative, in case political problems in the Russian and Ukrainian-speaking world arise once again. And a further reason is that the Agency is extremely impressed with the quality of service the Wallenberg Centre provides. The Jewish Agency prepares the documentation for the immigrants on the Ukrainian side; they then gather them at a central rendezvous point early in the morning on a transportation day, and from there the Swiss team or Luda and the driver collect them in the mini vans which are returning to Budapest, emptied of all the aid they had brought with them. The border crossing is only about thirty kilometers away but formalities there can take up to two hours. Once in Hungary the journey to Budapest on the newly-built highway takes about four hours. When they arrive at the Centre they receive a warm welcome, and are given a hot meal and shown their sleeping quarters before being taken on a tour of the city. The new immigrants are often keen to watch western TV programmes on the satellite system – something not available in their homes. Videos on Israel are watched and informational pamphlets distributed. However the non-proselytizing policy of the Jewish agency is strictly adhered to. Long after the immigrants have arrived and settled in Israel they fondly remember the wonderful first stage of their aliya journey and how it helped to give them hope and a positive attitude as they set out towards a new life |
| The Raoul Wallenberg Centre - Filler Utca 67, Budapest 1022, HungaryeMail: info@wallenbergcentre.netTel: +36-1-326-5722 |