There are merely six state-founded and state-maintained institutions in the world dedicated exclusively to the Holocaust: the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris, the House of the Wannsee Conference in Berlin, and the Imperial War Museum in London.

The Holocaust Memorial Center is a public institution that was established by the Government in 1999. In 2002, the decision was made to build the Memorial Center on Páva Street, outside of the traditional Jewish Quarter. This further emphasized the Memorial’s national character.

On December 16, 2002, the foundation stone was laid at the synagogue, marking the start of the renovation of the dilapidated synagogue on Páva Street and the construction of the new building complex.

On April 16, 2004, the Holocaust Memorial Center officially opened its doors with its first exhibition, the Auschwitz Album.

Since February 21, 2006, the permanent exhibition “From Deprivation of Rights to Genocide” is presenting the history of the Holocaust in Hungary.

The Synagogue on Páva Street used to be the second largest Synagogue in Budapest. Sadly, the Holocaust also claimed the life of its rabbi, József Farkas.

The six pillars in the inner courtyard commemorate the 600,000 Hungarian victims and the 6 million European victims.

The names of the victims are inscribed on the 8 meter high glass memorial wall in 8 millimeter high letters. So far, about 180,000 names have been inscribed. The identified names are engraved into the glass panels using a special laser technique.

The Tower of Lost Communities features the names of 1,441 settlements, as listed in the 1941 toponymic dictionary. László Zsótér’s work has been on display on the glass panes of the tower since April 16, 2007.