Tablet from the former orthodox synagogue of Balassagyarmat (1894)

Emperor of Austria and Hungarian King Franz Joseph visited Balassagyarmat in 1894. The monarch was greeted also by the representatives of the local Jewish community and responded to the welcoming words with the following: "I accept the homage and unrelenting loyalty of the Israelite Community of Nógrád County with honest gratitude. Differences in the faiths of my peoples create no separating wall in my heart. You can count on royal absolution and protection at all times just like anybody else”. As a sign of their gratitude, the Jews engraved these words in Hebrew and Hungarian in stone and displayed the tablet in the synagogue of Balassagyarmat. The temple was blown up by retreating German troops on 8 December 1944. The ruined building was finally demolished in 1950. The engineering corps officer István Simon, who oversaw the demolition works found and preserved the tablet and gave it back to the Jewish community in 1993. Today, it is exhibited in the Jewish prayer room.