border fortresses. Construction of the current town centre began in the late 18th century, when it looked surprisingly similar to how it does today, hence its heritage protection status. The castle was converted into a palace, the lake that used to protect the castle from the east was drained, and a monumental church was built on the main square. Between 1929 and 1945, Pápa was a county town and from 1945 to 1983 a district town. World War II caused immeasurable losses to the city as a whole. The palace and the synagogue were severely damaged, the archives were destroyed. On 18 November 2007, Pápa Air Base was selected to host three NATO C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft of the future Heavy Airlift Wing which was activated in 2009. Jews in Pápa Jews were permitted to settle in 1748, which helped Pápa to grow into a regional trade centre. By the 19th century, Hungary's third most significant Jewish community had gathered and the third largest synagogue was built here in 1846. The anti-Jewish laws of 1938–39 caused great hardship in the community, and from 1940 the young Jewish men were sent to forced labour battalions, at first within Hungary, but later to the Russian front (1942). The Jewish population in Pápa increased from 452 in 1787 to 2645 in 1840 (19.6% of the total population), and 3,550 in 1880 (24.2%). After the beginning of the 20th century, a gradual decline began. There were 3,076 Jews in 1910 (15.3%), 2,991 in 1920, 2,613 in 1941 (11%) and 2,565 in 1944. After the German occupation on March 19, 1944, the Jews were confined in a ghetto on May 24 and from there moved to a concentration camp which was set up in a factory in the town. On July 4 and 5, 2,565 Jews of the city plus 300 from the vicinity were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp from which less than 10% returned. In 1946 there were 470 Jews in the town (2% of the population) and by 1970 the number had fallen to 40. There are no Jews left in Pápa. The last rabbi of the community before World War II, Rabbi Yosef Greenwald, established a community called Pupa in the United States, and today it exists as a Hasidic court, called "Pupa". Main historical buildings Pápa won the János Hild Memorial Medal in 1989 for restoration work creating a