So we finally make it to the house of Terror and have to wait as half the group go in first. Altogether transport and waiting time in mid day heat was an hour and a half. Phew! It was all very worthwhile though. Although the tour we did took almost 2 and a half hours it was very moving and informative. I was going to write some history information so you could all understand a little bit better. However I have come to the conclusion that it is just way too complicated, way too long, way too confusing and way too debatable. So instead of getting political I will tell you what we saw.
I really enjoyed learning more about the double occupation (Nazis and the Red Army) not only because my Grandmother has told me stories of her life her before, during and fleeing from the war. Coming from little New Zealand I felt pretty naive, I knew things in the communist era must have been bad but the fact that the last Soviets didn't leave till 1991 the year I was born, and they only had one of their prisoners returned in 2000. Call me dumb but how was this all still happening? I feel so protected in my little bubble New Zealand that I forgot the rest of the world has serious political problems that affect the citizens lives even now. I don't know a lot about Hungary's government today, but on a positive-ish note they had their first "democratic" vote on the 25th April 1990 just a year before I was born.
The Haza itself include original cells, torture weapons and thousands of photos of the people who were killed her and over this time frame. It was in a very normal looking house/block of flats and it was kept secret so the people didn't know it was happening. They said they also found more places like this and there were sometimes tunnels between the two. One of the disturbing things was that durring the communist period the KGB (Hungary's secret police) were not ordered to carry out these tortures, they did it on their own accord and even after the change in government and power these people were not trialled or prosecuted for the murders and war crimes they committed. Also that the way the Hungarians were treated was the same as the ethnic cleansing of the Jews, meaning they went to both working camps and concentration camps. We also saw the basement and all the different killing stations and torture techniques. When trialling people from other parties or that had come back to Hungary they have said now that the trials were just for show. They had already fixed the outcomes of the people before the trial had happened, we saw videos of the people pleading for their lives. Overall it was done really well. I would almost like to go back through myself and take the time to watch more videos from the survivors and people telling their stories. So if you are ever stopping by in Budapest I would say this, no matter how much it costs, it is a must do. It is Hungarian history and culture it shapes the people and the country so to get a real Hungarian experience it is a must see.
The photo above the last paragraph is a Red Army tank, there is a large photo above it of the people who were killed in the building. The photo with just five pictures was from one of the cells where they held multiple captives sometimes 15 in one tiny cell. What is really nice is that they praise a lot of people now whom were killed for being heroes there are memorials, names and photos everywhere remembering all the people that lost their lives unjustly.
If anyone is interested on knowing more I took all the hand outs and listened to every section carefully so would be happy to depart some of my knowledge onto others.
Until next time. Peace out.
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