Okay first off, another public mea culpa is in order before I continue chronicling my Budapest adventures. Let me start off by saying that I didn’t carefully proofread my last blog entry as I normally do. That lame excuse stated, let me show you a photo I lifted from Facebook:
This is Christina. Her name ends with an “A” and I have correctly demonstrated this fact ever since we met over a year ago. I have absolutely zero idea why I continually referred to her as “Christine” in the last blog entry, but I henceforth pledge to correctly identify comrade Christina (and others) in all future entries. If not, I am sure she and her ample Army training will be more than happy to bust a well-deserved cap in my ass.
With that kind of attidude, on with some communism!
Vlad‘s got a better hat than me.
I loved learning about this subject in college, so imagine my excitement when our fellow scholars in Budapest, John and Jamie (yes, I have verified that these are their correct names) recommended that we do a “Communist Day” as our first foray into exploring the city.
First stop, the House of Terror. The winter gray was just setting in as we arrived in country. Personally I really like this weather, and it fit in well with the theme of our day.
This was taken while in front of the Terror House. Just beyond the chains you can see a piece of the Berlin Wall.
Backdrop inside the Terror House- here is just a small sampling of many victims. Christina and I were lucky enough to have John expertly guide us through the excellent museum, and he really opened our eyes to Hungary’s place as it experienced decades of communist and Nazi control.
This entry is going to have a ton of photographs- and really I have so many more that I’d love to show you. But I understand the terror associated with being forced to watch a vacation slide show, so I’ll do my best to move on to my favorite part of the day.
Sure every self-respecting capital city has some sort of castle with which to attract tourists, but how many cities have their very own park dedicated to discarded communist statues? I now know of one off the top of my head:
What you see when you enter the park. Much like communist living, it is sparse, desolate and leaves you with an odd empty feeling. I loved it!
Check out some photos I snapped of some of the statues/monstrosities:
You are definitely filled with something while walking through this park, but I am not sure it is devotion to the proletariat cause…
Republic Of Councils Monument. This statue was modeled after a poster from 1919, from the period of the first communist dictature in Hungary. The posters title was “To arms! To arms!” but critics panned it by saying it really means, “Comrade, you forgot your jacket!”
uhhh…..flying head?
Béla Kun Memorial. I love this one best because it is so bad that it’s good. A horrific yet ambitious attempt to capture too many ideas in one monument. There’s even a lady with a parasol at the back, Béla riding a wave of soldiers….and the light post?? I just don’t get it…I look at it and laugh.
This soldier once stood as a part of the Liberation Monument on top of the Citadel that overlooks the beautiful city (photos of that in tomorrow’s blog entry). After the political changes of 1989 there were arguments about whether the statue should be removed and about whether the events of 1944-45 were a “liberation” or “occupation” by the Soviets. The compromise was to leave the larger monument, but give the Soviet soldier a nice retirement here.
These boots are replicas of all that remained of a massive statue of Joseph Stalin – a crowd pulled the enormous statue down from its plinth on XIV Dózsa György út during the 1956 Uprising.
Next to Stalin’s boots is a rickety old building- I would never know to go inside, but if you are someone in the know then you will be treated to the Oscar-worthy film, “The Life of a Secret Agent”. Here’s a sneak peek:
The six year old (who also speaks Hungarian) who was with us provided the best review of this cinematic contribution: “God this is so boring!”
Cubist Marx and Engels
And then there’s this one. Just kidding, it’s not at the park, but instead inside a metro stop downtown. If any of you can explain what is going on here I’d be grateful, since I couldn’t read the Hungarian inscription on the front.
Okay back at the park for one final shot. They’ve got a Trabant sitting near the gift shop! Maybe I should have been born in this part of the world, because for the second day a random Eastern European car brand got me excited.
So that was the bulk of our second day. I learned a whole lot, but was primarily struck by the park of statues (“Memento Park”). As we were wandering around, there was a group of young people also exploring- but primarily posing up against these tributes to a cause that ultimately went against the people. I found this mockery fascinating in itself, and doubt that the artists and sculptors would have ever imagined their art would end up in a place like this.
That said, I’m glad that these monuments were not melted down after the fall of communism in Hungary. I’m also glad that Hungarians did such a fine job of preserving the past of less than proud moments contained within the Terror House. Like it or not, this is history- and in my marginally-informed opinion, I think that it is some of the most fascinating in the world.