THE HOUSE OF TERROR, Budapest Overview

House of Terror museum is located in the Andrassy district of Budapest and is a rare tourist treasure. It portrays items of the fascist and communist rulings in the 20th century. Each floor displays a heartbreaking memoir of every victim along with their name and date of killing.

The museum was opened in 2002 with renovations that begun even before 2001. Each and every floor of the building displays a heartbreaking memoir of every victim along with their name and date of killing. The cells in the basement are the main area where all the tormenting and killings took place. The architects, Attila F. Kovács, Kálmán Újszászy, János Sándor, have been so creative to give the building a stencil like frame which says TERROR spelt opposite. So when the visitors see the building, the shadow of TERROR reflects on the building giving it a horrific look.

STRUCTURE

BASEMENT
The basement was the main area of torture for the victims. It includes places like

Wet cell- where the prisoners had to sit with their knees bent into cold water for days

Fox hole- prisoners had to live in a total dark room which was only a metre high

Detention cell- prisoners are kept in a cell of only half a metre of floor space.

Other places include in the museum worth watching include internment, prison cell, hall of tears, retaliation, emigration etc.

GROUND FLOOR
The first floor does not have much to see in respect to he museum. One will find short documentaries, pictures, memorials, and few statues on the staircase. The main attraction is a tank on this floor.

FIRST FLOOR
This floor had the desks of all the major officials and an interrogation chamber which is on display even today. The visitors get to the see the desk of the leader of State Protection Authority, Gabor Peter. There were loud speakers on this floor then which spoke hate speeches all day. Other things to watch out for on this floor are the terror corridor, anteroom of the policemen, the torture chamber, church etc.

SECOND FLOOR
The main exhibition is on the second floor which depicts chronology of the Hungarian totalitarian dictatorship. This floor has eight exhibition halls with different things to portray and a projection room. Things to look out for here are passage of the Hungarian Nazis, Double occupation hall, resistance room etc.

HISTORY

In 1944, the surcease of the Second World War made the Nazi’s make this building their official headquarters. During the time they were here, which only lasted for a few months, they tormented the civilians in a cell beneath the street. This is a memorial which shows where the victims of AVH or Arrow Cross used to be taken during the World War II. The victims were tortured, interrogated and killed within these walls. From the first and second floors of the building the Jews were shot and thrown into the river on an order. After the Arrow cross, the Soviet Union came into power and as they say an enemy’s enemy is a friend, they both shared the same motive of dominating the Jews even though they were enemies of each other themselves. The secret security force of the Soviet was known as the State Security Authority or AVH, whose terror was a nightmare for Budapest. They hired civilians to spy on their family and friends. No one could trust their own surrounding and a sense of trust lacked. The AVH killed people without hesitation and executed them without a trial.

Long after the AVH left, Soviet continued to overpower Budapest and operated from the same building until 1991. This is the reason why those torturous days are still a fresh scar for the Hungarians.

EVENTS

The two types of exhibitions that take place at the House of terror are:

Permanent exhibition
This is the main memorial that is open all around the year (except Mondays and public holidays) and displays all the circumstances which the victims had to face then.

Temporary exhibition
temporary exhibitions are held by the museum on various themes in every few months. Quite recently the exhibition titled The Operation Codenamed: Lenin- against Russia paid by Germany. This exhibition began on 7th November 2017 and portrays the myths about the Great October Socialist revolution. It also displays the truth of the Bolshevik coup and the way communism was spread a100 years ago. It shows the revolt ignited by the Bolsheviks, which was the most successful operation by the German forces and German military intelligence.

Before the Lenin exhibition the exhibition themed 1956-Past and Present: Time Travel in pictures. This was held in 2017 from October 5- November 5. In this exhibition the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution and Freedom Fight in alliance with the Memorial Committee was depicted via a photo album. The exhibition showed a collection 56 photos chosen by photographer and Editor Csaba Varga, which were taken during the revolution and were paired with the current scenario photographs in the same frame and angle. The photos showed a comparison between the Budapest of 1956 and the Budapest of today.

Other exhibitions that took place are One nation, One will- 1956-2016, Free for the first time and much more...