Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
HOUSE OF TERROR
The startling museum called the House of Terror is housed in what was once
the headquarters of the dreaded ÁVH secret police. The building has a
ghastly (and presumably ghostly) history, for it was here that many activists
of every political persuasion that was out of fashion before and after WWII
were taken for interrogation and torture. The walls were of double thickness
to mute the screams.
The museum focuses on the crimes and atrocities committed by both Hungary's fascist
and Stalinist regimes in a permanent exhibition called Double Occupation, and visitors are
greeted at the entrance by the red Communist star and the black 'arrow cross' of the fascists.
But the years after WWII leading up to the 1956 Uprising get the lion's share of the exhibi-
tion space. The tank in the central courtyard is a jarring introduction and the wall outside
displaying many of the victims' photos speaks volumes. Even more harrowing are the re-
constructed prison cells (collectively called 'the gym') and the final Perpetrators' Gallery ,
featuring photographs of the turncoats, spies, torturers and 'cogs in the wheel' from both
sides, many of them still alive, who allowed or caused these atrocities to take place. Never
again.
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