Over the course of the past few years, I have visited Prague’s “Museum of Communism,” Budapest’s “House of Terror” and Tirana’s “National History Museum” and “BunkArt2.” But these were no museums; they were ideological forcing-houses.

Here tourists  and the next generation of Czechs, Hungarians and Albanians become more self-assured of their touristified, “end of history” view of the world in all of its infinite complexity.

Whose ‘House of Terror?’

I visited an ahistorical (as in anything but historically accurate) museum in Budapest’s bustling, vintage city center today. The “House of Terror” — as it is called — claims to recount Hungary’s history under Nazi and Soviet occupation.

There was a two hour long tour — complete with haunted house music and imagery — through the “horrors of communism.” The fascist invasion is conflated with the Soviet arrival and defeat of the Nazis as though the two chapters formed one continuous tragic episode in Hungary’s history. How can the genocidal invaders be compared to Hungary’s liberators who acted out of self-defense to defeat the Nazis? turkey-greece-598

Thousands of tourists lined up to cement their triumphalist view of Western exceptionalism and victory over the evil force of communism. There was a macabre interrogation room, replete with a collage of thousands of photos said to be the victims of Soviet purges. Interviews with survivors of gulags were played over and over.

There is no question every social transformation has its excesses. The changes wrought on Hungarian society by the arrival of the Red Army were radical, as they dug up and overturned feudal and anti-Semitic roots. But only through the prism of the rich — fearing a second emboldening of the sidelined producing classes — would everything be presented as negative.

There is much to consider. Not since the 1919 Hungarian Soviet, had the propertied classes’ monopoly over land and production been challenged. Before 1945, 40 families controlled the land while 3,000,000 peasants lived as landless serfs. It is the heirs of this class rule who today lament the earth-shattering changes spun in motion by WW II and the arrival of Soviet workers’ bayonets.

Unresolved Questions

Hungary’s four-decades long existence as a workers’ state begs many critical inquiries. What were the balance of class forces on the ground in Budapest after the Red Army trounced the Nazis and their Hungarian counterparts?  Did the Soviet Union act too severely in its intervention against the Hungarian counterrevolution in 1956? If the U.S. lost 1/6th of its entire population to a Nazi onslaught, would it not also seek to secure its borders against a rearmed fascist threat? Was it wrong to punish and in some cases execute Nazi leaders and collaborators who had helped to execute 400,000 Hungarian Jews? Were there bureaucratic deformities in Hungary and how did they manifest? What toll does bureaucratic degeneration take on society when weighed in comparison to the complete monopolization of a society’s wealth by a small coterie of expropriators?

These are legitimate questions for critical-minded thinkers to take up. The science of historical materialism seeks to soberly weigh and evaluate every unique, dynamic situation. Sensationalism — the “museum’s” trademark — predictably shied away from these uncomfortable questions.

The revolution was not completely home-grown. Nor was the Hungarian holocaust completely foreign inspired. The analyst must weigh the dialectical interaction between inner-Hungarian class forces and the Global Class War that was at the heart of post WW II international relations.

‘The End of History’

When the tour was complete, tourist guides handed out brochures urging foreigners “to continue the fun” and join a pub crawl. The homeless panhandlers looked on passively, pondering what stage of history will take them into consideration. turkey-greece-611

Under the Hungarian Workers’ State, private property was nationalized.  Everyday people benefited from socio-economic rights, such as the right to a home, a job and medical care. A well-balanced view of post WW II Hungary must weigh both the challenges and the gains of the expropriation of the expropriators.  Failure to understand this context leads to a lazy perpetuation of the anti-communist myth of “the evil Soviet empire.”

Today, Hungary is again grappling with the return of fascism —both in crypto form under its leader Viktor Orban, and with the growth of outright fascist groups such as Jobbik. The nation’s living standards are atrocious and the ruling sectors have taken advantage of this to blame refugees and promote xenophobia.

There is a direct link between the past and present. The class that controls the present controls the past in hopes of perpetuating their control long into the future.

This “museum” deletes facts and ignores context because its designers arrogantly profess “the end of history.” The reign of Samsung, British Petroleum and Kentucky Fried Chicken is presented as the culmination of every Eastern European fantasy and is not to be questioned. They fear the possibility of Hungarian children learning to dream beyond free markets, free trade and free-dumb.

History has only begun to breathe and the reign of the silenced is forthcoming. Every dog has his day. Then, and only then, will such propaganda, masquerading as history, take its rightful place in the scrap heap of history.

1 COMMENT

  1. I can’t comprehend why someone would compare a person who’s trying to protect others and themselves with a killer. Having people with wealth pushing the thought of being wrong only out of fear is a poor excuse for sweeping it under the rug. The whole thing is shown as a way for foreigners to see the turmoil and agony that occurred. Also the questions asked is on the way that people can reflect on what happened. Even now as hungary is going through the same problem, the same mistakes won’t be made and history doesn’t have to repeat itself. Even now the class that is in control affects the history;This is important as the museum ignores facts. The link that is in the article shows a problem for future generations. The future is how it is because of the past. The relationship between the past and present have a correlation because the past affects everyone.

  2. Cristy Paradis

    The approach taken by author provides the opportunity to examine in a qualitative manner the way that history in this particular museum may not be accurately represented. The argument therefore is; why obliterate facts from history in order to allow people to remain ignorant on reality. “The house of terror” as the museum is called focused more on the defect of Hungary’s history under Nazi and Soviet occupation that caused a tragic period instead of pointing out how the liberators acted of self-defense in order to overcome feudal and anti-semitic roots. This analysis intends to enlighten readers how ones ideological views may cloud how other will get to perceive certain things. The authors critique of the museum might seem harsh but is well supported with information of the timeframe from which these events took place. In conclusion, its despairing to see how the past is catching up to the present an Hungary is again struggling with the return of fascism.

  3. This article supports what I’ve come to realize : History is never “black or white.” I say this in the sense that, there has always been victors and losers throughout history. These “winners” have taken upon themselves to circumvent the truth in most cases and write history as they see fit. There are those that would damn Hitler until the end of time and those who would say he was merely being patriotic with his actions during World War II. Also for every Nazi that was casted out of Europe by Soviet Russia, there were many who were oppressed under the Red Army’s might for many years. The question it seems is, from whom is the story being told? We are facing similar instances currently in the United States where there has been an outcry about taking down confederate statues. You have monuments dedicated to know traitors, slave owners, and racists, yet they are being heralded as great figures in American history. Oddly enough, the President of the United States is even comparing them to “Founding Fathers” of the United States of America. On the other side, you have people wondering how traitorous and blatantly racist individuals are even celebrated if they go against the very fabric of American society. The Robert E. Lees and Stonewall Jackson that almost led to the dissolving of the Union. If they are given statues, why not Santa Ana? The parallels in Hungary are not coincidental it seems. A country swapping regimes will exhibit this because the ideals deviate so radically. I’ve always found European history interesting, I guess I’m going to have to add Hungary to my lists of places to visit now.

  4. Let’s start by this, for me personally it is an offense to called this place “The House of Terror” because is not a haunted house it is a place that people need to respect the fact that many innocent individuals lost their lives there. Also having haunted house music playing in the background, what are they trying to portray. This should be a place of respect, a place to remember those victims that lost their lives. Another thing how can they compare killers with people that tried to auto defense? What kind of museum is this?. I also don’t think it was a bad idea to punished those nazi leaders that contribute of the killings of Jews. They basically did what they thought it was best to save their people in hands of those killers.

  5. These museum portrays the history of how Hungarians lived under communism. A period were fascist were taking over the world. World power like Germany(Nazis), Soviet Union (unofficially Russia). I believe that history when it’s not edited for the convince or control of a small group, the facts shouldn’t be forgotten, if forgotten history can be soon repeated. The article mentions that Hungarian Soviet ,” before 1945, 40 families controlled the land, and 3,000,000 peasant lived as landless serfs.” I asked myself In t What will citizens gain if a fascist group arises again, and took control again.

  6. These museum portrays the history of how Hungarians lived under communism. A period were fascist were taking over the world. World power like Germany(Nazis), Soviet Union (unofficially Russia). I believe that history when it’s not edited for the convince or control of a small group, the facts shouldn’t be forgotten, if forgotten history can be soon repeated. The article mentions that Hungarian Soviet , “before 1945, 40 families controlled the land, and 3,000,000 peasant lived as landless serfs.” I asked myself What will citizens gain if a fascist group arises again, and took control again.

  7. These museum portrays the history of how Hungarians lived under communism. A period were fascist were taking over the world. World power like Germany(Nazis), Soviet Union (unofficially Russia). I believe that history when it’s not edited for the convince or control of a small group, the facts shouldn’t be forgotten, if forgotten history can be soon repeated. The article mentions that Hungarian Soviet ,” before 1945, 40 families controlled the land, and 3,000,000 peasant lived as landless serfs.” I asked myself What will citizens gain if a fascist group arises again, and took control.

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