House of Terror to Honor the Victims of Communism with Special Programs

This year, the House of Terror Museum is preparing a variety of events to commemorate the victims of communism: between February 19 and 25, the institution will hold guided tours, history lessons, museum educational activities, a commemoration ceremony, candle-lighting, free opening hours, and light painting to remember the victims of communist dictatorships.

On Monday (February 19), well-known athletes, actors, musicians and singers will give guided tours to secondary school students, including boxer Mihály Kótai, Vivianne Bánovits, Kinga Katona, Janka Kopek and László Sebestyén Szabó, Soma Zámbori, composer and singer Ákos Kovács, singer Adrienn Zsédenyi, singer Csaba Vastag, singer Attila Nyerges and singer, guitarist, songwriter Péter Egri, front man of the Mystery Gang band – the museum said in a statement.

Between February 20 and 23, the museum’s historians will hold educational lectures for high school students interested in history.

During the lectures, students will learn about the history of the Sovietization of the Hungarian countryside after 1945, the posters of the communist propaganda and the terror of the State Protection Authority (ÁVH) between 1945 and 1956. The historians will present the fate of János Brenner, a martyr of the persecution by the church, talk about Béla Kovács’s (general secretary of the Independent Smallholders’ Party) fight against dictatorship, and the nature of the Marxist-Leninist Renaissance.

In addition to the unusual history lessons, there will also be museum education sessions on communist propaganda, forced labor, the State Protection Authority‘s world, the show trials, and anti-communist resistance. The institution’s new temporary exhibition “It Takes a Great Ideal to Produce a Great Crime,” will also be on display for students to learn about the museum’s educational activities.

According to the press release, registration is required for participation in the special history lessons and museum education sessions. More information is available on the website of the House of Terror Museum.

On Sunday, February 25, admission to the museum is free and visitors can remember the victims of the communist dictatorships by lighting candles at the Wall of Heroes in front of the museum. From 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. there will be a light painting on the walls of the House of Terror Museum.

Last year’s candle-lighting ceremony. Photo via Facebook/Terror Háza Múzeum / House of Terror Museum

Fact

The Parliament of Hungary declared February 25 to be the annual Memorial Day for the Victims of Communism. On this day in 1947, occupying Soviet authorities unlawfully arrested Béla Kovács, general secretary of the Independent Smallholders’ Party, who was later deported to the USSR. Kovács spent eight years in prison and labor camps and died in 1959. He embodies the fate of thousands of victims of communism and thus became a symbol of the disregard for democracy and freedoms that characterized nearly 50 years of communist rule.

Statue of Béla Kovács in Budapest. Photo via Wikipedia

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Via MTI; Featured image via Facebook/Terror Háza Múzeum / House of Terror Museum