Best of Hungary

During our days in Budapest, we visited the St. Stephen’s Basilica and the Great Synagogue, the second largest in the world. The House of Terror Museum gave us a better perspective of Hungarian recent history. Since 1944, this country suffered decades of horror under the double occupation, first by the German Nazis during Second World War and subsequently by the Soviet Union. The nation did not achieve independence until June 19, 1991 when the last Soviet soldier left the territory. Under the German Nazis and the Arrows Cross Hungarian Regime, thousands of Jews were deported and exterminated. Later on, after the “Hungarian Liberation” by the Soviet Union, hundreds of Hungarian men were taken to labor camps and never returned home. It was a Soviet world where Hungarian values and virtues were unacceptable. Religions were persecuted, instead of God, the Communist Party leaders Stalin and Rakosi had to be venerated. Patriotism was also prohibited and Hungarians were forced to identify with the aims and interest of the Soviet Union. Many Hungarians, men and women, were persecuted, tortured, and executed for suspicion of acting against the Communist Regime.