On Monday 25 February there will be commemoration events around the country for the victims of communism. On this day in 1947 Béla Kovács, General Secretary of the Independent Smallholders’ Party, was unlawfully arrested and later deported to the Soviet Union. In 2000 a resolution adopted by the first Orbán government stipulated that on this day commemorations should take place in every secondary school in the country. This year the Hungarian government’s official commemoration event will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge.

On Monday at 7 p.m. the Government will welcome all those who wish to light candles in remembrance of the victims of communist dictatorships.
To mark the Memorial Day for the Victims of Communism, on Monday there will be free entry for all to the Terror House Museum. This institution has received more than four million visitors over the past decade, and has become a site of national remembrance. From 9 a.m. onwards visiting groups with prior registration will be joined by actors Norbert Bródy and Vajk Szente, musicians László Benke, Feró Nagy and Péter Egri, and the humorist Sándor Fábry. In addition to presenting the displays in various rooms, these well-known Hungarians will speak of their personal and family memories, to give young visitors a more direct appreciation of the period.

From 3 p.m. there will be a special guided tour for members of various countries’ diplomatic corps and foreign students studying in Hungary – this will be led by Director of the Terror House Mária Schmidt and Minister of State for Public Diplomacy Zoltán Kovács.

The number of those killed by communist dictatorships around the world has been estimated at one hundred million; in Central Europe the number is around one million – this represents those who lost their lives through starvation, in forced labour camps, or who were cruelly executed. However, the number of those who were physically and psychologically crippled by the everyday reality of dictatorship may have been even greater.

On 13 June 2000 Parliament adopted a resolution which declared 25 February to be the annual Memorial Day for the Victims of Communism. On this day we remember the tens of thousands of people who were separated from their families and taken to labour camps, our fellow Hungarians executed on the basis of trumped-up charges, the resisting heroes who died in martyrdom. On this day we remember all those who became victims of a system of violence – abducted and persecuted by the communist regime – and their families and loved ones. On this day we can hold our heads high as we remember all this, because we recall the crimes of a fallen system which was buried by the nation’s perseverance and unquenchable desire for freedom.

Further details: kommunizmusaldozatai.kormany.hu

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)