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Published: September 26th 2011
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We arrived in Budapest at midnight with no plans other than to follow two UK girls that we met on the train to their hostel to see if we could stay there (it wasn't as creepy as it sounds, they invited us to follow them). When we got there, people were hanging out in this cozy common area drinking, talking and having a great time, so of course this awesome place was completely booked and back on the street we were. We had just about resigned ourselves to becoming shivering sidewalk bums when we discovered another hostel that was still open and equally great.
We ate Goulash almost every day, hung out with interesting people from all over the world, went to the Opera for $15, took a refresher course on the Cold War and Communism, played chess and bought a huge board that we’ve (Will) now has to lug across multiple countries. We also bought cute little Hungarian peasant toothpick holders as gifts (Yes Mom, you don’t think you want this but you really do).
The city is fantastic. It’s an architecture junky’s wet dream and caters to tourism without the tackiness that usually comes with it. We
went on a free 3hr communist walking tour where we got an Einstein’s Notes version about what it was like to live under first Nazi, then Stalin, then communist rule from someone who actually lived through it. We walked all over the city and ended up at the Museum of Terror where Hungarians were tortured and executed in some cases for no reason other than being prominent in the community and owning property that the communist government wanted to confiscate. For me, some of the most haunting things about the museum were the hundreds and hundreds of photos of the men and women who took part in the atrocities against innocent people. They just looked so normal…
So here’s my short and simplistic version of what was expressed at the communist tour: Nazi Germany occupied Hungary (and Poland, Prussia, Serbia, etc), hated Jews and sent them to concentration camps to work, be killed, be used as military experiment test puppies, or be made into soap. The Russian Red Army came in to save the day and kicked out the Germans but were then ruled by Stalin who hated not only Jews but all people not Russian (even Russians not
living in Russia because they may have been exposed to anti-communist propaganda and were therefore suspect). So while the Red Army was at first cheered, it soon became as oppressive, if not more so, than the Nazi German occupation. People were killed, property was stolen, and families torn apart. Anyone that was anti-communist or even suspected of anti-communism was killed or sent to forced labor camps. Many tried to flee to neutral countries (i.e. Sweden). But on the upside, there was no unemployment or homeless (supposedly). Anyone who disagreed disappeared. Families were forced to spy on each other and report any acts of anti-communism. If they didn’t then their family members disappeared. Basically, Hungary got royally screwed by two majorly f’d up dictators.
WS – The above was for all of you that thought you were going to read about a funny joke, but instead you got tricked into a history lesson. At least you didn’t have to spend three hours walking aimlessly around a city while learning this lesson. I fell for the same trick.
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