This Saturday there will be commemoration events for the victims of communism all around Hungary. On 25 February in 1947 Béla Kovács, the Secretary General of the Independent Smallholders’ Party, was unlawfully arrested and deported to the Soviet Union. The Hungarian parliament adopted a decision in June 2000 (58/2000; VI. 16.) which made 25 February Remembrance Day for the Victims of Communism.
– the official commemoration event will take place between 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. outside the House of Terror Museum at Andrássy út 60; this institution is ten years old this year. Everyone is welcomed to place remembrance candles and lampions at the museum, to honor victims of the communist dictatorship. (The museum is free of charge on this day, visitors get special guided tours held by well-known people.)
– speakers from 4 p.m.: László Balás-Piri, president of the Board of Trustees of the Public Foundation for the Research of Central and East European History and Society; Gábor Tallai, program director of the House of Terror Museum; Mária Schmitt, director of the House of Terror Museum; Csaba Hende, Minister of Defence.
– singers: Eszter Váczi, Ákos.
The victims of communist regimes worldwide are estimated at 100 million. In Eastern Europe, the number of those who died in famine, in labor camps or were executed on political grounds was around one million. We can not even estimate the number of people physically and psychologically crippled by the everyday reality of dictatorship.
More information in Hungarian here.
This is a statue next to the Hungarian Parliament House, representing Béla Kovács. The statue was unveiled on 25 February, 2002.
Picture from Wikipedia.