Budapest’s House of Terrors is a museum to two murderous regimes that occupied Hungary and the people they murdered. It’s located in the building that was the headquarters for the German Nazis, then the Arrow Cross (the Hungarian fascists) and finally Soviet State Security. Through objects, sound, music, lighting and video the museum tells the story of these reigns of terror, evoking a real feeling of tension and fear without being gratuitous or exploitative. It brought to life the terrors many Hungarian people experienced during the war and under Soviet control. It tended to focus on Hungarian resistance rather than collaboration and reflected how the two totalitarian regimes from different political extremes used such similar murderous methods.

The black car of the Soviet secret police

Towards the end of the exhibition, we were taken into the original cellars of the building where thousands of people were incarcerated, tortured and killed. One of the great strengths of the museum is that throughout it focused on repeating the names, and sharing the images, of the people who lost their lives. It closed with a video of the final Soviet troops leaving Budapest in 1991- and stating that all the lost died for the country’s hard won freedom. Small wonder that in 2022, there are Ukrainian flags displayed everywhere across the city.

This was a harrowing experience, but one of the best museums I have visited. Go if you get a chance, but remember it’s closed on a Monday.