Last Sunday, my friends and I traveled through time. All it took was a short bus ride through south Buda to peer into the window of Hungary’s past. Just outside of the city lies Memento Park. Nestled in the suburban hills of Kelenfold, the park stands as an eerie testament to the communist occupation of Hungary.

After World War II, Hungary was occupied by the Red Army. In 1949 it became a satellite country under the influence of the Soviet Union. In order to establish the Hungarian Working People’s Party, the Stalinist prime minister enforced harsh economic and political programs. After fierce resistance from Hungarian liberation fighters -including the 1956 revolution- the iron fist of communism finally crumbled in 1989.

During the years of communist rule, statues of communist heroes were inevitably placed throughout the city. After liberation, these statues ended up in Memento Park.

This was a truly fascinating visit. The park’s website puts it best:

Displayed in the Park are 42 pieces of art from the Communist era between 1945 and 1989, including allegorical monuments of “Hungarian-Soviet Friendship” and “Liberation”, as well as statues of famous personalities from the labour movement, soldiers of the Red Army and other gigantic pieces: Lenin, Marx, Engels, Dimitrov, Captain Ostapenko, Béla Kun and other “heroes” of the communist world.

Ghosts of Communism

The next picture is of the impressive Liberation Army Soldier.

A hammer-and-sickle flag in its hand and a cartridge-disc machine pistol hanging in its neck make the statue complete. This 6-meter tall statue of the evil-eyed Soviet soldier once stood on the top of Gellért Hill in central Budapest, well-seen from every direction.

Hungarians joke that the statue resembles a masseuse in a turkish bath, running after a customer who had forgotten his towel. How perfect is that image?

It was a sobering experience in many ways. However, we still had fun imitating the goofy poses and mocking the overly-serious expressions of the statues.

Trabi
At the end of the park sat a cute, rusty Trabant. A dinosaur from East Germany, this little polluter was once rated as one of the 50 worst cars of all time.

What a fun little clown car.

Memento Park is a testament to the spirit of communism…

And to its fall.

Many brave Hungarians died in the fight for liberty. Communism ravaged Hungary, and I am thankful for opportunities such as this one, to learn more about the history of this country.