Thirty years after the collapse of communism in Hungary, we visited the sites of its deleted totalitarian statues.
5Budapest 1956 - 2019
A 25-meter statue of Josef Stalin in Budapest (top) that communist officials called a “gift” to the dictator from the Hungarian people. The historic photo was shot five months before the monument was beheadedand dragged through the streets. In 2006, a sculpture commemorating the events of 1956 was built on the site. The memorial is just visible in the 2019 photo covered with a tarpaulin. The area is now undergoing a massive, contentiousredevelopment.1956 photo: Fortepan/Adomanyazo
6Veszprem 1962-2019 A striding Lenin (top) that was replaced by a memorial to schoolteacher Arpad Brusznyai in the western town of Veszprem. Brusznyai was involved in the 1956 uprising in the city and was hanged by communist authorities in 1958. 1962 photo: Fortepan/Marton Gabor
7Salgotarjan 1982 - 2019
A five-meter chromed steel monument to a World War II partisan fighter on a hilltop overlooking Salgotarjan (top). The monument was removed in 1993 and now stands in a far less prominent spot outside the town center. On the site of the gleaming partisan is a lookout platform topped with a Hungarian flag. 1982 photo: Fortepan/Magyar Rendor
8
Debrecen 1972-2019
A memorial to Soviet soldiers that once towered over a central square in the eastern city of Debrecen (top). The monument originally featured the names of dead Red Army soldiers beneath a young family welcoming the Soviet Army into Hungary during World War II.
In 1993, the monument (on right in 2019 photo) was moved a few meters back from its central location, cut to a stumpier height, and the names of dead Red Army soldiers were removed. 1972 photo: Fortepan/Inkey Tibor
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