Hungarians mark the victims of communist dictatorship today. In 2000, the Hungarian parliament declared that February 25 to be a day of remembrance in memory of Bela Kovacs. He was the head of the Independent Smallholder's Party in Hungary, who was arrested and deported to the Soviet Union in 1947 on this day.
The communists in Hungary would then take over power after he was deported. They were highly unpopular after 1945 and had to cheat their way into power in Hungary. Removing the popular Kovacs was one of the ways they achieved political supremacy in Hungary. The communist dictatorship in Hungary over a course of 40 years would murder, deport, imprison and torture hundreds of thousands of people.
Commemorations are being held all over Hungary this week to remember and pay tribute to the victims of Hungary's communist dictatorship. The largest and most significant ceremony will take place at Budapest's House of Terror Museum. The building used to be the headquarters of the Hungarian fascists during World War Two and then used by the communist secret police (AVO) after the war.
Plot 301 of Rakoskeresztur Cemetery in Budapest will hold a special commemoration as flowers will be laid and candles lit. Plot 301 is significant because this is where the victims of the communist retaliation after the 1956 revolution are buried in unmarked graves. Commemorations are also to be held at several other cities in Hungary that include; Pecs, Szekesfehervar and Kecskemet.
To a large part of Hungarian society, this is a very significant day. A large number of Hungarian families had relatives, friends and co-workers that were executed, imprisoned and tortured by the communist regime over the years. Sadly, there are many politicians on the left in Hungary that were card-carrying members of the communist party. Many are also the children or grandchildren of famous communists that foster some admiration for the old communist regime that caused so much grief and pain.
Today is a day that we remember the victims of the brutal communist regime and dictatorship in Hungary. Future generations of Hungarians must know that this evil ideology should never flourish again in our beautiful and proud country.
István
