As part of the “Migrant Narratives and the City” conference, the Department of Gender Studies, CEU and the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Debrecen presents
The tour starts with a talk about the context and history of the Liberty square, which is one of the most beautiful public squares in Budapest. It was previously a prison which was replaced by the first public garden creating the space for and by citizens of the city. By now every political system and ideology left a memorial landmark in this space. The tour will introduce the history of the square as well as the different monuments reflecting on different periods of Hungarian history: Ronald Reagan, Monument of German Occupation, Bandholtz, Imre Nagy, Soviet Liberation Monument, Statue of Miklos Horthy, eternal flame for the first executed Prime Minister of Hungary, plaque of the first girls’ secondary school. The square is also a space for memory activism, and one of the participants of the activist group protesting against the Monument of German Occupation shares the story of the movements.
Suggested reading:
Andrea Pető, „“Hungary 70”: Non-remembering the Holocaust in Hungary” in Culture & History Digital Journal 3(2) December 2014, e016 eISSN 2253-797X doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/chdj.2014.016 (online)