THE BULLET RIDDLED WALLS OF BUDAPEST
Should the facades of the bullet-riddled apartment buildings be plastered and, following the gentrification trend, look neat or leave them as a mementos of difficult times in our history?
The big holes you see on several buildings date back to the siege of Budapest by the Red Army in 1945. At the end of the war, our beautiful city was squeezed between the “liberating Russians” and the retreating German army. The big holes you can see are due to shelling since it was a door-to-door military action.
However, the tiny holes you can see on these otherwise posh houses date back to the twelve days of the Hungarian Revolution between 23 October 1956 and 4 November. The Revolution had a violent end by the same Red Army of the Soviet Union.
On 23 October, we celebrate the heroes of the Revolution and, even more, the War of Independence, which is the official title of the events that took place during those 12 days.
The story of this glorious Revolution shook the whole world, and it is well-documented in archives, literature, and films. Our little contribution is the bullet-hole memento to draw your attention to this unique historical event, which is so important to us.
