Liberty Square: The Occupation Memorial and the Living Memorial
Why is it significant?
At the southern end of the square, among broken columns, stands an archangel holding an orb, while a great eagle swoops down on him from above. Now lower your eyes. In front of it, along a rope or on the ground, lie suitcases, photographs, letters, candles, pebbles and shoes.
Key Facts
| Place | Liberty Square: The Occupation Memorial and the Living Memorial |
|---|---|
| Address | Szabadság tér, 1054 Budapest, Hungary |
| Geo Coordinates | 47.50310, 19.05060 |
| Part of Walk | Crown, Dome and River: Budapest's Parliament, St Stephen's Basilica & the Danube Bank |
| Generated | Generated |
At the southern end of the square, among broken columns, stands an archangel holding an orb, while a great eagle swoops down on him from above. Now lower your eyes. In front of it, along a rope or on the ground, lie suitcases, photographs, letters, candles, pebbles and shoes. Two memorials, one facing the other.
The sculpture was erected by the Hungarian government in July 2014, for the seventieth anniversary of the German occupation of Hungary on 19 March 1944. The angel stands for Hungary, the eagle for Nazi Germany, and the inscription dedicates it to all the victims of the occupation. It was installed at night, without an official unveiling ceremony.
Its critics, among them historians and Hungarian Jewish organisations, argued that it shows Hungary only as an innocent victim. They point out that after the occupation, Hungarian authorities and the Hungarian gendarmerie organised the deportations themselves. Between May and July 1944, around 437,000 Jews were deported from Hungary, most of them to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Supporters of the monument answer that it mourns every victim of the occupation, Jewish and non-Jewish alike.
The objects in front are the answer of ordinary citizens, and people call it the Living Memorial. Since 2014 they have brought photographs of grandparents who were deported, letters written to the dead, family documents and names on scraps of paper. Some are faded by years of rain, others were placed last week. For long stretches there were also open-air discussions here, people arguing out loud about how a country should remember.
The two memorials have stood face to face ever since, neither one giving way to the other. Walk slowly along the objects and read a few names. You do not have to decide anything. Then leave the square at its south-eastern corner and head through the streets towards the great dome that keeps appearing between the rooftops.