The Exhibition in the Imre Nagy Memorial House

The exhibition and the restoration of the Memorial House was realised in 2008, in commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the execution of the martyr prime minister. The exhibition is designed by architect László Rajk and texts are written by historian András Mink.

In the basement screening room the 56 minute long award winning documentary “Hot Autumn” by Judit Kóthy and Judit Topits is shown. On demand, further documentary films and private footages on the revolution, the person of Imre Nagy, his trial and after-life are available too.

In the lobby, visitors are greeted by the photograph of Imre Nagy, here blown to life-size, taken by the famous Austrian photographer Erich Lessing in front of the building in August 1956.

On the walls of the exhibition area replicas of Prime Minister Imre Nagy’s hand-written papers in Hungarian, German and Russian alternate with reliefs representing the objects and furniture of the one-time family home.

The life and after-life of Prime Minister Imre Nagy is told on the four projection tables. Each table consists of three bands, each made up of three layers. The story is told in chapters from left to right, from top to bottom, in a chronological order:

Table 1 – 1896–1945

Kaposvár, 1896–1915. World War I and prisoner of war, 1915–1917. Civil war and returning home, 1917–1921. Back in Kaposvár, 1921–1923. In the illegal communist movement, 1924–1928. Emmigré in Vienna, 1928–1929. Moscow in the 1930s, 1930–1934. Imre Nagy in Comintern, 1934–1941. World War II and his second return home, 1941–1944.

Table 2 – 1945–1956

The land distributing minister, 1944–1945. The beginning of Rákosi’s dictatorship, 1945–1949. The Minister for Farm Deliveries, 1949–1953. Stalin’s death, 1953. Imre Nagy’s first government and the „New Course”, 1953–1954. Fighting the Rákosi clique, 1954–1955. Rákosi’s return to power, Imre Nagy relieved of his post, 1955. In opposition, 1955–1956. Signs of the imminent revolution, June-September 1956.

Table 3 – 1956–1958

The break-out of the revolution, 6–23 October 1956. “Imre Nagy for Head of Government!”, 23–24 October 1956. Failure to restore order, 24–28 October 1956. The short-lived victory of the revolution, 29–31 October 1956. Consolidation in the shadow of the Soviet intervention, 1–3 November 1956. Crushing the revolution, Imre Nagy in Snagov, 22 November 1956 – 14 April 1957. Preparing for the trial, January 1957 – 9 June 1958. The trial and sentence, 9–15 June 1958.

Table 4 – 1958–1989 after-life

The theoretical, political and moral legacy of Imre Nagy. Reactions to the trial. Western emigrant circles. Cenotaph in Pčre Lachaise. The decade of suppression. The opposition movement and 1956. The beginning of the change of the regime. Reburial and rehabilitation, 1989.

(Visitors can surf the texts and illustrations by moving their hands over the red sensor buttons. The buttons operate with a three-second delay.)