Terror & Swing

After breakfast we walk to the tram which takes us to the House of Terror Museum.  Since this is so close to Halloween, you might think scary spooks and ghouls, but this museum is much more frightening.  It is a remembrance of the terror during both the Nazi and Communist regimes.  Under the Nazi's the building was occupied by the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party, which used the cellar to torture and kill hundreds of people at the same time Jews throughout Hungary were driven west to their destruction.

When Hungary ended up under Soviet occupation in 1945 the building was taken over by the State Security Authority, which used brutal interrogation, extorted confessions and sent their victim to labor camps, prisons or the gallows.  Many did not survive the interrogations.  It was also chilling to watch videos of large rallies of young people endorsing and cheering the Communist regime early in the occupation, drinking the koolaide of leaders using rhetoric of socialist peace and prosperity.

In the evening we have an early dinner at a restaurant along Ráday Út then catch a tram to the Buda side to attend Swing Concert 2.  It is the same band of swing jazz musicians we saw a couple of weeks ago, but this time they are joined by a female singer.  Once again it it a wonderful 2 hours.  The band is happy for us to take photos and videos, so we do.

​After the concert we take the long way home, walking part of the way along the Danube taking photos of the Pest side across the river.