The exhibition “Executed cities. Poznań - Budapest 1956” is currently presented in Hungary. It has been prepared by the Branch of the Institute of National Remembrance in Poznań, in cooperation with the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Warsaw and the Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
The exhibition presents the tragic experience of the two cities, which in 1956 opposed the communist system imposed by Moscow. By recalling the course of events of nearly 55 years ago the exhibition gives Poles and Hungarians a chance to learn more about he common history. Moreover, by presenting photographs of numerous memorials inscribed in the landscape of both cities, it brings to light how much the past events are present in the collective consciousness of both nations.
The exhibition contains 32 panels in Polish, Hungarian and English, presenting images from the events of 1956 and the contemporary images of memorials located in both cities and outside Poland and Hungary.
The ceremonial opening of the exhibition took place on 23 March 2011 in Poland, during the sixth Polish - Hungarian Friendship Days in Poznań, in the Museum of the Wielkopolska Uprising of 1918-1919, located in the Guardhouse at the Old Market Square in Poznań. The ceremony was attended by Bronisław Komorowski, the President of Poland (who also took the event under his patronage) and Pál Schmidt, the President of Hungary.
The exhibition, now shown in Hungary, meets with great interest of the Hungarian community. So far, according to the Polish Ambassador in Budapest, the exhibition has been presented in the main hall of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the accredited diplomatic corps in Hungary, in the Parliament House, in the Szabó Ervin Budapest Public Library (according to the account of the director the exhibition was seen by several thousand visitors, mostly young people) and in Miskolc, where the presentation of the exhibition was combined with the unveiling of the renewed monument of Romek Strzałkowski.
Currently, the exhibition can be seen in the Budapest branch of the "House of Terror" museum in Hódmezővásárhely. It has been opened by Roman Kowalski, the Polish Ambassador in Budapest, the head of the ruling Fidesz nad János Lazár, the mayor of Hódmezővásárhely. School children visit the exhibition as part of the special history lessons.
By the end of March, the exhibition will travel to Veszprém and will be presented as part of the project of the local university, dedicated to Central Europe. It will be opened by the Ambassador of the Poland, Deputy Prime Minister and Tibor Navracsics, the Minister of Justice.
At the end of May and June, the exposition will be made available to students at Corvinus University of Budapest, as a reference to the next 56. anniversary of the June events of 1956 in Poznań.
In September, it will be open in Eger.
The schedule for October and November is currently discussed, yet new institutions and new Hungarian cities would like to present the exhibit.
For more about the exhibition please click here.