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Introduction
The
Siege of Budapest was one of the longest and bloodiest battles of WWII.
Between the appearance of the first Soviet tank and the final capture
of Buda Castle, 102 days were to pass. In comparison, Berlin and Vienna
fell after 2 weeks and 6 days respectively, while no other European
city, with the exception of Warsaw, was the scene of a major battle.
Even those German units that persevered the longest, like
K�nigsberg (Kaliningrad) and Breslau (Wroclaw), resisted the
attackers for 77 and 82 days respectively. The fierceness of the
battle of Budapest can be compared only to the sieges of Leningrad
(St. Petersburg), Stalingrad (Volgograd) and Warsaw. Budapest has been
one of the most besieged capital cities in Europe, which bares
witness to its strategic importance: there have been 15 different
major battles fought here throughout history, yet not one of them
comes close to the siege of 1944-1945 in the scope of its destruction.
The stifling of the Warsaw uprising took 63 days, the blockade of
Leningrad lasted almost 3 years but no battles were fought on the
streets. Stalingrad was a combat zone for 4 months, but most of the
civilian population was evacuated prior to the struggle. At the same
time, more than 800,000 people were eyewitnesses to the bloody
conflict that contemporaries compared to Stalingrad in its ferocity.
The casualties of the Red Army were 80,026 dead and 240,056 wounded
during the military operations in Budapest and its vicinity, and
for each Soviet soldier killed elsewhere in Hungary, two lost their
lives in the capital city. The material damage was also great.
The entire
German-Hungarian loss of life amounted to about 60% of Red Army
losses. Between November 3, 1944 and February 16, 1945, there were
about 40,000 dead and 62,000 wounded (including victims of the
attempt to break out of the blockade). In terms of numbers,
Hungarian losses did not surpass that of the Germans and were a far
cry from the Soviet casualties. However, this was the most inane
sacrifice of all three. Regardless of his allegiance, the Hungarian
soldier was but a spectator of the destruction of his country. Many
felt that it was their duty to fight even when the outcome was obvious,
others capitulated right away citing Horthy Mikl�s' order of
cease-fire. To chose meant to wager between the lesser of two
evils: persistence only prolonged the bloody war initiated for the
wrong cause, capitulation did not ensure true liberation. During the
siege, very few took the risk of taking photographs. Almost all
pictures taken by the defenders were destroyed. Therefore this
exhibition primarily presents materials of the Soviet war
correspondents and civilians, as well as the pictures taken after the
siege. For this very reason, there is virtually no evidence of several
significant events and important people. The street battles, the
atrocities or the anti-Fascist resistance cannot be revisited either.
When planning this exhibition, we worked from materials that were
at posterity's disposal, therefore, it is primarily buildings that
feature in the photographs. Nevertheless, this does not diminish the
tragedy of the thousands who perished in the midst of those
destroyed buildings. This exhibition commemorates these human
destinies
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