Submitted by Joshua Gower on the 2017 winter session program in Austria and Hungary sponsored by the College of Education and Human Development…
When arriving in Budapest, you get the feeling that you’ve always belonged here. This rustic and culturally diverse city is a cornerstone of history and provides us with a deep insight into a world which we aren’t too familiar with. When we arrived, we were greeted with strange sights and a sense of unfamiliarity. Both of those things were delightfully frightening. We embarked from our bus to get to our apartment which by the way was about four blocks away. This is vitally important as it shows the culture of European cities, it isn’t easy getting around like back home. We ventured throughout the city to get a better understanding of what we were dealing with. We quickly learned how to use the underground metro system, as well as the other forms of transportation. We also learned that in Budapest, you must show your travel card EVERY time you get onto a Metro, this was not the case in Vienna. I was already so excited, and it had been merely a few hours. There was so much I didn’t know, that I would come to find out.
The very next day, we got to travel to various landmarks, such as the Heroes Square, an area in which the various kings from the year 1800-1900 were displayed as heroes. We also visited the Parliament building. Then, we visited this one landmark, the Hungarian Government’s attempt at commemorating the Jewish lives lost in World War II. This landmark which was very controversial, was exactly that due to its poor representation and the lack of historical truths. The statue depicts the state of Hungary as an innocent statue with a black eagle (the German SS) attacking it from above. This depiction is to be interpreted as the Hungarian Government saying it had nothing to do with the Jewish lives lost in World War II, when the opposite was true, and they even had an active role. In turn, there is a line of briefcases and pictures and other items in front of the statue as a protest to this monument and a fitting tribute.
This was truly an interesting experience since we were able to see first-hand how Hungarians themselves felt about this monument as our tour guide, Andrea, let us know her true feelings. She felt disrespected by the monument and did not appreciate the total disregard for the truth and the misrepresentation of how the Jewish people were treated by their own government during this time. This is an impression on me that will last forever as it is such a disturbing realization. It has been an amazing time so far, and I can’t wait for many more amazing days!
