The opening of the exhibition ˝8 Months in Hungary˝ took place on Friday, 2nd of March 2018 at the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó library.

8 panels, illustrated by documents from the ICRC archive, cover the crucial period between March and October 1944, from the German occupation of Hungary to the seizure of power by the Nazi Arrow Cross Party. Durind this period a lot of mass deportations took place and hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed in the Nazi death Camps.

The exhibition was opened by the ambassador of Switzerland in Hungary Peter Burkhard and the Head of the ICRC mission Frédéric Fournier.

“The aim of this exhibition is to try to understand how the ICRC reacted in front of such violence.

It shows how poor and limited were the means of the ICRC’s humanitarian action in front of the gigantic needs of the victims, and how small were the results of its intervention to protect Jewish populations first from persecution, and then from annihilation.

However, this exhibition focuses on the extraordinary courage of some men who, sometimes against the orders received from Geneva, and sometimes by exposing themselves to possible retaliation, tried by all means at their disposal to save lives, without distinction of race, gender or creed.

These men are, unfortunately, exceptions that should not hide the fact that the ICRC, as others, reacted too late, with too much caution, and so shared, with the rest of the world, the moral responsibility of not having been able to prevent and stop the Nazi genocide.

However, they are also an extremely strong symbol of humanity and its ability to act steadfastly, sometimes against all odds, including in the most horrible and hopeless situations. 

These men should constantly remind us of the necessity to continue this duty of humanity in a world that is today, as it was in 1944, in 1919 or in 1956, unfortunately largely inhumane.” (From the speech of Mr. Frederic Fournier, Head of Delegation, ICRC)

The exhibition can be visited in the library until 29th March 2018, from Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. and Sat. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Location: Metropolitan Ervin Szabó library, 1st floor (1088 Budapest, Szabó Ervin tér 1.)