In the final large room, entitled In the Cell – Lives Torn Apart, visitors experience the emotional climax of both the exhibition and the story of communist persecution of the churches.
This culmination is expressed through the presentation of the prisoners’ sentences and their execution, the various forms of punishment, as well as the personal belongings of those who were persecuted and the memories connected to their lives.
In the Cell – Lives Torn Apart
The dramatic lighting and sound effects, as well as the architectural elements of the space, all serve to emphasize this experience. The central element of the room is the enormous, broken-open installation known as the “Rotunda”, which radiates a powerful inner light and connects the first and second floors of the building.
Through it, visitors can look down into the exhibition presenting the life of József Mindszenty, specifically the section depicting the cardinal’s arrest and imprisonment. The split-open cylindrical form, symbolizing Mindszenty’s life, is supported and protected like a mantle by the words he spoke in his final statement, “in the exercise of his right to the last word”. These words surround and shelter the people who followed him – those who, standing together as a community of shared fate among hundreds of individual “faces”, remained proud and steadfast in their Christian faith.
The Rotunda is followed by an increasingly dense and seemingly endless forest of columns representing the persecuted victims. These are like trees of life: wounded, broken, yet still standing, preserving within themselves the divine light and strength that binds them together.
The emotional climax of the exhibition is the enormous split cylindrical installation, accompanied by dramatic lighting and sound effects. It connects the two exhibitions, allowing visitors to see the statue of Cardinal Mindszenty.
The hundreds of faces stand around him like a protective mantle, representing those who shared a common fate and remained faithful to their Christian beliefs. Among the more than 300 faces, visitors can recognize, among others, Blessed János Brenner, József Mindszenty, and Blessed Vilmos Apor.
Database of Victims
The interactive database located in front of the Rotunda aims to make the identities of known imprisoned victims accessible and available for further research.
This list is currently incomplete, and we count on visitors to help expand the research. If you have any additional information, please share it with the museum staff of Mindszentyneum.
Reflection Area
After exploring the exhibition spaces, and before reaching the exit, visitors will find a quiet area for reflection. Its purpose is to provide an opportunity to process what they have seen, or to immerse themselves in further reading on the subject. Here, visitors can also record their experiences and thoughts in a digital guestbook.
As a final keepsake, visitors can take home a small piece of the exhibition: copies of poems written on cigarette papers by Ödön Lénárd, a Piarist monk who spent one of the longest periods in prison among members of the clergy.
Curator Zsuzsanna Bors-Bulbuk’s Favourite: The Poems of Ödön Lénárd
One of Ödön Lénárd’s poems written on cigarette paper is also displayed in its original form in the showcase dedicated to him. Through his poetry, the priest was able to process his experiences and thoughts, which he managed to preserve both in his memory and on paper until his release.
A selection of these poems has been made into a small gift for visitors, which they can discover in the openings of the final room’s walls.
“That image belongs to the world of the catacombs, or to the age of golden legends, when the priest would wake before the morning call, still lying in his bed, and celebrate Mass by pouring the few drops of wine into the hollow of his left hand, so that his hand itself became the chalice.”
(Ödön Lénárd)
As a closing thought, the most important aim of the exhibition is to draw attention to the brutal period of church persecution that took place in the second half of the 20th century. Some people were broken by it, while many others were not. We cannot judge anyone for the path they chose, but we must remember those who, in an exemplary way, accepted suffering in order to preserve their faith.
