Embedded Files
One of my favorite buildings is the Hungarian National Archive, located in the quieter, less touristy civic area of Buda Castle.
24 July, 2025
During breaks between tours, I often relax behind the Hungarian National Archive next to its backyard, sitting under the shade of chestnut trees.
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Budapest, so the archive has organized "1945 - In The Crossfire" exhibition featuring relics, documents, and the stories of people who worked at the archive during the siege.
Nazi Germany occupied Hungary on 19 March, 1944, because the Hungarian government had established contact with the British regarding exiting the war, and Hitler needed his Hungarian ally and the country's resources.
The Allies began bombing Hungary in April 1944, and the Soviet Red Army entered Hungarian soil in August of that year. By Christmas, the Soviets had completely surrounded Budapest and what the soldiers called an "inferno" began. To protect the documents and save their lives, archivists moved into the building. However, the Germans had established themselves in the Castle District and designated the archive as a first aid treatment unit, known as a "field dressing station".
The director protested against this arrangement, arguing that the increased traffic could attract unwanted attention. His concerns proved valid when the building suffered several artillery attacks, resulting in a massive shell crater in the backyard. Additionally, books were piled up to create beds for the wounded, causing blood to soak into many valuable documents.
After February 11, 1945, when the remaining 12,000 German soldiers attempted to break out from the siege ring, bodies left behind were buried in the shell crater in the backyard. When the archive was organizing this exhibition, historians discovered an interesting report about this mass grave and learned that it had never been exhumed.
So this year in May, the exhumation started in the courtyard. Thirteen soldiers were found with personal belongings, such as watches, combs, razors, medical equipment were recovered from the ground.
I could peek into the courtyard through the bushes and saw the crater for a while, but it was buried this week. Seven soldiers could be identified, so seven German families could learn after 80 years where their relatives were buried.
This discovery has profound significance. Last year, one of my elderly guests came to Budapest before traveling to Slovenia for a ceremony. His father's aircraft had been shot down over Yugoslavia during WWII, and in 2024, he received notice that the aircraft was found and his father's remains would be returned to him. The elderly man had tears in his eyes as we discussed the details.
My own grandfather disappeared in WW II. My grandmother waited years for him to return home, and my father died never knowing where his father was laid to rest.
The exhibition is fascinating, featuring original documents, personal belongings, photographs, and historical films.
Bullet holes from the siege are still visible in the archive's facade; these scars make it more beautiful.
(Photo credits for the exhumation and personal belongings: National Archive)
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