A memorial erected at the Soviet Death Camp of Recsk.
So, it's now been six weeks since I departed home and arrived here in Budapest, Hungary. In that time I have adjusted to life here, had some #firstworldproblems moments, ventured into Slovakia, as well as into Butt-Fuck Nowhere for two days near the Serb border, made some friends, and also met people from Slovenia, Scotland, Holland, France, and other countries. Oh, AND I got an Internship! GO ME! :D
On the last weekend of September, the majority of us went to Oktoberfest. I was one of the few American students who stayed behind for our excursion into the Hungarian town of Eger. Now, don't get me wrong, as much as I WANTED to go to Oktoberfest, my family and I have seriously deep roots in Eger. My grandfather, Lorant Domotor, was born there, not to mention our family has a plot in the Greek Orthodox Church in Eger for our family. I'd basically be giving my entire family (ON both sides) the finger if I ditched Eger to go drink. Like, I couldn't do it, okay? I mean, really now, like, no. Eger was a lot of fun, but a bit bland for me, since the main attraction of Eger is not only its wineries but also its famous fort defending the Turks...Which I saw when I came here in June.
Before we went to Eger, however, we made a pitstop in the small Hungarian town of Recsk, where we came face to face with one of the darker sides of Hungarian history: The Soviet Death Camp in Recsk, which was built in secret in the 1950s. The prisoners there were viewed as lowly slime, and were literally sent there, in no uncertain terms, to die. No one knew where they were. No one even knew the death camp existed.
The pictures below will give you an idea, but the camp was truly extremely chilling to see. The huts that were at this camp were made of wood, and in the freezing of winter people often died. They had to mine with lackluster tools and in dangerous conditions. If they ever had meat, there were already maggots in that meat. This camp was literally a camp to kill off those in Hungary whom were enemies to the Communist Regime. Human cruelty never ceases to amaze me anymore, but even still, it's just unbelievable the amount of suffering people can inflict unto others.
The most damning, daunting, and haunting thing I came across at Recsk was the punishment cell. This was a little tiny cell that you could barely crouch in that was built into the ground near a creek. The creek would often flood and seep into the prison cell, and you would sometimes be locked in there for 24 hours or more. I will unabashedly admit right now, if I was ever punished with something like that, I would find some way to simply kill myself. It's literally a fate worse than death. I can't blame anyone who tried to. I really can't.
The Solitary Confinement Cell at Recsk.
After the sobering images of Recsk, we made our way to our final destination of the little mountain town of Eger. Famous for its wine and its successful staving off of the Turks in the Middle Ages, it felt very rewarding to see a place like this after the pilgrimage to Recsk. The town is small, quaint, but beautiful. Many churches (Including that Greek Orthodox one. Seriously, pay it a visit! ;) ) dot the landscape. Also, at the top of the town is the stronghold against the Turks, where many men and women, outnumbered about 30 to 1, held off the Turkish invasion with primitive means. Their willpower won them the day. Nearly five centuries later, all that remains is a beautiful fortress with a stunning view:
Just some of the many pictures from Eger. The day there finished off with a venture into the Valley of the Beautiful Women and tasting of Bull's Blood (Bikaver) and "Eger Star" (Egri Csillag) white wine. The day was fabulous, and since then it's just been preparing for the next big trip out to Romania, which begins Thursday morning at the crack of dawn, 6:30 AM.
I'm also locking up plans to go to Vienna and hopefully Prague, as well, so keep your fingers crossed for me! But in the immediate plans is a four-day undertaking into Transylvania, which is in Romania and was once part of Hungary. We are going to be doing homestays, staying with host families for our four days there while this small Transylvanian town has its outdoor market. I cannot wait to do this, and also use my Hungarian, because they don't speak English! :D
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