Living Memorial
Living Memorial is a counter-memorial initiated by the public and a grassroots social movement. It is a series of demonstrations since March 2014 based on participation and public discussions in the public space, organised by civilians against the Memorial for the Victims of the German Occupation of Hungary.
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http://elevenemlekmu.pbworks.com
- Our point of departure was the governmental decision,00:00:26.100
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- which was unexpectedly made public on 19 March 2014,00:00:33.138
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- a memorial of the 70th anniversary of the German occupation of Hungary was00:00:37.992
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- to be unveiled on Szabadság Square. A huge public scandal broke out in00:00:46.322
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- connection with this for a number of reasons. One was that no one understood00:00:54.914
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- why the 70th anniversary of the Nazi occupation of Hungary deserved00:01:02.026
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- a memorial. Secondly, all this happened without anything leading up to it,00:01:06.565
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- the public didn’t know anything about it. By way of an insinuation,00:01:13.638
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- a secret governmental decision was unexpectedly revealed to the public.00:01:20.414
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- What we found was a jumbled mess of a description, a distorted, Xerox image of00:01:26.119
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- very poor quality, and a foggy background story about why this event had to be00:01:31.387
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- commemorated in Hungary.00:01:35.287
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- The debate that was sparked was, of course, primarily of a political and00:01:36.869
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- memory-political debate. Obviously the loudest protest came from Jewish00:01:42.908
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- organizations and groups that didn’t regard the German occupation00:01:50.354
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- on 19 March 1944 an event deserving of celebration in Hungary.00:01:57.434
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- Nobody understood why this should happen.00:02:04.135
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- To this, the government in its discomposure, re-qualified the memorial00:02:06.352
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- of the occupation as a memorial for the innocent victims of the occupation00:02:13.190
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- which was not originally part of the government decision. This elicited an even00:02:18.543
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- greater uproar, because if we are talking about all Hungarian victims, then we blur00:02:24.232
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- together the 430,000 Hungarian Jews and Roma who fell victim to the holocaust00:02:32.898
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- with the non-Jewish Hungarians who, albeit few in numbers,00:02:41.371
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- suffered from the German occupation.00:02:49.013
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- So this sparked a political debate. This was just before the elections, the whole thing00:02:56.923
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- was coloured by the back and forth between feuding political parties.00:03:04.276
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- And in this great chaos and cacophony, I thought along with a few sculptors and00:03:12.099
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- artist friends that we need to do something about this memorial.00:03:21.412
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- When the idea first came up, of the 'Free Artists', Csaba Nemes, Szabolcs KissPál,00:03:34.636
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- Balázs Kicsiny, György Jovánovics and myself were present, and we came up00:03:45.408
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- with the concept. Then we were joined by sociologists, professors from00:03:53.763
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- the Sociology Department at ELTE. We should also mention the significance00:04:01.186
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- of the Human Platform, which provided an organizational background:00:04:07.461
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- we could meet in their offices, we organized the actions with their00:04:11.657
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- logistical help. I could also mention András Lukács, who played an important00:04:17.404
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- role in all this. These colleagues are all artists working in the public eye, and all of00:04:25.044
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- them had worked with the topics of memorials, remembering and memory.00:04:31.724
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- We began to think about it and had the idea that we somehow had to00:04:42.981
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- appropriate Szabadság Square – the venue being one of the most00:04:50.560
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- debated points of this whole plan. No one could understand how such a00:04:57.005
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- historicizing memorial could be designed to be placed above a garage entrance.00:05:03.091
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- This was an unsuitable location for raising a memorial from every possible00:05:11.311
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- perspective. A road passes right in front of it, there is a large, cascading fountain00:05:17.627
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- in front of it. It’s unsuitable in every respect in terms of approaching it00:05:24.729
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- and viewing it. Nobody could understand the reason behind the haste and00:05:29.487
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- behind choosing this location. As a result of the debate, the government00:05:36.508
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- abandoned its plans to adhere to this prompt deadline and the Prime Minister00:05:43.543
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- appeared ready to only return to this question after the elections,00:05:50.295
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- to remove this matter from the themes and topics of the political campaign and00:05:54.943
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- the election process. Which was false justification, as a historical lie is00:05:59.000
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- a lie regardless of whether it’s articulated before or after the elections.00:06:05.922
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- So they shouldn’t have referred to this as a reason. Nevertheless, everyone thought00:06:11.000
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- that the date for erecting the memorial was postponed for a while, so we would00:06:16.661
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- have time for proper discussion. We were all the more surprised when,00:06:21.480
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- on the day following the election, having secured two-thirds of the votes,00:06:27.366
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- without a word, the governing party began construction. This resulted in more00:06:32.030
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- forceful civil opposition, various civic organizations appeared on the square.00:06:37.392
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- Political parties were, of course, following this as well. The cordons were regularly00:06:41.513
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- taken down and the matter was dragged out for weeks.00:06:46.281
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- I think it’s important to stress that our initiative, from the first moment on,00:06:50.493
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- aimed to remove this from the conflict field of governing party vs. opposition,00:06:58.637
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- and party politics in general. Not that this field is not a natural part of everyday life,00:07:07.085
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- but because memory politics – the matter of social memory – in our eyes, is more00:07:15.522
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- important, or at least of a different dimension, than political strife.00:07:24.066
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- We decided that we would time our action to take place before the election,00:07:30.776
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- on 23 March. This was a location-specific, artistically oriented – but not art or00:07:36.594
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- artist-related – reflection. We came up with the idea that this space should00:07:41.681
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- somehow be sanctified and transformed into a place of reverence before they00:07:50.104
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- could start construction, so that it would be more difficult – or impossible –00:07:56.233
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- to gain access to it for construction. We wanted to occupy this place.00:08:02.067
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- So we had the idea to ask the residents of Pest to come to this place00:08:10.377
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- in flash mob style. There was nothing there yet aside from the garage entrance.00:08:16.544
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- We asked them to bring personal objects with them and place it on the spot where00:08:24.165
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- the memorial was to be built. In parallel with this, we also came up with00:08:31.167
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- another idea – and this was how created the title “Living Memorial”, which is what00:08:37.011
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- we called it from the start. The idea was to initiate conversations on this site that00:08:44.515
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- were befitting of the nature of memory. The basic notion behind this was that00:08:50.963
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- remembering is always human communication.00:08:56.669
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- I think it’s important to emphasize that this was not a Jewish matter – although00:09:00.863
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- remembering the Holocaust was, of course, the most substantial part00:09:07.965
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- of the whole thing. Jewish trauma is not the only trauma that exists in this country:00:09:13.114
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- there is Trianon trauma, displacement trauma, as well as the trauma of the00:09:17.817
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- victims of the communist regime. So there are a lot of different historical traumas00:09:23.163
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- that society has to process through speaking about it, people need to share00:09:28.877
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- these stories with one another. The way to do this is through00:09:35.307
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- conversation, which became the main, central metaphor of our action. Let us00:09:40.353
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- talk, in other words, remember, in other words, think, in other words, exchange00:09:44.886
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- ideas and open up to one another.00:09:52.319
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- It was the idea of György Jovánovics, Kossuth Prize-winning sculptor,00:09:56.152
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- to make the two white chairs facing one another the visual emblem of this00:09:59.970
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- „conversation-memorial”. We placed the chairs in the place of the memorial.00:10:06.004
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- It symbolized the people that would sit down on these chairs facing each other00:10:11.448
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- and began their discussion. It was when the construction began and these00:10:15.649
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- cordon-removing actions and political demonstrations were taking place00:10:21.298
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- that we begin, in April, our action with the chairs. We bought some white chairs and00:10:27.559
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- we placed them in a circle facing each other. We started a talk circle.00:10:34.579
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- This talk circle is what is still referred to today as “Living Memorial”.00:10:39.905
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- It’s a memorial that isn’t manifested in a sculpture or some kind of plastic object,00:10:47.441
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- but in the living persons that come there to have a conversation00:10:52.803
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- and thereby keep memory alive.00:10:56.957
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- The memorial, against which our counter-memorial was created, and our00:11:00.224
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- living memorial now stand opposite each other embodying a kind of geometric00:11:08.645
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- perfection. If you go to Szabadság Square, you can see these two very different00:11:16.089
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- memorials, these two differing modes of remembering. The original memorial,00:11:24.849
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- commissioned by the government to be designed by Párkányi Raab Péter,00:11:32.841
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- is a classic example of a national memorial. These were created all over00:11:38.905
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- Europe in the 19th century as symbolic commemorations of newly established00:11:45.976
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- states, in accordance with their own historical narrative. In Budapest, it was00:11:51.888
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- the Millennium Monument on Hero’s Square that provided the most prominent00:12:00.120
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- representation of the framework within which Hungarian history was00:12:07.189
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- conceptualized by the ruling class in the late 19th century. This monument00:12:14.823
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- symbolizes the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, the conquering00:12:23.968
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- Hungarian chieftains, Christianity and a thousand years of Hungarian history00:12:34.336
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- within a single, grand framework.00:12:41.663
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- The governments of freshly formed nation states liked to erect such00:12:47.009
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- national monuments, which served to represent their own legitimacy and00:12:55.370
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- validate their autonomy. These, as I said, always articulate a certain narrative of00:13:00.748
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- national history that led to the historical situation in which the monument was00:13:09.151
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- created. In this sense, the memorial of German occupation on Szabadság Square00:13:15.404
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- is also a national monument. It’s no surprise that its motifs refer to the00:13:22.903
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- symbolism of the monument of Hero’s Square, as this national memorial talks00:13:30.638
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- about how national sovereignty was – in accordance with the new fundamental00:13:36.994
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- law of Hungary – lost for 46 years. And it appeared to be the case that,00:13:44.119
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- on 19 March 1944, Hungarian statehood permanently ceased to exist. The question00:13:51.912
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- is why today’s Hungarian government would commission a monument which00:13:58.807
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- suggests that, on 19 March 1944, Hungarian statehood was lost.00:14:05.420
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- This, in effect, signifies the ideal of a newly formed state. The reason they had00:14:13.972
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- to pinpoint a definitive date that marked the permanent loss of Hungarian state00:14:20.672
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- sovereignty was so the prophecy of a new Hungarian future00:14:29.129
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- – a regained, newly founded Hungarian state sovereignty – could be articulated.00:14:35.826
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- This is the underlying idea that renders this memorial meaningful.00:14:42.006
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- It’s meaningful in terms of its function to this effect. From another perspective,00:14:48.341
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- however, it’s extremely confused and, above all, dishonest.00:14:53.064
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- Especially if we approach this from the social aspect of memory. It should be00:14:59.517
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- clear that social memory is one thing, and how politics and the ruling power operate00:15:04.480
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- with and use this memory is another.00:15:09.406
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- I feel an important difference between the two memorials. One of them is00:15:14.529
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- a monument of memory politics erected – and forced into public consciousness –00:15:20.982
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- by the state. It doesn’t actually have much to do with remembering as such, rather00:15:28.302
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- it replaces the work or remembering by creating a false memory. Behind this00:15:35.583
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- “cover”, you can find real social memory, as those who are still alive remember and00:15:43.863
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- know in their guts what happened – or may have happened – in this country.00:15:51.536
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- Memory which two or three generations later we can still feel on our skin.00:15:58.865
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- One of the driving forces behind the Living Memorial was to replace the political00:16:06.497
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- appropriation of symbolic memory by a real community of people who remember.00:16:14.415
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- The nature of memory – or should I say of people – is that we only the good times00:16:40.820
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- are remembered. The memory of a society, however, must also contain times00:16:48.434
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- that were not so good. Because that is how future generations can learn and00:16:55.231
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- understand where they come from and where they are headed.00:17:04.025
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- The struggle against forgetting is the task of these counter-memorials. Politics00:17:10.994
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- always likes to free society from the burden of bad conscience, which forces00:17:17.823
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- people to remember all they have done.00:17:22.542
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- To the question of whether this was created by artists, non-artist,00:18:03.154
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- art historians, sociologists or activists, my answer is that it was created by00:18:09.742
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- intellectuals. In fact, intellectuals that had some significant task or position in this00:18:16.637
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- institutional system. So these intellectuals were involved – and not others. If we look00:18:22.957
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- at the circle of participants who first thought about this, brought the chairs out00:18:29.395
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- and sat on them and deemed the content of the thinking process worthy of realizing00:18:37.136
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- in the form of a program, this was a closed circle of intellectuals.00:18:45.043
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- The greatest thought of this intellectual circle was to interpret the position of00:18:50.425
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- the site correctly. There were self- organizing demonstrations by the00:18:58.665
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- local residents, but they did not arrive at the correct interpretation.00:19:04.643
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- They reacted much sooner and invested immense energy in their protest, but they00:19:12.092
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- went to the Western Railway Station, for example. Their thinking about how they00:19:17.758
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- should demonstrate was shaped by a completely different logic. This group,00:19:25.439
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- however, understood the codes of remembering from a professional00:19:33.971
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- standpoint. It was able to create a powerful system of symbols that was00:19:39.546
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- self-constructive. I think that they were still demonstrators, who wanted00:19:46.978
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- to demonstrate in their own way.00:19:51.985
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- A call was announced asking people to come to the site and continue this00:19:55.200
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- memory work, tell their stories, play their guitar. Being present was defined in terms00:20:02.702
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- of a cultural program. As András also mentioned, a more serious kind of work00:20:09.227
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- then began, which, rather than conceiving our presence in the framework of a00:20:17.547
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- cultural program, called for educating this conversation process. Education is a very00:20:27.040
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- simple thing: in essence, it’s about making conversation free of violence.00:20:35.442
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- Which shouldn’t be such a big deal, except that this is a conflict zone with00:20:42.270
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- police presence, where everyone is angry, people with different grievances are00:20:51.065
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- there. There are those who agree with erecting this monument or the narrative00:20:59.579
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- that is behind it – they are happy that this narrative is voiced. They argue with those,00:21:07.887
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- also there, who are emotionally affected by this, who feel vulnerable and see this00:21:14.087
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- whole process as an attack. There will be intense emotions in such a situation,00:21:21.477
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- which can be bridled. If we are successful in curbing these emotions, then the00:21:28.500
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- thinking that was initiated by the intellectual circle can be elaborated.00:21:34.953
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- We can legitimately participate in this process without excluding anyone.00:21:43.242
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- András can come there – as he does – and can feel just as much at ease as he did00:21:49.945
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- when talking with people he works with, or with his circle of friends. He has just as00:21:56.906
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- good a time. And everyone else there, who usually converse with others in other00:22:04.679
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- circles, can also enjoy themselves. It is here that counter-memory and00:22:10.979
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- dialogic memory come into play. With counter memory, what is important is that00:22:17.415
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- we are able to say something in contrast to official memory – to statements about00:22:25.582
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- our past that are forced on us. We can tell our families’ stories, which is given voice00:22:32.666
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- to by counter-memory. But if we take this and create a circle, a platform where00:22:39.758
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- everyone is given the chance to voice their own narrative, so that not only00:22:47.260
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- families but groups and narratives can express themselves and enter into debate00:22:54.392
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- with one another in a single place, we have created an action of dialogic00:23:01.247
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- memory. This is special because it is usually intellectuals that come up with00:23:07.511
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- these actions, but without participation by local residents. The participation that00:23:14.537
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- Szabolcs brought to the process with the first chair somehow became successful.00:23:20.985
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- This discussion circle actually managed to make residents feel like it was their own.00:23:27.393
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- If I remember correctly, at the beginning there was no moderation,00:23:33.343
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- only free conversation. The group that came up with and initiated this00:23:39.762
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- conversation was present in large numbers. After a while it became clear00:23:47.050
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- that there was a need for moderation. In a certain sense, this was not a traditional00:23:54.469
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- “thinking” conversation: it didn’t seek to arrive at an endpoint like it usually does in00:24:00.447
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- situations that require moderation. We use the word “moderator”, but, in fact,00:24:06.860
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- this person has the role of a kind of helper, who curbs intense emotions,00:24:14.523
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- which was necessary in this case. Routine, skill, practical considerations, and one’s00:24:20.348
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- availability were all determining factors in who became the moderator.00:24:28.849
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- A team began forming, which undertook these tasks. There were two directions00:24:35.667
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- that constituted important aspects of the program. One was memory as defined00:24:42.731
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- by András, and he often reminds me of the importance of this.00:24:49.581
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- And it IS really important. Counter-memory and dialogic memory are all00:24:55.116
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- important parts, as are participants and opposition to authority through00:25:02.221
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- memory, generational handing over, and so on.00:25:08.419
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- The other theme is how we organize society. Here, there is still the question00:25:13.446
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- of authority and our relationship to it. This is about how the will of authority has to00:25:20.509
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- be executed, and we ourselves are the executors. Why shouldn’t we be able to00:25:27.217
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- discuss with each other what we want and how? Why do we only carry out00:25:33.599
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- instructions given to us directly by the authority? How does this whole system00:25:39.575
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- work in general? There is also a third theme: education and cultural00:25:45.856
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- transmission, of which I am partly the conveyor. We put the program together00:25:51.247
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- with everyone having personal competence as to whom they can00:25:56.742
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- bring to it. We went to the Ludwig Museum to see the00:26:02.562
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- „ silence – a Holocaust” exhibition. We also participated in other cultural00:26:07.650
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- programs. We held discussions at Monitor, we had theatre discussions at00:26:14.425
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- the Bálint Jewish Community Center. If we look at these three main areas and we00:26:20.139
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- also add to memory the topic of identity, that pretty much covers the themes.00:26:27.143
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- Viki became involved on Szabadság Square after repeating Higgins’ partiture00:27:35.665
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- in a university environment. I felt that this was highly relevant so I got in touch with00:27:43.843
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- her and we started talking. She asked for some time to think it over; she had more00:27:50.130
- 00:27:50.130
- of a sense of its weight than I did. Finally, she said yes. It was presented in00:27:58.080
- 00:27:58.080
- conjunction with a discussion, so there was a simultaneous performance and00:28:06.358
- 00:28:06.358
- discussion. Participants also came up at that point. Other works were also00:28:14.159
- 00:28:14.159
- presented, there was a curatorial project. Tamás Don's project was presented along00:28:20.541
- 00:28:20.541
- with works by numerous young artists. We also had other actions, such as the00:28:28.039
- 00:28:28.039
- Dezső Tandori – Albert Wass reading. All of these took place within a framework of00:28:35.554
- 00:28:35.554
- discussions. So these programs always contained a discussion element, which00:28:42.232
- 00:28:42.232
- then laid the groundwork for debate.00:28:49.078
- 00:28:49.078
- There were, luckily, many moments that were cathartic from various perspectives.00:28:53.304
- 00:28:53.304
- There was identity-related catharsis, as well as catharsis of unfolding memory.00:29:01.375
- 00:29:01.375
- I find this to be a very important point: when the story brought for sharing is00:29:08.521
- 00:29:08.521
- not “pre-packaged”. This was a situation which, at the beginning, András made00:29:16.155
- 00:29:16.155
- possible – recounting a story to be recorded on video, like it was the case for00:29:23.555
- 00:29:23.555
- Ádám Csillag who made an excellent video. These are usually ready stories that00:29:30.163
- 00:29:30.163
- we have prepared for and told many times. There is another situation, which00:29:37.655
- 00:29:37.655
- András also mentioned: the wall of silence. When we don’t want to tell our00:29:45.100
- 00:29:45.100
- story, but we nevertheless need to – or our environment needs us to –00:29:52.266
- 00:29:52.266
- talk about it. Which is not an easy thing. The rememberers we call there, who have00:29:56.828
- 00:29:56.828
- prepared their stories, are already past this point. But it’s very cathartic when00:30:03.490
- 00:30:03.490
- people who have shown up to demonstrate their fear of these processes00:30:10.504
- 00:30:10.504
- repeating in society suddenly begin to speak. A man from Jánoshalma,00:30:18.370
- 00:30:18.370
- for instance, took this step. He was asked how, after him returning from00:30:25.687
- 00:30:25.687
- a labour camp and his wife from death camp, he was able to forgive those who00:30:32.659
- 00:30:32.659
- were there. He told a story that took place in a forest, where he and two other men00:30:40.892
- 00:30:40.892
- decided that if someone were to attack them, they would kill him. In the end,00:30:50.900
- 00:30:50.900
- it never came to that point. It was the strength behind this decision that never00:30:59.486
- 00:30:59.486
- made this a question for him again. Anyway, what I say here doesn’t matter,00:31:07.976
- 00:31:07.976
- what matters is how he told his story there and that this took place in00:31:13.944
- 00:31:13.944
- a complex real-life situation.00:31:19.005
- 00:31:19.005
- Various groups are active in the square. The Living Memorial with its discussion00:31:22.627
- 00:31:22.627
- format is not the only thing present there, there is also the Freedom Theatre group,00:31:30.082
- 00:31:30.082
- which is a self-organizing program series. Of course we check with each other00:31:36.002
- 00:31:36.002
- so there is no conflicting in the programs. There is also the group that was00:31:42.926
- 00:31:42.926
- previously called Tolerance Group, I am not sure what they’re called now exactly:00:31:50.454
- 00:31:50.454
- Imre Mécs and his circle who primarily organized political demonstrations.00:31:56.608
- 00:31:56.608
- There are various voices next to one another, which I think complement each00:32:03.340
- 00:32:03.340
- other well and offer various people of different tastes the opportunity to00:32:11.459
- 00:32:11.459
- participate in the whole thing. The point is, the square itself, for all intents and00:32:19.250
- 00:32:19.250
- purposes, has transformed into a space of new publicity – a new agora.00:32:26.805
- 00:32:26.805
- What is most important from our perspectives perhaps that, through this,00:32:34.696
- 00:32:34.696
- we have managed to basically diffuse the original, German occupation memorial.00:32:41.100
- 00:32:41.100
- The memorial was snuck there in secret at night time last July. Which we can regard00:32:48.213
- 00:32:48.213
- as a victory, since they didn’t dare put it up during the day in a visible manner.00:32:54.973
- 00:32:54.973
- They did it at night and suddenly it was there. They quickly gave up on any plans00:33:02.420
- 00:33:02.420
- to have an unveiling ceremony. A memorial that is not unveiled, greeted00:33:10.372
- 00:33:10.372
- by speeches and adorned with wreaths is not a memorial. It’s a dead object, which,00:33:15.053
- 00:33:15.053
- as of last spring, can be said to have been branded by its petty and filthy story. It will00:33:22.564
- 00:33:22.564
- 00:33:22.564
- 00:33:22.564
- never fulfill the function for which it had originally been created. In a certain sense,00:33:30.189
- 00:33:30.189
- this shows that we made the right decision last spring, when we decided to00:33:36.267
- 00:33:36.267
- prevent the memorial from being put up.00:33:43.404