The headquarters of the dreaded secret police have been turned into the striking House of Terror, an engrossing and evocative museum focusing on the crimes and atrocities of Hungary's fascist and Stalinist regimes. The years leading up to the 1956 Uprising get the lion's share of the exhibition space. The reconstructed prison cells in the basement and the Perpetrators' Gallery, featuring photographs of the turncoats, spies and torturers, are chilling.
The tank in the central courtyard makes for a jarring introduction and the wall outside displaying photos of many victims speaks volumes. The building has a ghastly history – it was here that activists of every political persuasion before and after WWII were taken for interrogation and torture. The walls were apparently of double thickness to muffle the screams.
