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Catafalque for 1989 Reburial of Imre Nagy and Colleagues

Fortepan1989-06-16

Open Society Archives

Open Society Archives
Budapest, Hungary

Designed by László Rajk and Gábor Bachman, the catafalque for the 1989 public reburial of Imre Nagy and colleagues was erected on the steps of the Műcsarnok (Kunsthalle) museum of modern art on Budapest's Heroes' Square. Hundreds of thousands of mourners attended this theatrical event to rebury the martyrs of the 1956 Revolution and, with them, Communism itself.

There were six coffins laid out on the catafalque. Five contained the remains of former Prime Minister Imre Nagy, military leader Pál Maléter, the journalists Miklós Gimes and Géza Losonczy, and lawyer József Szilágyi, all of whom had been secretly buried at Plot 301 in Budapest's New Public Cemetery in the early 1960s. The sixth coffin was empty, to symbolize all the unnamed victims of the 1956 Revolution.

Photo from Fortepan, an online archive of twentieth-century amateur photography, initiated by OSA in 2010.

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  • Title: Catafalque for 1989 Reburial of Imre Nagy and Colleagues
  • Long Description: "One must bear in mind that even though the victims lying in the five coffins on the catafalques were the leading figures of the national uprising, they had once been communists (at least in a certain period of their lives), who were killed by communists." -- Miklós Peternák, "The Flag With The Hole - The Colour of Rust", in Gábor Bachman, László Rajk and Miklós Peternák, Ravatal/Catafalque, Budapest: NA-NE Galéria, 1989.
  • Creator: Fortepan
  • Date: 1989-06-16
  • Location: Budapest, Hungary
  • External Link: http://www.fortepan.hu/?view=owner&name=fortepan&lang=hu&q=5854&x=0&y=0
  • OSA website: Was There a 1989?
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