Where Art Met History: Holocaust Exhibitions in Early Postwar Hungary

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study explores Holocaust-related exhibitions organized in early postwar Hungary, between 1945 and 1949, from the end of World War II up until the communist takeover. The high number of such exhibitions (26 in total) attests to the existence of a widespread and extensive culture of remembrance, especially in the first three years, when the vast majority of these shows (21) took place. These exhibitions involved art almost exclusively; even the historical exhibitions included artworks and relied heavily on graphic design solutions. The first part of the study provides insight into a pioneering historical exhibition organized in early 1946 in Budapest (‘Those Who Died and Those Who Fought for Our People’s Honor’) and a similar exhibition material prepared later that year, sent to New York to be exhibited at YIVO in 1947 (‘The Jews in Europe, 1939–1946’). In both cases, montage-based design played a key role in conveying messages; moreover, several autonomous artworks were equally integrated into the historical narrative. Both exhibitions were prepared by the Documentation Department, which, in the first case, belonged to the Jewish Agency for Palestine; in the second case, it was already merged into the Hungarian branch of the World Jewish Congress. Importantly, no data has surfaced so far about further historical exhibitions about the Holocaust (or similar topics: war crimes, antifascism, etc.), organized in Hungary in this period. The second part of the paper provides an analysis of the actors involved, highlighting the eminent role played by various organizations, and dedicating special attention to the Jewish and Zionist ones. The final part concerns art exhibitions, differentiating between ‘martyr’ and ‘commemorative’ exhibitions, both organized from the works of victims of the Holocaust – works that with a few exceptions did not themselves relate to the genocide – and exhibitions featuring artworks about the Holocaust created almost exclusively by survivors, mostly narrative graphic series depicting various personal experiences of the victims.