The hall symbolizes the continuity of the dictatorships, as well as denoting that all strata of society "changed their clothes", entering into a totally different world. There are authentic telephones in two of the fitting rooms. On one of them one can hear the reminiscences of György Faludy, the famous poet, on the other contemporary jokes. The picture sequences visible on the screen demonstrate how the entire country changed from one warped regime to a new, just as warped, inhumane regime.
“Unfortunately, sometimes fascists have slipped into our party.”
Mátyás Rákosi in 1945
Totalitarian dictatorships do not tolerate freedom of speech, freedom of worship, or even freedom of thought. After the Soviet occupation, hundreds of thousands of Hungarians had to “change clothes” and renounce their former lives if they wanted to survive the terror. Everyone had to adapt to the threatening reality of everyday communism. In this world there was no place for aristocrats, the bourgeoisie and businesspeople – or for observant Christians and Jews.
In a telling sign of the affinity between Nazism and communism, the Communists welcomed into their ranks those in the Arrow Cross rank and file who showed a willingness to cooperate. They continued to serve, doing the same job as before: terrorising, humiliating, torturing and killing. They simply exchanged racist theory for the theory of Marxist class struggle; it was a simple matter of changing uniforms.
