Szabadság tér – Govt postpones German occupation monument to May

(MTI) – The government has changed a deadline to erect a monument in central Budapest to the victims of Hungary’s 1944 Nazi occupation from March 19 to May 31, the official Hungarian Gazette reported on Wednesday.

The original deadline for the monument, planned for Szabadsag Square, was set in a previous government decree published on December 31 last year.

The planned monument has elicited sharp criticism by parties of the leftist opposition, as well as from Jewish and civil organisations, which said that it was aimed at diverting attention from the role of Hungarian authorities in developments during the second world war, and it would make no distinction between victims and perpetrators.

In its reaction, the government said earlier that the monument would pay tribute to all victims of Nazi occupation.

In the government decree published on Wednesday, the monument is referred to as “an important social policy objective”. The decree also stipulates that the government commissioner in charge of key Budapest projects will be responsible for preparations and implementation.

The local government of Budapest’s district 5 on January 22 granted its approval to erecting the monument in Szabadsag square. Sculptor Peter Parkanyi Raab has won a bid for the composition, planned to present the Archangel Gabriel and an imperial eagle.

Photo: Google/szecessziosmagazin.com

Source: http://hungarymatters.hu/