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Communism, the communist idea, was based on the most ignoble instincts of the people, said the Director General of the House of Terror Museum and the Institute for the Research of Communism at the award ceremony of the video competition named after the temporary exhibition "It takes a great ideal to produce a great crime!" in Budapest on Monday.

At the award ceremony held in the House of Terror Museum Mária Schmidt emphasized that she does not share the view claiming that today’s youngsters are indifferent, lack ambition and interest for the past – this contest also stands as proof for the opposite. More than 30 students “moved their braincells” and produced creative and educational videos – they want to learn where they came from and where they are heading. They are talented and determined – she said.

Behind the temporary exhibition “It takes a great ideal to produce a great crime!” doesn’t only hide a witty slogan, a catchy punchline, but a grave content too – she added. Communism, as an ideal, is not only a political project, but a lot more. Communism also implemented cultural, linguistic and social principles and created a wide range of institutions, because they knew that they needed all of these to make their ideas work on a broad and long-term basis, she underlined.

Apart from being based on the most ignoble instincts of the people, including envy, self-interest and hatred, the communist ideal has also amplified these. This is the ultimate sin of communism, apart from causing the death, crippling and suffering of hundreds of millions of people, and it has also poisoned people's minds.

The Director General said that it is a serious problem, that whenever we talk about communism, it is not only the past that we need to think of, but also the present. Namely because many young people’s way of thinking is poisoned by the ideal of communism – especially in the Western world. It gives us hope that the participants of the video contest identified the essence of the communist ideology – she added.

Breaking with communism not only means constructing a different, democratic society, but also restoring Hungarian and European culture to the Christian roots that gave it strength, and returning to love instead of hatred, the Director General said. She thanked everyone for their efforts, with a special mention to Rajmund Fekete, who came up with the idea for the competition and who kept the whole program running. Mária Schmidt expressed her delight that they can show together the damage and suffering caused by communism. She stressed that although it was a great idea, it is only the evil deeds that remain in our memory today.

Rajmund Fekete, Director of the Institution for the Research of Communism, was pleased that the competition had been launched and that so many young people had attended. He said that it is equally important for the House of Terror Museum, the 20th Century Institute and the Institution for the Research of Communism that today's young people know exactly what their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents endured, and understand that freedom was not given for free, that there were some devastating ideas in the last century that were willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of a false promise, where the deaths of millions were merely "boring statistics".

The videos submitted to the competition revealed the true nature of communism and the role played by ordinary heroes whose courage showed that resisting evil is a duty. The students have succeeded in pulling off the veil from communism and exposing its hypocrisy, its deformity, its ugliness and its vivacity," he said. He announced that not only would the top three entries be rewarded, but each entrant would receive a gift, a book package and a special prize, the winner of which could take his/her whole class to the House of Terror Museum.

The competition encouraged students to tell the stories of the perpetrators of communism and the resisting heroes in video, inspired by the bold, grotesque and twisted reflection of the exhibition that opened last September. Entrants could submit videos of one minute or less, without any genre restrictions. The videos came from secondary schools from all over the country: Budapest, Dunavecse, Érd, Hajdúnánás, Inárcs, Máza, Nagykanizsa, Rákóczifalva, Sopron, Székesfehérvár, Vecsés és Veresegyház. The students also chose nationally known people and stories from their own local communities, according to the background material published alongside the event.

Apart from Mária Schmidt and Rajmund Fekete awards were handed over by Szilvia Géczi, director of communication in the House of Terror Museum, Sam Havadtoy artist, painter, the creator of the artworks in the temporary exhibition, Endre Botka, rearguard of Ferencváros and the national football team of Hungary, Péter Egri, singer of the Mystery Gang rockabilly band, Roland Mák, creative producer and director and László Szabó, communication specialist.

Rajmund Fekete, director of the Institute for the Research of Communism, Sára Kassai-Schmuck (special prize), Bernadett Polgár (III. place), Péter Seungu Csoma (I. place),
Mária Schmidt, Director General of the Institute for the Research of Communism, Eliza Bibercz (II. place)

The first prize was won by Péter Csoma Seungu, who presented the story of nine-year-old Li Sung-bok, "the Korean Peter Mansfeld". In 1968, as a South Korean, the boy bravely confessed his hatred of the Communist Party to the attacking North Korean soldiers, for which he was brutally murdered, and became a martyr of communist terror. A statue in Seoul is dedicated to the memory of Li Sung-bok.

Source: MTI